How the Workplace Project designed by Jennifer Gordon was created to aid immigrant workers
Introduction;
Jennifer Gordon founded the Workplace Project in the year nineteen ninety-two to aid immigrant workers who were in the Long Island New York under the underground suburban economy. Gordon analyzes the Latino immigrant life, as well as the legal activism to narrate the tale of the workers who were once the most vulnerable in Long Island and how they amalgamated to demand that they were to be issued fair wages, safe working conditions, as well as the respect employers. This essay aims at analyzing five questions that will be related to the key concepts in the excerpt by Jennifer Gordon, known as Suburban sweatshops. Two of these questions will be answered.
Discussion;
Immigration workers, many who were undocumented, had several victories when it came to securing their livelihoods. Some of these victories included the bill of rights for the domestic workers and a thirty percent raise for the day laborers who among the lowest-paid workers in the region. In the process, they managed to turn themselves into competent political aspirants and participants. The following are questions that are related to Gordon’s excerpt.
Question 1: How does Gordon define suburban sweatshops in her book?
In her book, Gordon defines sweatshops as the areas where the immigrant workers worked under stressful conditions such as exceptionally long and illegal hours, where most were paid low wages and were at risk of acquiring an injury. Gordon describes how numerous immigrant workers have chosen the option of seeking work in suburbs (thus the name of the book) instead of urban cities. These suburban sweatshops may be restaurants where blue-collar jobs such as cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes, and been busboys are offered to these immigrant workers. The landscaping industry, which is filled with immigrant workers, is also another area of suburban sweatshops. The workers in this industry are expected to mow close to fifty lawns for twelve hours a day, earning an average of two hundred and seventy-two dollars.
Question 2: Which collaborations has the Workplace Project taken part in to increase the rights of immigrant workers?
The Workplace Project has taken part in several collaborations with other groups as a way of fighting for the right s of immigrant workers. Some of these groups are work centers around Long Island whose members comprise of immigrant workers that earn low wages and have dirty and dangerous jobs. These members come together to discuss their livelihoods such as the immigration crisis they are facing, the issues on the low wages and the poor working conditions they undergo as they try to better their lives in the United States, as well as housing and transportation problems. Since these collaborations, the Workplace Project has had several victories, with one of them being the win by the Young Workers United against the Cheesecake Factory restaurant in San Francisco, where they got a four million settlement for back wages.
The other questions that will be asked in this essay in relation to the book by Jennifer Gordon Suburban sweatshops include; what are the three critical effects of worker centers, what is the theory behind the “noncitizen citizenship,” and what are the obstacles faced by grassroots organizations?
In conclusion, immigrant workers, whether in urban cities or suburbs, faced high levels of discrimination when it came to acquiring jobs. They were paid the lowest wages and had dangerous and dirty jobs. This essay analyzes how The Workplace Project designed by Jennifer Gordon was created to aid immigrant workers in accessing their rights fully. The above statement is analyzed by examining her book, Suburban sweatshop.