California officials announced $25 million on Tuesday to help community organizations educate workers about their rights and workplace safety.
Organizations in the Los Angeles area have been prioritized with $6 million ($6 million) to support workers involved in cleaning and reconstruction after the devastating Palisade and Eton fires.
California’s Department of Labor and Management Allocation has allocated funds to 89 community organizations across the state, with around 21 community organizations in Los Angeles. The funding is part of a program called the California Workplace Outreach Project, which was first launched in 2021 to address Covid-19-related workplace risks.
“California implements a unique model that utilizes trustworthy local messengers to communicate directly with workers,” California Labor Secretary Steward Knox said in a statement Tuesday.
According to the Department of Labor Relations, an organization could potentially renew its second year funding cycle with a total of $49 million set aside for a two-year funding cycle.
Burned properties can pose a risk to workers who are full of dangerous waste and harmful chemicals. As many migrant workers lost their jobs as nannies, gardeners, housekeepers, plumbers and pool cleaners as a result of the fire, advocates say they may be forced to take on dangerous fire cleanup jobs at times without proper training or equipment.
At the same time, these low-wage workers may also address issues of wage theft, discrimination, retaliation, anti-immigration sentiment or other issues, said Nancy Zuniga, health program manager for the group called Dei Endeicasion del Sal de California, also known as IDEPSCA.
Outreach is the first step to informing workers’ rights, Zuniga said at a press conference Tuesday morning that it was held at the Idepska office of Pico Integration.
“These workers are often left out of all safety nets,” Zuniga said. “We’re happy to be part of this effort, but we know there’s more to be needed.”
In the aftermath of the 2018 Woolsey Fire, Idepska studied the impact on domestic workers in Malibu. More than half of the nearly 200 workers surveyed said they had lost their jobs forever. Often, they report cases where it is expected to clean ashes, soot and debris without proper training or equipment, leaving financial and emotional consequences of the fire at least two years later.
A report by UC Berkeley researchers examining California’s community-based approach to Covid-19 safety efforts looked at workers and found that they often feel distrustful of government agencies. Partnering with community organizations has been “an important strategy for addressing the large number of workplace issues that traditional regulatory approaches cannot fully address,” the report states.
California Labor Secretary Lilia Garcia Brawer said community groups are essential to engaging in processes that could take months or years, as many cases of wage theft rely on active witnesses rather than paper-recorded violations.
“If we’re just waiting in the office to process the allegations, we’re not at work,” Garcia Brawer said. “Outreaching is not fluff, it’s the basis of execution.”
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