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History
The Southside Worker Center was opened by Southside Presbyterian Church as one of their social justice ministries in 2006 to provide a safe place of workers to wait for employment and to negotiate a just daily wage with potential employers. In the beginning the Center attracted as many as 100 workers a day but with the inception of the anti-immigrant worker employer sanctions laws in 2008 work began to dwindle as did workers who moved on in search of a more politically tolerant environment. Currently, the Center sees approximately 50 workers daily, who, in spite of the hostile climate created by employer sanction laws and anti-immigrant legislation such as Arizona Senate Bill 1070, continue to maintain that they too have a right to work by gathering at the Center. Along with offering a space for workers to wait for work we also focus on empowering the leadership of the workers through a variety of training, shared decision making, and by maintaining the Center as a worker-run organization. |
Solidarity ~ Justice ~ Dignity ~ Respect ~ Professionalism