On November 2nd, Worksafe and the Warehouse Worker Resource Center (WWRC) held a Temporary and Contingent Worker Convening in Los Angeles. Hosted by Bet Tzedek, the Convening brought together over 40 representatives from the Labor Commissioner's Office, worker organizations, and unions throughout California to focus on the precarious working conditions of temporary workers.
Convening participants spent the first part of the day honing in on issues faced by temporary workers. Participants learned about current work at the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement during a lunch panel with Labor Commissioner, Julie Su and two of her attorneys: Matt Sirrolly, founder of the Wage Justice Center, and Yungsuhn Park, formerly with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Los Angeles. This was followed by a panel titled, "State Policy Campaigns for Temp & Contingent Worker Rights" where panelists, Mark Meinster of Warehouse Workers for Justice (Chicago), Rocío Alejandra Ávila of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Michael Young of the California Labor Federation shared their insights regarding possible policy reform. Participants then spent the latter part of the day strategizing on reform work that their newly formed coalition, the California Alliance for Secure Employment (CASE), could focus on in the next few years to advance issues for the temporary workforce.
Worksafe and WWRC offer our gratitude to the Convening Planning Committee for creating the framework for the day's activities and working together to make the day a success: Deogracia Cornelio (UCLA LOSH); Alejandra Domenzain (UCB LOHP); Alice Berliner (SoCal COSH); and Ruth Silver Taube (Alexander Community Law Center & Santa Clara Wage Theft Coalition). In addition, we'd like to thank our team of Convening facilitators that included the above members of our planning committee plus Asha DuMonthier of EBASE.
