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Causes: Civil Rights, Civil Rights, Social Action & Advocacy, Ethnic & Immigrant Centers, Human Services, Immigration, Job Training
Mission: Workers whose rights are violated by the denial of wages and benefits, wrongful discharge, or other abuses and discriminations in the workplace are at risk of losing basic needs such as shelter, adequate food, and medical care for themselves and their families. The Instituto Laboral de la Raza was founded in 1982 to combat these injustices experienced by low-income and minority workers in the Bay Area. The Instituto has continued to work closely with community-based organizations, federal and state agencies, law firms, and labor unions to provide free counseling, workers' rights education, and direct legal services for the working poor and their families.
Programs: The Instituto provides representation at administrative and judicial hearings for clients needing help with wage-claims, unemployment insurance appeals, workplace injuries and worker's compensation, physical and sexual harassment, unfair labor practices, and race, sex, age, pregnancy, and language discrimination. The educational component includes workers' rights training and seminars, as well as union rights and job opportunities in organized labor. The Instituto's bilingual Spanish-speaking staff is available for drop-ins, and also serve to address the cultural and immigration issues of Latinos throughout the greater Bay Area.
This organization's nonprofit status may have been revoked or it may have merged with another organization or ceased operations.