California officials announced $25 million in funding Tuesday to help community organizations provide workers with education about their rights and workplace safety.
The Los Angeles-area organization has a priority of $6 million to support participating workers Cleanup and reconstruction work After the devastating fence and Eaton fire.
California’s Department of Labor Relations will allocate funds to 89 community organizations across the state, about 21 in Los Angeles. Funding is part of a program called the California Workplace Outreach Program, which was first launched in 2021 to address COVID-related workplace risks.
“California is implementing a unique model that uses trusted local messengers to communicate directly with workers,” Knox, the California Secretary of Labor’s steward, said in a statement Tuesday.
According to the Department of Labor Relations, organizations may be able to renew funds for the second year, with a total of $49 million spent on a two-year funding cycle.
The damage traits can be hazardous to workers and are filled with hazardous waste and harmful chemicals. Many migrant workers have lost their jobs due to nannies, gardeners, housekeepers, plumbers and pool cleaners due to the fire, and advocates say sometimes they may be forced to engage in dangerous fire prevention work without proper training or equipment.
At the same time, these low-wage workers may also struggle to deal with issues of wage theft, discrimination, retaliation, anti-immigration sentiment or other issues.
Outreach is the first step in informing workers of their rights, Zuniga said at a press conference Tuesday morning at Pico-Union’s Idepsca office.
“These workers are usually excluded from all safety nets,” Zuniga said. “We are excited to be involved in this effort, but we know more is needed.”
Ideska after the 2018 Wolsey Fire The impact on domestic workers was studied In Malibu. More than half of the nearly 200 workers surveyed said they were permanently unemployed. Many people report that there is no proper training and equipment to clean up ash, soot and debris and lingering financial and emotional consequences within at least two years later.
Reports from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley The California approach to community-based COVID-19 safety work was examined, workers were investigated, and they found that they often distrust government entities. Working with community organizations is “a key strategy to address a large number of workplace problems that traditional regulatory approaches cannot be addressed separately”, the report said.
Lilia Garcia-Brower, California Labor Commissioner, said that community groups are crucial to getting workers into the process, which can take months or years because many wage theft cases rely on active witnesses rather than documented violations on paper.
“If we were just waiting in the office to process the claim, we wouldn’t do our job,” Garcia-Brower said. “Outrelation is not fuzz, it is the basis of law enforcement.”
