FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 10, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Joyce Lam, media-requests@cpasf.org
MEDIA ADVISORY
COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project (CWOP) Worker Week of Action
Nonprofits from the San Jose/Bay Area join state agencies and a coalition of 61 nonprofits across the state to launch a Worker Week of Action, March 7-13, 2022, to increase awareness about workers’ rights to be safe and healthy in the workplace.
What: Press Conference to celebrate and honor the work that was done to protect workers in the Bay Area. This work included massive regional outreach efforts, increasing awareness about labor rights, providing community support, and passing critical policies such as 2022 supplemental paid sick leave, workplace health & safety, retaliation, and worker leave and pay benefits. A labor rights caravan in San Jose will follow the press conference to directly outreach to the community.
Who: Senator David Cortese (D-San Jose), Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Supervisor Representatives from LWDA, Cal/OSHA, WorkSafe, Step Forward Foundation, OLSE & Working Partnerships, LOHP, PAWIS, and Fight for $15,
When: Friday, March 11th at 11:30am
Where: Press Conference
On Zoom. Please click this URL to join:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83782009839?pwd=L1I1dGcxQWpvYldMZTd0TnZ5ZEM1Zz09
Passcode: 0311
Labor Rights Caravan
WHEN: March 11, 2022 1 – 5 p.m.
WHERE:
12:45PM – 1:15PM La Plaza Market 40 S. Rengstorff Ave., Mtn. View, CA 94040
2:15PM – 3:00PM McKee Seafood Supermarket and Chavez Supermarket 2331 McKee Rd., San Jose, CA 95116
3:45PM – 4:15PM Seafood City Supermarket 1535 Landess Ave., Milpitas, CA 95035
5:00PM – 5:30PM Subway 980 S. Winchester Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128
Why: 61 organizations across the state are working with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA),Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB), and Cal/OSHA to plan and execute the CWOP Worker Week of Action to encourage workers to learn about and better understand their rights related to workplace health & safety, retaliation, and worker leave and pay benefits. This effort is a part of the COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project (CWOP), a statewide outreach effort led by LWDA and community organizations to help workers stay safe during the pandemic. Since February 2021, the CWOP campaign has interactively engaged1.3 million workers across the state. Since January 2021, as part of CWOP, the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco has been leading in-language outreach to the Chinese immigrant community in San Francisco. This outreach is crucial not only to protecting working families and keeping them safe from COVID-19, but also in giving workers important tools at their workplace to lift their voices and access their rights. Through the different phases of the pandemic, we have reached our community on the phone, via Zoom, at the door and on the street. One of our canvassers, Randy Feng, shared his conversation with a restaurant worker. “This worker told me that his boss did not offer him a mask, but he did not want to speak up since he has just gotten this job. I shared with him his rights as a worker to receive workplace protection including PPE (personal protection equipment), as well as protections from retaliation for speaking up. I hope the worker is now more equipped with knowledge of his rights but also equipped with confidence in talking to his boss.” As part of our work of empowering Chinese immigrant workers, CPA has also started hosting monthly Worker Zoom 工人茶話會 to create a space for workers to network with each other and learn about the latest labor laws. If interested, please call us at 415-391-6986 and inquire. Community-based labor law outreach in California is a proven effective strategy in achieving economic and racial equity, and it is necessary whether we are in a pandemic or not. CPA has been part of the California Coalition for Worker Power (CCWP), a group of worker centers, worker advocates, labor policy experts and labor unions dedicated to ensuring that every worker in California has the power to come together and improve their work conditions and their communities. We believe that all work is valuable and that all working people must have a voice in order for California to succeed in creating a more just and equitable society. For that to happen, California needs to renew and expand CWOP funding – and establish community-based worker rights education as a permanent part of its effort to ensure workers know their rights to a fair workplace and dignity.
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