VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project

"No human being is illegal – Ningun ser Humano es Ilegal!" Romeo Sosa, Director/Organizer of VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project, in Portland, Oregon, a Social Justice Fund grantee, emphasizes this point several times when he describes the activities that this worker-led organization has promoted on “the Corners” in Portland. “The Corners” are where an estimated 100 – 300 day-laborers, “los jornaleros,” mostly Latino immigrant men, come to seek work, at the corners of 6th and E. Burnside and Martin Luther King and I-84, in Portland. Social Justice Fund has underwritten VOZ’s work in the Portland community for several years, most recently with a Rapid Response Grant in March 2006, as well as a one year Basic Grant in 2005.

VOZ has worked since 1997 to secure and protect workers’ rights through education, leadership and community organizing. As immigration issues generate increasing debate around the country, Romeo Sosa and VOZ supporters are busy building constructive relationships with employers, authorities and neighbors at “The Corners.” To dispel stereotypes about day-laborers, and to share information with the workers, who are often victimized through non-payment of wages and denial of basic employment rights, VOZ uses cultural events, educational workshops and publications to promote their appeal for understanding, dignity and respect. “Jornalero,” a worker-published newsletter, includes stories from day-laborer to day-laborer, poetry and vital information. Originally published in Spanish and distributed from The Corners, the newsletter has raised VOZ’s visibility as the public face of day laborers and other immigrants. At the request of teachers, volunteers and other community members, Voz now publishes “Jornalero” in English as well.

VOZ Workers' Rights Education Project has focused on organizing day-laborers to know their rights and the law, and how to stand up for their rights. Romeo shared that “newcomers are afraid for many reasons, so they often won’t report abuses, like not getting paid for their work.” VOZ has recovered over $100,000 in unpaid wages for their constituents.

VOZ teaches English on The Corners, employing the “popular education” curricula model, where student and teacher are equals. Volunteers from Portland State University and others use workbooks such as “English in the Life of a Day-Laborer,” developed by Casa de Maryland, to address the direct needs of day-laborers like negotiating a job with an employer, using tools, health and safety basics and knowing their immigrant rights. In describing the success of this model, Romeo dispelled one assumption that the community makes about these workers, “Many laborers are indigenous people from various Latin American countries, not just Mexico, so Spanish is not their first language.”

VOZ’s networking with other day-laborer groups, via monthly conference calls and periodic gatherings, has been invaluable. “We learn what’s going on in each city. It’s important to share this information, to identify and compare tactics, to develop local strategies for dealing with challenges from groups like the Minutemen.” VOZ’s theater group, “Teatro popular jornalero,” has shared their dramatic scripts with similar groups around the country. Now, these stories of the daily struggles of the day-laborers and their dreams for life in America, are empowering other immigrants, as well as informing the community.

VOZ has vigorously promoted positive interaction with their neighbors at The Corners, where local businesses and residents have voiced concerns for safety and quality of life. Romeo described VOZ’s efforts enthusiastically. “We’ve hosted cultural events, with food, poetry and music. We have formed a coalition at The Corners to promote legal activities there. Ninety-five percent of the people come there looking for work. We’ve promoted a standard of conduct, established a living wage and engaged the police and the INS in a dialogue with us. The result has been better relations. Some police officers and recruits even come down there to practice their Spanish.”

Romeo proudly describes VOZ’s role in the forefront of recent pro-immigrant mobilizations around the country. “We are one of the cities that began this mobilization, with our March 4 rally, and now other cities are following.” The surge of rallies organized to fight implementation of anti-immigrant laws like the Sensenbrenner House Bill #4437 has surprised politicians, and proves the late Cesar Chavez’s wisdom, “Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed…You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”

The Sensenbrenner bill, which passed the House in December, would make it a crime just to be an undocumented immigrant, or to “aid” or “counsel” them. The Portland rally, held on March 4, 2006, represented the largest immigrant mobilization in Portland’s history, with about 2,000 peaceful marchers turning out. Marchers gathered in downtown Portland to hear speakers such as former VOZ Director Elizabeth Perry, day-laborer Jorge Antonio Torres, VOZ Board member Marco Mejia, and Oregon State Senator Avel Gordly, who exhorted marchers to “know your history, and know those who would de-humanize and oppress you. Know how hard you will have to work, how long you will have to struggle.” The moral and political outcry to this legislation that began with the courage and action of groups like VOZ, has forced newer, compromise proposals by Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy, and further debate on these issues.

VOZ’s visibility and true voice for Portland’s day-laborers and other immigrant workers has earned their inclusion in Mayor Tom Potter’s "New Vision for Portland" Project. This project takes a 'big picture' look at the future of Portland, and ways to include all community members in a shared vision. VOZ’s “Teatro popular jornalero” performed at City Hall on April 6, depicting the reality of the abuses, poverty and struggle of day-laborers, as well as the dreams that drive them to risk their lives to come to America to work. To Romeo, this is social change at work. “We’re all immigrants in America. This is nothing new – it’s a natural phenomenon. Poverty sends us here to find a place where we can live in dignity and peace. We are an essential part of the economy, as farm workers, painters, construction workers, cleaners and food workers. It’s a struggle, but this is America!”