EBASE believes that all workers must have basic human rights on the job, regardless of race or immigration status. Yet, all too often, the jobs at the bottom of the economic ladder are reserved for immigrant workers and people of color, and these same workers frequently experience exploitation and second-class status on the job.
Immigrant workers, in particular, saw their fundamental rights increasingly trampled upon in the last few years of the Bush administration. As immigration agents swarmed our communities, inhumane raids tore families apart, wreaking havoc in workplaces and denying immigrants equal treatment. Meanwhile, unscrupulous employers have learned to use our broken immigration laws as tools to intimidate and fire workers who organize unions or stand up for their rights, eroding workplace conditions for all.
At EBASE, we know that for all workers - immigrant and non-immigrant - to have good jobs with dignity and respect, we urgently need a just and compassionate immigration reform. That reform should include legalization and a clear path to citizenship, family reunification, full protection of workers’ rights and civil liberties, and an end to employer sanctions. We also need to dismantle the structural barriers that stand between communities of color and family-supporting jobs.
To realize this vision, EBASE has played a key role in defending immigrant rights throughout its 10-year history. For many years, we sponsored the Northern California Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition. Today, we co-convene the Worker Immigrant Rights Coalition (WIRC), a growing alliance of more than a dozen bay area labor unions and worker organizations advocating for full labor rights for all workers, healthy and inclusive communities, and an end to immigration raids.
WIRC has fought back against raids and other employer intimidation, organizing large demonstrations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices and conducting “know your rights” trainings for workers and union leaders. We are also building consensus within the labor movement around the principles for a just immigration reform that respects workers rights. To learn about our principles, read our Unity Statement.
For more information about the Worker Immigrant Rights Coalition or to have your organization sign onto the Unity Statement, contact EBASE organizer Diana Rashid at diana[at]workingeastbay.org or at 510-893-7106 ext. 320.
