Worker Committees
We are a group of workers and immigrants fighting for our rights.
We are an immigrant and worker-led group who build power through community organizing. We organize workers in the most marginalized and low-paid industries: agriculture, restaurant, construction, landscaping, cleaning/laundry services, and more.
We identify solutions to the challenges that we face on the job and get support from other workers experiencing similar issues. When necessary, we file complaints or take collective action to stop abusive behavior. The worker facing the problem makes all decisions about how to proceed with the support of our organizers.
The Springfield Committee was launched in 2016 by Central American farmworkers, landscapers and construction workers. The committee started a monthly food distribution to provide food to farmworkers who were out of work during the winter months, made possible by partners at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and local farms. Since the beginning of the pandemic, this program has been expanded to year-round food distributions and has served over 25,000 individuals.
In 2019, the committee won a Welcoming City Ordinance in Springfield in coalition with other advocates and labor groups. In 2022, we won the Work and Family Mobility Act to achieve the right to apply for driver's licences as undocumented community members in MA, as part of the Driving Families Forward Coalition. Our current campaigns include advocating to end 287g agreements and other ICE collaborations in Massachusetts and a statewide campaign to raise the farmworker minimum wage and win overtime protections.
Currently, our Workers Committee meets monthly in Springfield.
Interested in getting involved?