For Immediate Release // Please Excuse Cross Posting
November 21, 2016
Contact:
IUPAT: Gavin McDonald, 202-351-8547, gmcdonald@iupat.org;
AFL-CIO: Carolyn Bobb, 202-637-5018, Cbobb@aflcio.org;
NDLON: Armando Carmona, 323-250-3018 armando@ndlon.org;
The Worker Institute at Cornell: Prerna Sampat, 847-340-1658, ps828@cornell.edu

Labor Organizations Launch Innovative New Phone App to Redress Wage Theft and Worker Abuses

As Donald Trump Prepares to take over Presidency, Immigrant Workers Prepare to Defend Themselves

New York, N.Y. – On Monday November 21st, New York-based day labor worker centers, national labor unions, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) formally announced the launch of an innovative new tool to combat wage-theft and labor exploitation among immigrant workers.   

Two years ago, day laborer centers in New York began a bottom-up effort to utilize new technologies to solve epidemic of minimum wage violations.   While wage theft, or the denial of earned wages, is rampant across many industries, day laborers are particularly susceptible for many reasons including misperceptions about their immigration status. The new App was designed by and for day laborers, and it can be used by all vulnerable immigrant workers.  

The Jornaler@ App, (pronounced Jornalera, the Spanish language word for “day laborer”) will allow users to safely combat instances of wage theft by reporting abusive employers and other violations. The information compiled by the App will be administered by day laborer worker centers, labor unions and other organizations that wish to participate.

“Immigrant worker centers are honored to work with our brothers and sisters within the AFL-CIO to forge the next chapter in worksite enforcement strategies” Pablo Alvarado, the Executive Director of NDLON.  “Particularly now, as xenophobes seek to divide workers and undermine government institutions, we must organize, innovate, and stand together to defend ourselves. This new App will encourage organizing and will send a powerful message to abusive employers that wage theft will not be tolerated.”

This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the AFL-CIO’s historic partnership with NDLON, which sought to end the denial of wages to immigrant workers, and opened the door for worker centers to formally participate in the labor movement.

“The launch of this app is very important. This is an example of using technology as a tool for shared prosperity,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “We want to make sure that every worker in this country knows that they are not alone. We continue to stand firm on the side of all working people and commit to protecting these day laborer corners the way we will protect our union halls, in the face of any attack”.

Developing the Jornaler@ APP was the result of collaboration initiated and conducted by social practice artist Sol Aramendi with workers, organizers, lawyers and artists at New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE). As the idea began to grow, other worker centers from across New York began participating in the growing conversation. Groups such as El Centro de Inmigrante, La Colmena, the Don Bosco Workers in Port Chester, The Workplace Project in Hempstead, and Obreros Unidos from Yonkers.

Financial support from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades was instrumental in completing the development of the application and delivering it to the workers that will use Jornaler@ all over the country.

“The IUPAT is proud to have worked with our community partners and organizations to help build the framework of a new worker movement for the 21st century” said IUPAT General President Kenneth Rigmaiden. “Wage theft is a costly national epidemic, and this app will serve as a powerful tool to protect the workers who push this country forward every day.”

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Downloading the App

Jornaler@ is available for Android and iPhone. Search for “Jornalera” on Google Play or the AppStore. Here’s the icon you will see:

Press may use the following code to register: QYRD5V

Connecting Community

Jornaler@ is a tool designed by day laborers to be used by any worker with an irregular schedule and varied wages. Data shows that these circumstances create a heightened risk of wage theft. Jornaler@ works to reduce this risk by connecting similarly situated workers, notifying them instantly of bad employers, and amplifying that message to a network spanning entire metropolitan areas. With Jornaler@ installed, no worker is alone on the job.

To ensure that users are connecting with local communities of workers, we have developed the “center code” model. Those that want to use Jornaler@ can get in touch with their closest worker center. If the center is already connected to the Jornaler@ Network, they will train the worker in how to best utilize the app and distribute a “center code” to allow that worker to register.

If the local worker center is not yet connected to the Jornaler@ Network, the lead organizer can get in touch with csoto@ndlon.org to get information about training and receive a unique center code.

Registering

Once you have received a center code you can follow the registration process and start using Jornaler@ to keep track of your hours, report wage theft, and stay connected with other workers in your area. All of your data will be stored anonymously and can be accessed on your phone or, at your request, through your local worker center during a personal appointment.

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