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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Eduardo Garcia, Representative from Workers Justice Project (WJP)
4:38:25
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156 sec
Eduardo Garcia from the Workers Justice Project testified about their organization's efforts to support immigrant workers in NYC, particularly in construction, domestic cleaning, and app delivery sectors. He highlighted their achievements in worker advocacy and requested continued city funding for various initiatives.
- WJP has supported 8,000 newly arrived New Yorkers with workers' rights education, training, and resources
- The organization helped recover $16.75 million in stolen tips for DoorDash workers and assisted migrants in securing deferred action status
- Garcia requested continued support for programs such as day labor workforce initiative, construction site safety, and worker cooperative business development
Eduardo Garcia
4:38:25
All right.
4:38:25
Good afternoon, chair of the immigration committee, and thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
4:38:30
My name is Eduardo Garcia, and I represent the Workers' Justice Project, a workers' rights organization based in Brooklyn.
4:38:37
We operate two centers, one in Sunset Park and one in Williamsburg.
4:38:42
But we serve workers across all of NYC.
4:38:45
The majority of our members are domestic cleaning, construction, and app delivery workers.
4:38:50
Over the past year, we've been at the forefront of supporting 8,000, newly arrived New Yorkers by providing access to workers' rights education, training, and critical resources.
4:39:00
We're proud to support construction, domestic cleaning, and app delivery workers as they fight for better wages and safer working conditions.
4:39:07
In the past nine months, we have achieved several key milestones, including empowering workers through case management, which led to a major labor, investigation by the attorney general's office and the recovery of 16,750,000.00 in stolen tips for DoorDash workers, helping recover $40,000 in stolen wages from DoorDash, registering two twenty five app delivery workers for the newly launched e bike trade program, providing training to over two thirty delivery workers on navigating legal systems in the face of the aggressive ticketing and harassment by the NYPD, assisting nearly 100 migrant workers in securing deferred action status, training 800 workers in obtaining forty hour construction site safety certifications, connecting workers with jobs, and workforce development training through our, day labor centers, and generating nearly $1,000 in, income for their families.
4:40:10
These examples highlight how a small grassroots organization like ours are often on the forefront responding to the needs of our communities and, frequently stepping in to do the work that the city agencies have failed to do.
4:40:24
Today, we come before you once again asking for your support to ensure that the center continues to operate by receiving city funding.
4:40:31
We are requesting continued support for initiatives such as the late day labor workforce initiative, construction site safety, protect NYC immigrant families initiative, low wage worker support, worker cooperative business development initiative, and the support for immigrant and women workers Initiative.
4:40:48
These programs are vital for our community, and with your help, we can continue to educate, organize, and provide vital resources to our neighbors and immigrant workers.
4:40:58
Thank you for your time, and consideration.