The immigration debate does not often recognize and include the distinct issues facing Latina women in the United States and particularly in the workforce. Not only are women left out of the debate, they are often left out of the planning of those creating the solutions to poor workplaces and unfair wages.

Photo: Peter Holderness, www.peterholderness.com

STITCH has created a program to support and lift up immigrant women workers in the United States in their struggle for economic justice. We recognize the United States labor movement has been continually challenging itself to become more representative of the working population and this project is designed to assist the labor movement as it diversifies and grows. Latina women themselves have the most to gain from joining unions, as both women and Latinos report the biggest increase in salaries and benefits from unionization. Yet there are still many cultural barriers that stand in the way of unions becoming more diverse and Latina women feeling welcomed in the labor movement.

In this program, STITCH will document the histories of women to expand the image of who will be impacted by immigration “reform”. In addition to women, STITCH also hopes to highlight the increasing presence of Central Americans in this story and their unique history with labor unions. STITCH will also provide training to immigrant women to assist them in becoming leaders. STITCH is also developing trainings and tools to give U.S. born unionists a better understanding of the global economy, the lives of immigrants and how to reach across barriers to organize this new group of workers.

More information:

NEW! STITCH's Training Program for Immigrant Women

1. The Other Immigrants
Click here for more information on STITCH's bilingual interview project that features stories of immigrants as well as a reading guide.

2. Facts on Immigration

Women workers are an important part of the discussion on immigration reform. Click here to learn more about immigrants in United States.

3. Facts About Central America for Union Organizers

Organizing immigrants can often be challenging as workers' views of unions are influenced by their experiences in their country of origin. Often many of us never learn the history of Central America. This short overview provides some ideas for union organizers about where immigrants are coming from and how this may impact their views of unions.

4. More on STITCH's Project.

The Project Details

STITCH has experience in using popular education methodologies, a history of worker and women-driven projects, and proven ability to take the cues for our work from the populations we serve. STITCH will use all of these experiences to greatly increase and focus our work in the United States by creating a new, U.S.-based project focusing on Latina , women immigrants. In the first stage of this project, STITCH has used our experience in capturing women's stories to talk to immigrant, Central American women in the United States in partnership with local unions, nonprofits, and worker's centers. The women's stories will give the public, politicians, labor organizations (particularly unions), and perhaps workers themselves a broader picture of immigration. We know that women are often not included in the statistics and stories of immigration, particularly women as workers. STITCH is focusing this project on women's participation in the labor market and in labor organizing - how their lives can be improved, how more women can be recruited and retained and given leadership roles in labor organizations. For more information, on the publication, click here.

 

The second phase of the project will be to bring together immigrant women and union leaders for a total of 3 to 5 focus groups that will further give them a platform (both at the national and regional level) for their stories. These focus groups will allow STITCH to develop programs to address the needs of immigrant women, as defined by them. Currently, STITCH is planning to work both with immigrant women themselves as well as working with the non- immigrant population to educate them about the value and contributions of Latina immigrants.

For more information about local meetings or this project as a whole please contact Cassandra Baker at cbaker@stitchonline.org