Chicago Community and Workers' Rights (CCWR) was founded in June 2009 by a group of Latino immigrant workers who saw the need for an organization dedicated to empowering all workers to stand up for their rights. The group came together as part of the Chicago Worker's Collaborative's "Vigilantes Laborales" program, becoming an independent institution when the focus of the host organization shifted to working primarily with day laborers.
Chicago Community and Workers' Rights (CCWR) is an organization run by workers for workers - regardless of immigration status - dedicated to educating, fostering leadership, and gathering resources to develop organizing tools and collective strategies of resistance against employer abuse, toward just living conditions for our families.
At Chicago Community and Workers' Rights, we firmly believe that all people should have access to decent, well-paying work, regardless of their identity, immigration status, skills, age or place of origin.
Our areas of work are: Education and empowerment, for workers by workers; emergency support for workers in crisis; and worker self-determination.
Education and Empowerment
In the area of Education and Empowerment, CCWR conducts Community Advocate trainings, which are workshops that teach the tools available to workers to fight for their rights and uses workers' own experiences to learn from each other how to organize effectively in their workplaces as well as provide solidarity support to other workers.
Self-determination
In the area of worker self-determination, CCWR helps support the creation of worker cooperatives and worker-led organizations and institutions.
Emergency support
Community Advocates and the organization's staff provide emergency support to workers who come to CCWR, helping them document complaints with the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, or any other appropriate institution and assisting them throughout the process until their case is concluded.
Worker leadership:
CCWR believes that those most affected by labor and immigration injustice issues should be fully engaged in seeking solutions as well as providing support and solidarity to other workers. Our leaders are community members who have had to fight for their own rights in the workplace, most turning to CCWR for support after experiencing unfair working conditions or being fired for organizing. Community Advocates educate themselves on labor rights and educate other workers, sharing experiences and knowledge with each other, to fight for their rights and for jobs that pay living wages with better benefits that respect their health and humanity.
Chicago Community and Workers' Rights does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental ability, or sexual orientation.
Chicago Community and Workers Rights
CCWR is an organization that provides support to the primarily Latino working community without excluding anyone on the basis of color, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.