Labor Rights Week Targets Bay Area Immigrant Workers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — The Consul Generals from Mexico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua joined federal, state and local officials at San Francisco's Mexican Consulate Monday to promote Labor Rights Week.
This year's Labor Rights Week theme is that protecting those rights is everyone's responsibility and largely focuses on the rights of immigrant workers. The hope is to reach out to Latinos and other immigrants who are unaware that they have rights to a safe and healthy workplace, even if they're undocumented.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon warned that he will prosecute employers who maintain unsafe working conditions.
KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:
"Our workers are not expendable. Our workers are human beings that have rights and we're here to protect them," said the D.A.
Michael Baldonado of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said his agency helped several female workers in the Wine Country who were being sexually harassed.
"EEOC can file a lawsuit on behalf of these women. We obtained a settlement of $150,000 for these workers," Baldonado said.
Carlos Felix, the Consul General of Mexico, said Latin American countries have come together to support immigrants working in the United States.
"This is the recognition of the contributions that on a daily basis these workers are doing for the benefit of the communities," Baldonado said.
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