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Non-profit

Worker Justice Center of New York

Website:

www.wjcny.org/
Location:

Kingston, NY
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Formation:

2011
Executive Director:

Lauren Deutsch

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The Worker Justice Center of New York (WJCNY) is a left-of-center nonprofit organization that formed when Farmworker Legal Service of New York and the Workers’ Rights Law Center merged in 2011. 1

The Center receives both federal and state funding, including grants from the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor,2  in addition to funding from left-of-center private foundations, such as the Dyson Foundation3 and the New World Foundation. 4

WJYCNY provides free legal aid to illegal immigrants to prevent deportations. 5 WJCNY also worked to secure the passage of the New York “Green Light” law, a law which allows every New York resident to obtain a driver’s license regardless of immigration status. 6

Background

The Worker Justice Center of New York (WJCNY) is a left-of-center non-profit organization created after the Farmworker Legal Service of New York and the Workers’ Rights Law Center merged in 2011. 7

The Farmworker Legal Service of New York (FLSNY), created in the late 1970s by the New York State Bar Association, became its own free-standing organization in 1981. FLSNY was originally established to provide legal representation for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. In 1988, FLSNY began to receive funding from the New York Department of Labor’s Hazard Abatement Board. In 2010, FLSNY received funding from the United States Department of Labor. 8

The Workers’ Rights Law Center (WRLC) was created in 2003 by two former FLSNY attorneys to address the increased demand for legal assistance for non-agricultural low-wage workers. WRLC received assistance when it was established from Echoing Green, a nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurs and emerging leaders in left-of-center economic development, environmentalism, and racial and gender equity. The  Dyson Foundation, a left-of-center private foundation which funds left-of-center organizations, schools, and religious groups operating within the New York area, also supported WRLC. 9

Dan Werner, one of the former FLSNY attorneys that created WRLC, became deputy director of the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Rights Project in 2008. 10

WJCNY is a part of a number of left-of-center coalitions including the Food Chain Workers Alliance, a coalition of organizations that focus on agricultural workers; the Alianza Laboral, a group of five immigrant workers centers in Westchester County; and the Upstate Workers’ Center Alliance, an advocacy organization based in upstate New York. 11

WJCNY is also a member of the New York State Minimum Wage Coalition,12  and the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC),13 an increasingly active left-of-center coalition that advocates for expansionist immigration policies. The NYIC vocally opposed the Trump administration on several immigration-related policies and was previously involved in a lawsuit against the administration to bar the U.S. Census Bureau from asking individuals about their citizenship status. 14

Funding

The Worker Justice Center of New York receives grants from federal and state governments as well as multiple private foundations including the Dyson Foundation, the New World Foundation, and the Sociological Initiatives Foundation.

WJCNY reported just under $1.5 million in total revenue in 2015, $1.3 million of which came from contributions and grants. 15 WJCNY substantially increased its revenue in recent years, bringing in $2.2 million in 2018, $2.12 million of which came from contributions and grants. 16

Government Grants

In 2013, WJCNY received a total of $646,791 from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Labor. 17 The Dutchess Responds Fund, a county government grantmaking organization, listed WJCNY as one of the grantees to receive between $1000 and $10,000 from the Fund in 2020. 18 The New York Bar Foundation also listed WJCNY as a grantee in 2020 but did not disclose the value of the grant. 19

Private Foundation Funding

The Dyson Foundation is one of WJCNY’s largest donor organization. The Dyson Foundation contributed $7,000 to WJCNY in 2014 for professional development programming and $70,000 for outreach, advocacy, and legal services for low-wage workers in New York’s Hudson Valley. 20

In 2015, the Dyson Foundation supplied another $70,000 to WJCNY for continued advocacy in the Hudson Valley. That same year, the Dyson Foundation contributed $150,000 to WJCNY for “a management assistant program mini-grant for marketing and communications planning.” 21

In 2016, the Foundation gave WJCNY $75,000 for its work in “education, legal assistance, litigation, public education, and policy advocacy” on behalf of low-wage workers in the Hudson Valley. The Dyson Foundation pledged an additional $75,000 grant for the same cause in 2017. 22

In 2016, the left-of-center New World Foundation provided a $60,000 grant to WJCNY. The Foundation funds training for left-of-center activists, promotes environmentalist policy, and supports expansionist immigration policies, including granting legal status to all illegal immigrants currently in the United States. 23

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation granted WJCNY $20,000 in 2014. 24

In 2018, the Interest on Lawyer Account Fund (IOLA) provided WJCNY with a $680,000 grant. 25

Advocacy Activities

Worker Justice Center of New York provides free legal aid to individuals and groups in “matters that affect the rights of agricultural and other low-wage workers,” including class action lawsuits and immigration cases to prevent deportations, obtain legal status, or provide employment authorization for illegal immigrants. 26 WJCNY pushed the passage of the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, also known as the “Green Light” law, which allows every resident of New York to hold a driver’s license, regardless of immigration status. 27

WJCNY currently provides pesticide safety training and trainings on other sagety issues to farmworkers with the funding it receives from the New York State Department of Labor’s Hazard Abatement Board. 28

WJCNY is one of the 78 organizations that signed a letter to the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), expressing concern about the potential loss of funding to the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) and New York’s Liberty Defense Project (LDP). 29

The letter requests that all NYIFUP and LDP programs are fully funded for their ongoing services, and that the $10 million allocated to the LDP in the financial year of 2021 will be distributed to the organization. 30

References

  1. “History,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/history.
  2. Trey Kovacs • 09/19/2013, Trey Kovacs, and Sean Higgins, “Worker Centers Collecting Federal Funds,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, accessed November 24, 2020, https://cei.org/blog/worker-centers-collecting-federal-funds/.
  3. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Dyson Foundation, Form 990PF – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136084888/201523169349101707/IRS990PF.
  4. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “New World Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131919791/201722279349303812/full.
  5. “Legal,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/legal.
  6. “Advocacy,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/advocacy.
  7. “History,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/history.
  8. “History,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/history.
  9. “History,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/history.
  10. “History,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/history.
  11. “Advocacy,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/advocacy.
  12. “New York State Minimum Wage Coalition Comments on Agreement to Raise New York’s Minimum Wage,” The Center for Popular Democracy, November 16, 2013, https://populardemocracy.org/news/new-york-state-minimum-wage-coalition-comments-agreement-raise-new-york-s-minimum-wage.
  13. “Blueprint for Immigrant New York ,” New York Immigration Coalition, accessed November 24, 2020, https://thenyic-revision.pi.bypronto.com/2/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/nyic_Blueprint_for_ImmigrantNY_v5.pdf.
  14. The New York Immigration Coalition, “Immigrant Plaintiffs Claim Victory In Census Question,” Common Dreams, January 15, 2019, https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/15/immigrant-plaintiffs-claim-victory-census-question.
  15. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Worker Justice Center Of New York Inc – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/161155130.
  16. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Worker Justice Center Of New York Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/161155130/201911349349308351/full.
  17. Trey Kovacs • 09/19/2013, Trey Kovacs, and Sean Higgins, “Worker Centers Collecting Federal Funds,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, accessed November 24, 2020, https://cei.org/blog/worker-centers-collecting-federal-funds/.
  18. Dutchess County Government, “Dutchess Responds Fund Awards $32,400 in Grants to Organizations Supporting Those in Need During Pandemic,” Dutchess County Government, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.dutchessny.gov/County-Government/Dutchess-Responds-Fund-Awards-32400-in-Grants.htm.
  19. Yasmina Dardari, “New York Bar Foundation Awards Bronx Legal Services Grant to Help Address Urgent Covid-19 Legal Needs,” Legal Services NYC, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.legalservicesnyc.org/news-and-events/press-room/1616-new-york-bar-foundation-awards-bronx-legal-services-grant-to-help-address-urgent-covid-19-legal-needs.
  20. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136084888/201523169349101707/IRS990PF
  21. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Dyson Foundation, Form 990PF – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136084888/201603129349100225/IRS990PF.
  22. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “Dyson Foundation, Form 990PF – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136084888/201733109349100103/IRS990PF.
  23. Sisi Wei Mike Tigas, “New World Foundation, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131919791/201722279349303812/full.
  24. “Past Grants,” Sociological Initiatives Foundation, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.sifoundation.org/past-grants/.
  25. “Worker Justice Center of New York DRAFT 18-19,” IOLA.org, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.iola.org/all-documents/67-worker-justice-center-of-new-york/file.
  26. “Legal,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/legal.
  27. “Advocacy,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/advocacy.
  28. “Outreach & Education,” Worker Justice Center of New York, accessed November 24, 2020, https://www.wjcny.org/outreach.
  29. “Protect New York’s Immigration Legal Services Funding,” Vera, August 4, 2020, https://www.vera.org/protect-new-york-immigration-legal-services-funding.
  30. “Protect New York’s Immigration Legal Services Funding,” Vera, August 4, 2020, https://www.vera.org/protect-new-york-immigration-legal-services-funding.
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Worker Justice Center of New York

9 Main Street
Kingston, NY 12401