About KIWA
KIWA’s first campaign was to win the inclusion of displaced workers in a community relief fund set up by conservative Koreatown business owners after the Uprising. In 1997 we helped win over $2 million for workers from retailers and manufacturers connected with the now infamous El Monte “slave shop” operators. KIWA organized Latino garment workers and was a part of the legal team that eventually won this landmark case that exposed Southern California’s modern-day sweatshops to the general public. In collaboration with other progressive organizations, KIWA fought to win legalization and immigrant rights, maintain the state’s affirmative action programs, raise the minimum wage, lower bus rates for the poor, save hundreds of union jobs at two local hotels and win dignity and respect for workers locally and internationally.
KIWA has focused on organizing workers in the restaurant industry and supermarket industries to fight for dignity and respect. Our Restaurant Workers Campaign has dramatically improved labor law compliance among Koreatown restaurants. Our supermarket living wage campaign has pioneered living wage agreements in the industry, improving wages and working conditions for Koreatown’s 1,500 marker workers. We continue to bring workers together to take on injustice in their workplace and in their community.