LOS ANGELES – On May 10^th at 10 AM, workers, union leaders and advocates from the Los Angeles Coalition Against Wage Theft will gather on the steps of the City Attorney’s Office, 200 N. Main Street, to demand an ordinance to combat wage theft in the City of Los Angeles. KIWA is a member of the Coalition.

Los Angeles is the wage theft capitol of the country. Violations amount to $26 million per week, or $1.4 billion per year—more than twice that of New York City or Chicago. “Wage theft refers to any time you make less than your employer is legally required to pay you,” says Victor Narro, Project Director at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center and co-author of a recent report on the subject. “Prime examples include making less than minimum wage, less than time-and-a-half for overtime, or working off-the-clock or through meal and rest breaks.”

There are 750,000 low-wage workers in Los Angeles County.  A staggering two-thirds experience wage violations in any given week, according to Wage Theft and Workplace Violations in Los Angeles. One-third made less than minimum wage; 80% were cheated of overtime. All told, the average worker lost over $2,600, or 15%, of their annual income. Violations appear in all 22 low-wage industries, particularly in garment, restaurant, domestic services, and residential construction.

Please join us at KIWA’s 20^th Anniversary Dinner: Creating Change, Piece by Piece! We have a lively program in the works as well as our third annual specialty cocktail reception!

| Featuring |

Alexandra Suh

address by KIWA’s new Executive Director

Las Cafeteras

a musical justice son jarocho performance

The dinner will be held at 6pm on Friday, April 20^th, at the Garden Suite Hotel* (681 S. Western Ave., L.A, CA 90005).

Our work isn’t possible without the generous support of all our allies, community members, and activist warriors. Please consider supporting KIWA by contributing to our annual dinner:

• Individual tickets………………………………….$150
• Full Tables of 10 Seats………………………..$1,000
• Program Book Ads………………………………$175 to $1,000
• Sponsor tickets for KIWA members…..$100
• Community sponsorships……………………$1,000-$5,000

Purchase Online

Ads are due on Friday, April 6th!

Full Page (4.5” x 7.5”)…..$1,000

Half Page (4.5” x 3.625”)…$600

Quarter Page (2.125” x 3.625”)….. $300

Card Sized (2.25” x 2.125”)…..$175

For questions, please contact Lucia Lin at lucia@kiwa.org or call 213-973-9050

Visit our facebook page for updates!

*  Parking is valet for $2.00 per car at the front entrance and the hotel is easily accessible by public transit (Metro Rail Wilshire/Western station, Metro buses 207/757/720/20/710/66, Wilshire Center/Koreatown DASH)

Saturday, Nov. 19 10:00 am-1:00 pm
KIWA
3471 W. 8th St. @ Hobart
Event in Spanish, Korean, and English

Today, the CRA/LA Board of Commissioners approved a plan to purchase the lot at Wilshire and Hobart.  The tentative agreement authorizes the CRA to enter into a purchase and sale agreement for the land for $21 million dollars.  The southern portion of the lot is slated to be developed as the long-awaited park, and the northern portion of the lot will be developed with a private developer, who has indicated support for including a community center to meet community needs.

This is the fruition of two years of work, by KIWA along with many KIWA allies.  KIWA wants to acknowledge the staunch support of the following organizations who provided critical support to this effort:  Healthy Homes Collaborative, Caju Co-op, NANUM Corean Cultural Association, Asociacion de Comunidades Unidas de Sur de Los Angeles (ACUSLA), Bus Riders Union/Labor Community Strategy Center, The Advancement Project , LA Alliance for a New Economy, CLEAN Carwash Campaign, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, Disability Rights Center, Lambda Legal, Institute of Popular Education (IDEPSCA),  South Asian Network, Restaurant Opportunities Center of LA, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, RTTC-LA, our collaborators at K-ARC and many others we have failed to name here.

After we celebrated the CRA’s May commitment to move forward to acquire the lot, we were confronted with several weeks of uncertainty, as numerous competitive bids for the property were unexpectedly made to the seller.  We faced the real danger of losing this opportunity for Koreatown’s dream Park.  Fortunately, through continued advocacy by a united Koreatown community and ongoing support from our allies, along with diligence by CRA and city representatives, we were able to prevail, and the land will be acquired for the park and a future community center.  Our next steps will include working with the CRA and City to ensure that a community center is developed on the northern portion of the lot to complement the park.

Today’s CRA decision is truly a victory for all of Koreatown, for Los Angeles and for communities everywhere.  We have shown that when people are united, organized and persistent, we can achieve positive changes that benefit our communities and that our elected leaders and representatives will respond to our needs if we insist on it.

Please join us on June 8, 10 AM (John Ferraro Council Chamber, Room 340, City Hall

200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90012), where the full City Council will vote on this matter.  With Councilmember Wesson’s support for this CRA action on the record, we expect we’ll have wonderful news to celebrate next Wednesday. And before long, we look forward to inviting you to a leisurely stroll with us through Koreatown Central Park!

LET's GO CRAZY!! KIWA won two stunning victories this week

#1 We secured a commitment from the City and Community Redevelopment Agency to acquire the entire lot at Wilshire and Hobart, for a huge PUBLIC PARK and future community development slated to include affordable housing and a Koreatown community center! Koreatown Central Park is near…

#2 We are secured a community benefits agreement for an apartment project on Wilshire and Vermont that includes an agreement to build 96 units of affordable housing in Koreatown and a $1 million trust fund for the development of our community center.

These projects will brighten the future of Koreatown for years to come and would not have been possible without KIWA’s leadership and organizing and without your support. Thank you!