KIWA

Working for Justice, Dignity, and Respect

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KIWA’s 26th Anniversary

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We invite you to join us for a night of great company, entertainment, and food while celebrating KIWA’s 26th year fighting for justice in Koreatown and beyond.

Thursday, June 21, 2018
5:30pm
Garden Suite Hotel
681 S. Western Ave, Los Angeles, 90005

Your presence at, and contribution to, our annual event sustains us in our shared fight for worker justice!, 노동자 정의!, ¡justicia del trabajador! Please see below for more information about the event and how you can support. All donations to KIWA are tax-deductible.

Get Tickets

HONOREES

Premio De Solidaridad | 연대상 수상자| Solidarity Award
Koreatown Popular Assembly
한인타운 대중 집회

The KPA is an all-volunteer group composed of Koreatown community members. It has developed one of LA’s first grassroots, coordinated rapid response programs, which prepares everyday people to support each other in cases of an ICE appearance.

Si Se Puede Award | 할수있다!상 수상자| Yes We Can Award
Clara Montellano
클라라 몬텔라노

Clara is a dedicated worker leader at KIWA. She has participated in all of our committees, from Arte del Corazon to Escuelita Verde. She was unanimously elected by our membership to to join our Executive Board in December of 2017.

Premio De Campión Del Cambio | 변화의 투사상 | Champion of Change Award
Angela Oh
안젤라 오

Angela is a second generation Korean American born and raised in Los Angeles. She is a Zen meditation teacher, mediator in civil rights cases, and co-creator of the Mirror Project. The Project works to uncover California’s shared story on health, healing, and wellness.

EVENT SPONSORSHIP

Sponsorship Packages

  • Simón Bolívar: $15,000 (Full page ad; Table of 10; website banner)
  • Chun Tae Il: $10,000 (Half page ad; 8 seats; website banner)
  • Joe Hill: $2,000 (Half page ad; 5 reserved seats; website banner)
  • Lucy Gonzalez Parsons: $1,000 (Quarter-page ad; 5 reserved seats)

Program Book

  • Full-page Ad: $1,000
  • Half-page Ad: $500
  • Quarter-page Ad: $300

EVENT TICKETS

  • Individual Tickets: $150 each
  • 5-Ticket Package: $700

Get Tickets

If you have any questions regarding your online payment, please contact us directly at (213) 738-9050 x12 or contact Bethany at bethany@kiwa.org.

If you cannot attend the celebration, but would like to support KIWA, please select the KIWA Donation option below.

**KIWA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our federal identification number is 95-4392004. Contributions above the value of goods and services provided may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes.**

What To Do If ICE Comes to Your Workplace

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NELP and the National Immigration Law Center have put together a multilingual report that describes in detail what employers can and should do to protect their workers and their business if ICE arrives at their workplace. Included in the report are explanations of:

  • the most common immigration actions affecting employers,
  • recommendations for how employers can prepare,
  • employers’ rights and responsibilities,
  • what employers can do after an ICE action.

The report is available in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and English here.

Commute: the Daily Struggles of Latinxs in L.A.

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Update: This video has been nominated for the 2018 Webby Award in the Documentary: Individual Episode Shortform Category. Voting ends April 19! Please vote here.

We are mitú recently followed KIWA staff member, Scarlett De Leon, and KIWA member leader, Hilda Lopez, on their daily commutes in order to chronicle the often overlooked daily struggles and triumphs of Latinxs in pursuit of the “American Dream”. Check out the video below!

Minimum Wage Outreach

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After Los Angeles passed the $15 minimum wage increase, so did many other municipalities in L.A. County. Because KIWA was a key advocate in the campaign to not only raise the minimum wage, but enforce it, we have been contracted by the City of Los Angeles, the City of Santa Monica, and Los Angeles County to conduct outreach and education around the new minimum wage law and its provisions to both workers and employers. With KIWA organizers and members on the streets in L.A., Santa Monica, and unincorporated Los Angeles County, low-wage workers in the region will have the knowledge and resources they need to fight for dignity and respect in the workplace.

Do you have questions about the minimum wage or your rights as a worker? Have you experienced wage theft or need help filing a claim? Are you an employer seeking to understand the laws? Contact KIWA’s Worker Empowerment Clinic: Scarlett De Leon (English, Spanish) at 213.738.9050 ext 3# scarlett@kiwa.org; Kaye Kim (Korean) at 213.738.9050 ext 1#, kwiran@kiwa.org

For workers who have experienced wage theft and want to file a claim:

 

Prop JJJ passed!

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On November 8th, 2016, LA voters made it clear to the city that we they more affordable housing and good jobs for local residents by casting their vote for Prop JJJ, or “Build Better LA”. In doing so, we are also telling City officials and developers that we want a future Los Angeles that is accessible to ALL residents–not just the wealthy. A special shout out to our members, volunteers, and allies who put in their time to get out the vote!

Prop JJJ will build new housing near transit to reduce congestion, and ensure all residents have access to transportation and affordable housing. At the same time, it will require that developers who want special zones changes include affordable housing in their projects and hire local workers who need jobs the most, including previously homeless workers and single parents.

As key member of the ACT-LA and BBLA coalitions, KIWA is honored and proud to be a part of this victory for working Angelenas. We are joined by seventy-five housing, environmental, and workers’ rights organizations across the City in fighting for a more inclusive and equitable Los Angeles.

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KIWA’s Workers Empowerment Clinic

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The Worker Empowerment Clinic provides assistance in filling a wage theft claim and workers rights trainings. The clinic is offered in English, Spanish and Korean every first and third Thursday at 10 am and every third Saturday at 10am KIWA’s office, which is located at 1053 S. New Hampshire Ave Los Angeles, CA 90006. If you are unsure whether you have experienced wage theft, please call us in advance or visit our Wage Theft FAQ.

La Clínica de Empoderamiento de Trabajadores ayuda con reclamos de robo de salario y ofrece entrenamientos sobre derechos de trabajadores. La clínica es en Español, Inglés y Coreano y se ofrece el primer y tercer jueves de cada mes a las 10 am y el tercer sábado de cada mes a las 10 am en la oficina de KIWA, en 1053 S. New Hampshire Ave Los Angeles, CA 90006. Si usted no está seguro si tiene un caso de robo de salario, llámenos antes de llegar o visite la sección de preguntas sobre el robo de salario (Wage Theft FAQ).

노동 상담소는 임금절도 사건 접수를 도와주고, 노동자의 권리에 대한 교육을 제공합니다. 상담은 매달 첫번째와 세번째 목요일 오전 10시, 그리고 매달 세번째 토요일 10시에 KIWA 사무실이 위치한 연대의 집(Casa Yonde, 1053 S. New Hampshire Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006)에서 한국어와 영어, 및 스페인어로 제공됩니다. 임금 절도의 피해를 입었는지 궁금하시다면 전화문의를 하시거나 저희 홈페이지에 임금절도 질의응답을 참고하세요.

 

 

We did it! SB 588 signed into law by Governor Brown

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Sunday, October 11, 2015, proved to be a historic day for workers across California, as Governor Jerry Brown signed into a law a bill that will crack down on employers who, for decades, have been stealing wages from workers’ paychecks. This is truly a landmark victory–SB 588, the Fair Day’s Pay Act, will give millions of dollars back to working individuals and their families.

For over two decades, KIWA has supported low-wage workers who are victims of wage theft. Wage theft is when an employee earns less money than his or her employer is legally required to pay (learn more at our wage theft FAQ) Through our Worker Empowerment Clinic, we have been able to assist workers in not only filing wage theft claims, but also working alongside them to win their cases.

In fact, Los Angeles is the capital of wage theft in the U.S., where $26.2 million is stolen from low-wage workers every week. Through our Worker Empowerment Clinic, we win almost every case that we file. However, even after winning wage theft cases many workers never see a dime of what they are owed. Under previous State law, employers could get out of paying employees stolen wages in many different ways, such as changing the corporate name or hiding behind subcontractors.

For over three years, KIWA, together with 60 other organizations across California, has fought to pass a bill that would address these loopholes in the State’s labor law. Authored by Senator Kevin De Leon, the Fair Day’s Pay Act will create new tools needed to put stolen wages back into workers pockets. At the same time, it will allow honest employers to finally compete against companies that have been ignoring the law.

Together with our allies and partners, we are working to ensure every worker in Los Angeles and California is paid fairly, while also holding deadbeat employers accountable for their unethical practices. The passage of SB 588 sends a strong message that California supports its workers, and companies that play by the rules.

Wage Theft is a Crime

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Los Angeles is the Wage Theft Capitol of the United States, where $26.2 million is stolen from workers every week. The thieves are not sticking up bank tellers or picking pickets on the street. The thieves are bosses who profit from not paying their hard working employees and then daring them to try to get it back.

That’s why Brave New Films joined forces with the LA Coalition Against Wage Theft to demand the LA City Council to address this problem. In our video, we profile four victims of wage theft who tell heartbreaking stories of working for low wages and then suffering the indignity of not being paid.

Founded March 1, 1992, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)

is one of the first and most well-established worker centers in the United States. KIWA organizes low-wage immigrant workers, tenants, and their families to promote workplace justice, housing rights, immigrants’ rights, democratic and sustainable community development, civic participation, gender justice, and cultural resistance. Our vision is guided by the needs of immigrant workers and by an understanding that workers face injustice both inside and outside their workplaces. A multi-ethnic organization based in Koreatown, KIWA is one of the only groups organizing both Korean and Latino workers. KIWA seeks to strengthen progressive, immigrant worker leadership as part of a broad-based movement for social change.

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Contact:

info@kiwa.org 
T: 213.738.9050
F: 213.738.1833
1053 S. New Hampshire Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90006

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KIWA membership is open to all people who support our mission and work.

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