Tompkins County Workers' Center

The role of the Tompkins County Workers’ Center in the community is fourfold: 1) Our Workers’ Rights Hotline; 2) Local community union organizing; 3) The Living Wage Campaign; and 4) Community outreach through our Occupational Safety and Health programs. The Workers’ Rights Hotline is a service which advocates for, provides resources for and supports workers in the community with any issue they have related to employment. These include a large variety of “cases” such as filing for unemployment, working through issues of discrimination, workplace harassment, and supporting workers in starting a union in their workplace when that feels like a natural next step. Educating workers on their rights and supporting them through their struggles contributes to better conditions for other workers, and increases members of the larger labor movement which endeavors to improve conditions and provide justice for all. The Community Union Organizers is a leadership group of workers in the community that strive to improve employment standards and what workers should expect from their employers. The goal of the Living Wage Campaign is to create fair wages for workers in the community by establishing a living wage in place of the state minimum wage, as well as Certifying employers locally as being Living Wage Employers.