Dolores Huerta Labor Institute

SPECIAL EVENT AT THE GETTY MUSEUM WITH THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT!  Dear Faculty, Students, and Staff,

The Getty Center will be hosting a free special photo exhibit and event focusing on "The Worker" and presenting a photographic history of working people across cultures.  More than 40 prints are drawn from the museum's special collection and reveal the shifting attitudes towards working people through the 19th and 20th century.

Valley instructor Joanne Waddell and students Lupe Burgara from Valley and Bryan Lopez from Pierce share their thoughts about the Dolores Huerta Labor Institute in these brief videos.

On Monday, November 9, 2009, Ana Luz González and Ruth Milkman, co-authors of a new study:  BROKEN LAWS, UNPROTECTED WORKERS: VIOLATIONS OF EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR LAWS IN AMERICA’S CITIES, spoke to students and faculty at LA Trade-Technical College about their study.

This study, released on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 documents the shocking extent to which those employees who work for the lowest wages in the country are also cheated out of their already meager compensation—and a disturbing amount of those abuses are perpetrated right here in L.A.  The study, funded by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations, documents wage violations, unpaid overtime, intimidation to prevent workers who are injured on the job from filing claims for Worker’s Compensation and retaliation against workers who attempt to assert their legal rights.

The authors gave a compelling presentation and answered questions from the audience.  Many students had questions about their own personal experiences with employment law violations in their workplace.

On November 5, 2009, author Susan Philips came to a Sociology class taught by Pat Allen at LA Valley College.  Susan spoke to students about the process of writing her book, "In the Heart of Another: Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories" and the lessons learned from the women whose stories she tells in her book. 

Students in the class had the opportunity to ask questions and to share their own stories about experiences they had living in this country as immigrants or as those who know immigrants.  Ms. Philips enjoyed her experience with the students and is due to return to speak to students at LA Southwest College next spring.