Worker's Rights

The Pilipinx-led organization has been making waves in the fight for social justice since 1997. From providing immigration legal services to advocating for affordable housing and workers’ rights, Pilipino Workers Center demands for better living and working conditions for low-wage Pilipinx communities throughout Southern California.

At our Housing Justice Salon, we welcomed donor activists to a special community conversation with Liberty Hill grantees, partners, and frontline leaders to discuss innovative solutions to the L.A. housing crisis at the state and local level. Liberty Hill’s Environment + Justice Donor Circle also hosted a briefing on environmental justice issues in the Inland Empire this month. The online briefing brought together donor activists to learn more about the challenges faced by communities and warehouse workers in the Inland Empire.

As of the end of September, CWOs formed a total of 60 Public Health Councils which reached more than 12,900 employees and held over 1,110 conversations across a total of 159 unique employers.

Liberty Hill is proud to celebrate the rich history and heritage of Native American and Filipino American People. We acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of our various regions and support the resilience and strength that all Indigenous people have shown worldwide.

This May, Liberty Hill honors the many contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPIs) and stands in solidarity with AA and NHPI organizers demanding an end to racial violence and fighting for systemic change.

Get ready to dive into some challenging conversations about how to make the real change we are fighting for possible! Liberty Hill is launching a new podcast called "Conversations From The Frontlines: Real Talk, Real Change" hosted by Liberty Hill President and CEO Shane Murphy Goldsmith.

The painful irony of work under COVID-19 is this—the workers most essential to the health and well-being of our families and communities are those too often denied the power to protect the health and well-being of themselves, their families and their communities.

Over the past year, essential workers across many industries have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. From the roller coaster of uncertainty and changing restrictions, to the fear of contracting the virus in unsafe working conditions, the workforce of Los Angeles has been challenged like never before.

When Teresita left the Philippines, traffickers took her to Hawaii, where she was eager to start her new life working on the island. At first she had no idea she was a human trafficking victim. But her dream of coming to America quickly became a nightmare. The people who brought her to the US promised her citizenship, but never followed through. Soon she was starving and severely overworked, but because of her immigration status, she “was afraid to call the police.” At the same time, she knew little about US labor laws and had no access to information about her rights.

From the beginning, says Manuel, his wife supported his organizing activities. “She would tell me not to be afraid, that everything was going to work out—and yes, we were able to accomplish this.” His elementary school aged son, too, was part of the push for justice. “He was always involved in the campaign. He says when he grows up, he will also be an organizer!”

Liberty Hill was an early funder and ally of Los Angeles Black Worker Center, helping to strengthen the year-old fledgling organization in 2010. Gerry learned of the Center—which organizes Black workers to fight back against discrimination in the workplace and improve access to quality jobs—when he was referred by a friend after complaining of racial bias at work. He first called more than two years ago and has been a member ever since. “I didn’t know that there were so many other people who shared the same story as me,” he says.

Liberty Hill is pleased to announce that our 2018 Fund for Change grants will invest $975,800 in 39 grassroots organizations throughout Los Angeles County. Thanks to the generosity of our donor-activists and foundation partners, we have been able to increase our Fund for Change grantmaking by $256,800 since 2016.