Workers Defense seeks to rebuild the construction industry and give power to the people who drive it.

Immigrant workers are the backbone of the construction industry. Without them, our cities would not grow and our neighborhoods would cease to be built. Not only does the work of construction workers impact the way communities function, but their labor is essential to healthy economies at both the city and state level. However, despite their incredible importance, immigrant construction workers are routinely treated as disposable and disrespected. 

By creating a community-led organization for workers’ rights, we seek to stop this cycle of negligence and empower construction workers to secure the basic workplace rights they are entitled to, from paid sick leave to humane working conditions.  We nurture a community that can protect its own and ultimately change the way the construction industry is run. In doing so, we work each day to create a more just system that recognizes the power that construction workers hold.

Our Guiding Principles

We are member-led. Everything we do, we do with our members. Workers Defense aims to empower our members to do the work, and lead the initiatives. We connect, unite, serve.
We are fact-based. While we can certainly understand the struggles of our members on an emotional level, we validate their experiences through statistics and research that provides additional context on the challenges they face.
We are construction industry specific. While many of the initiatives we undertake benefit low-wage and immigrant workers across industries, we are an organization specifically made up of construction workers and their families that serve our industry first and foremost.

We connect, unite, serve.

Annual Reports

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