Local advocacy groups including the New Haven-based Unidad Latina en Acción rallied on the steps of New Haven’s City Hall on Wednesday in support of the federal whistleblower policy.
The U.S. Department of Labor released last week a policy change that allows undocumented workers to speak up about workplace abuse without the risk of losing their jobs.
“For many years, many decades, immigrant workers have been fighting for certain wages, so this helps,” said John Lugo, co-founder of Unidad Latina En Acción.
State Representative Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, who also serves as the co-chair of the state labor committee, attended the rally. She said the policy is a move in the right direction, but more work needs to be done.
“To actually have to talk about wage theft and to talk about not being treated right just shows that the plantation still exists,” said Porter. “It’s just part of what we’re doing to dismantle the mentality of slavery that still exists in this country.”
