About Us
MIWON is a unique network of worker centers in Los Angeles. The
four member organizations are the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
(CHIRLA), Institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA), Koreatown
Immigrant Worker Alliance (KIWA), and Pilipino Workers’ Center (PWC) and each organization
represents workers from different ethnicities and industries but all there members have common
problems like immigration, work etc.. MIWON is a multi-ethnic, multi-industry network of
immigrant worker-based organizations that seeks to build the political consciousness and
participation of immigrant workers in our fight for better living and working conditions. Our key
strategies are to fight for legalization and worker rights, to act as a collective voice for low-wage
immigrant workers in Los Angeles. MIWON has empowered Korean, Latino, Chinese and Pilipino
immigrant workers laboring in different low wage industries to send up and fight for their rights as
immigrants.MIWON started the first immigrant workers school called the School of Education,
Empowerment and Determination (SEED) in May 2006. It is a yearlong program that consistently
brings together low-wage immigrant workers across language, culture, geographic location, work
industry and generation. It was the first pilot year in creating a diverse, Los Angeles-wide advanced
leadership development school. The goal of SEED is to create leadership from the bases of our
memberships and those at the center of the oppression. Through this leadership school, worker-
leaders from the MIWON organizations, especially those who become part of the organizing staff,
will be able to develop the skills necessary to carry out the advocacy and campaign work of their
respective worker centers. This leadership program is different from other models in that it is one of
the few leadership programs in the country that is multiethnic and multilingual in its
implementation. For the UCLA Downtown Labor Center, MIWON has been one of the few
networks whose key priority is to involve low-wage immigrant workers in key decisions and policies.
MIWON is unique in its ability to mobilize thousands of low-wage immigrant workers from many
diverse communities around Los Angeles and beyond. Through multi-ethnic collaboration and
coordination, MIWON is able to confront and take action on large-scale issues at a much broader
level than any of the organizations individually. Since its inception, MIWON has successfully
advocated for the rights of immigrant workers and enjoyed tremendous successes. On May 1, 2004,
International Workers Day, MIWON spearheaded its fifth annual day of action with a “Caravan
for Justice” busing immigrant workers and their families to protest at the federal building, the office
of Governor Schwarzenegger, and the storefront of an exploitative employer. Low-wage immigrant
families were able to bring together their frustration at the federal, state government, and the local
exploitation they feel from their employer.
On May 1, 2006, over a million workers and immigrant rights
supporters marched through Los Angeles. In addition to large public mobilizations of immigrant
families, MIWON wrote a historic Immigrant Worker’s Platform that was passed by the Los
Angeles City Council in 2001 soon after there was increased violence and animosity towards
immigrants after September 11, 2001. This platform reminded us that the city of Los Angeles is
built upon the backs of immigrants everyday but also that we as a city stand for “justice, dignity,
and democracy.”MIWON member organizations have a long trajectory of accomplishments in
organizing and developing the leadership of immigrant workers.
About our member organizations
CHIRLA’s mission is to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees.
CHIRLA’s Workers’ Rights Project has successfully worked with day laborers, domestic workers and
other immigrant workers to advance their workplace rights and engage their active participation in
advocacy, organizing and policy reform efforts. For more info visit chirla.org
KIWA, was founded in 1992 to empower low wage immigrant workers and
develop a progressive constituency and leadership in Los Angeles’ immigrant communities that will
join the struggle in solidarity with other underrepresented communities for social change. KIWA has
since made significant contributions to the empowerment of immigrant workers through successful
worker led organizing campaigns. KIWA’s leadership has been instrumental in improving wages and
conditions in Koreatown restaurants. For more info visit kiwa.org
Pilipino Workers Center’s mission is to organize Pilipino workers to collectively address
needs and issues both in the community and in the work place. In August 2000, PWC launched
the Association of Pilipino Workers and engaged the workers in political education curriculum. For
r more info visit pwcsc.org
IDEPSCA is a membership organization that trains community educators/leaders
whose organizing efforts generate programs from the ground up. Their programs include three Adult
Spanish Literacy and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, a large Day Laborer Project,
a Computer Literacy Project and a Women's Project. For more info visit idepsca.org
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