2013-14 pilarc project
In January of 2014, UC Hastings students worked with California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) on a project that was focused on hospitality workers. Students spent four days in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. The project involved gathering survey responses from workers about wage theft, health and safety concerns, disscrimination, harassment and retaliation issues in the workplace. The data collected from the surveys went to students at UC Santa Cruz and CRLA who are working on publishing a report of local conditions for low-wage workers which will help identify trends in the workplace that will be addressed through legal advocacy and other strategies.
PILARC in the news!
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santacruz/ci_24847678/working-survey-students-collect-data-effort-help-countys
Working survey: Students collect data in effort to help county's low-wage earnersBy Calvin Men
Santa Cruz Sentinel
POSTED: 01/04/2014 06:43:54 PM PST
LIVE OAK -- On Saturday, Stacy Kowalski waited inside of a laundromat on Seabright Avenue. Kowalski wasn't waiting for her laundry, but for people.
Kowalski is one of 16 students from the University of California Hastings College of Law canvassing parts of Live Oak and Santa Cruz to survey people working in restaurants, behind fast food counters and other low-wage jobs.
Kowalski, 28, said she wanted to help with the survey because she wants to go into immigration law where she'll likely deal with wage issues.
"I think it'll be a good learning experience for me to understand what issues there are in Santa Cruz County," she said.
The goal of the survey is get an idea of conditions and issues nonagricultural workers face in Santa Cruz County, including workplace safety, health concerns, wages and discrimination, said Gretchen Regenhardt, directing attorney at California Rural Legal Assistance in Watsonville.
"We want to work more in this area," she said. "We haven't historically done so with low-wage workers who aren't agricultural workers."
The survey is a partnership between Hastings, CRLA and UC Santa Cruz. The Hastings students will survey people for four days and UCSC students are expected to survey people later this year.
Researchers are aiming to survey 500 to 1,000 people low-wage workers. From the data, a report will be generated to help lawmakers address policy issues regarding wages, poverty and other related issues, Regenhart said.
Perla Parra, a Hastings student and organizer for Partnership Initiative for Legal Aid to Rural Communities, said she hopes the data will help legislators in key decisions.
"We can speculate what we think the issues the workers have but I think many critics want to see what our data has," she said.
She added the survey will not only help researchers but might also help those surveyed.
"We're hoping not just to ask questions but also provide information to workers," she said, adding surveyors will also hand out pamphlets with legal resources available.
Working survey: Students collect data in effort to help county's low-wage earnersBy Calvin Men
Santa Cruz Sentinel
POSTED: 01/04/2014 06:43:54 PM PST
LIVE OAK -- On Saturday, Stacy Kowalski waited inside of a laundromat on Seabright Avenue. Kowalski wasn't waiting for her laundry, but for people.
Kowalski is one of 16 students from the University of California Hastings College of Law canvassing parts of Live Oak and Santa Cruz to survey people working in restaurants, behind fast food counters and other low-wage jobs.
Kowalski, 28, said she wanted to help with the survey because she wants to go into immigration law where she'll likely deal with wage issues.
"I think it'll be a good learning experience for me to understand what issues there are in Santa Cruz County," she said.
The goal of the survey is get an idea of conditions and issues nonagricultural workers face in Santa Cruz County, including workplace safety, health concerns, wages and discrimination, said Gretchen Regenhardt, directing attorney at California Rural Legal Assistance in Watsonville.
"We want to work more in this area," she said. "We haven't historically done so with low-wage workers who aren't agricultural workers."
The survey is a partnership between Hastings, CRLA and UC Santa Cruz. The Hastings students will survey people for four days and UCSC students are expected to survey people later this year.
Researchers are aiming to survey 500 to 1,000 people low-wage workers. From the data, a report will be generated to help lawmakers address policy issues regarding wages, poverty and other related issues, Regenhart said.
Perla Parra, a Hastings student and organizer for Partnership Initiative for Legal Aid to Rural Communities, said she hopes the data will help legislators in key decisions.
"We can speculate what we think the issues the workers have but I think many critics want to see what our data has," she said.
She added the survey will not only help researchers but might also help those surveyed.
"We're hoping not just to ask questions but also provide information to workers," she said, adding surveyors will also hand out pamphlets with legal resources available.