Photo by Matt Schorr
Diana Lopez, organizer and coordinator of the Workers' Dignity "Just Hospitality" campaign, and Jack Willey from operations took a moment to describe their organization and its ongoing efforts to improve conditions for low-wage workers in Nashville.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. The main office of Workers’ Dignity rests beneath a single tree, nestled behind a local dealership in the heart of Nashville. It’s a humble, unassuming building with a single room filled with the usual assortment of office supplies – computers, printers, documents, tables – and little else. There are no billboards, no lighted screens.
Just a banner near the entrance that reads “Dignidad Obrera – Workers’ Dignity.”
Like so many efforts for social and economic justice, Workers’ Dignity isn’t confined to its office walls. As a worker-led organization battling wage theft and systemic abuse against low wage workers, they already boast more than $330,000 in recovered stolen wages and an increase of $680,000 in annual wages and benefits at seven hotels over the past three years.
Diana Lopez, organizer and co-coordinator of the “Just Hospitality” campaign, called Workers’ Dignity a “non-profit organization of workers that strives to improve conditions on the job.”
It began in 2010, when organizers recognized that wage theft had become an epidemic problem among low-wage workers. They also realized that the most powerful groups building solutions to such a problem were grassroots community centers.
Lopez came to Workers’ Dignity in 2015 over wage theft at a hotel, a case she ultimately won. “I worked at a mid-town hotel with terrible conditions and forced labor,” she said. “Two of my coworkers were underage girls who worked very long hours and were unable to leave.”
With the organization’s support, Lopez was able to help get those girls out of the hotel and into U Visa processing. (A U visa is a nonimmigrant visa set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity.) Now, both are over the age of 18 and have since joined Workers’ Dignity to organize coworkers at another downtown hotel for a wage increase.
Lopez’s experience isn’t isolated either. In February 2016, Workers’ Dignity published a preliminary report detailing instances of declining wages and wage theft, poor safety practices and high injury levels, and obstacles to personal and family healthcare. Data in the report – a worker-led project partnered with Vanderbilt and Meharry academic collaborators called “Hotels Shouldn’t Hurt” – came from interviews with 52 people employed throughout Nashville as hospitality workers.
Jack Willey, who works in operations, noted that wage theft also isn’t isolated to hotels. It exists, he said, “in all industries.” Recently, Workers’ Dignity scored victories for people in construction, restaurants and commercial cleaning.
The primary goal of Workers’ Dignity is, put simply, ensuring dignified work. To achieve this, they educate workers about their rights and strive to build enough power to establish firm consequences for employers who take advantage of them.
Other ongoing efforts include “Music City Riders United,” an attempt to improve public transit service in Nashville in areas where it’s most needed, and a push for legislation regarding municipal tax breaks, or “tax increment financing” for construction firms, to include language requiring basic standards like a living wage and benefits. They also plan to launch a radio station in 2017 – on 104.1 FM – featuring music and educational programming about workers’ rights.
Lopez, who currently serves on the organization’s steering committee, said, “Housekeepers are starting to see the fruits of their organizing.”
But their work isn’t over, and likely never will be.
Recently, the MVA awarded Workers’ Dignity a $5,000 grant to fund data collection from rank-and-file low-wage hospitality workers. Lopez, Willey and everyone else at Workers’ Dignity will continue pushing for standard living wages, basic benefits, paid sick leave, health insurance, enforced workers compensation and education about health and safety on the job.
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
Founded in 1999, the Alliance bridges the institutions of Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University. Its mission is to enrich learning and advance clinical research by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University and the communities they serve.