PROGRAMS

Amplifying the Voices and Experiences of Workers at the Margins. 

Sur Legal Collaborative works to educate and organize immigrant and BIPOC workers within Georgia’s high-hazard, low-wage industries. By resourcing immigrant workers with the knowledge and tools needed to advocate for themselves, we strive to transform labor conditions within these exploitative industries through worker-driven and worker-led solutions. 

This work includes: 

• Know-Your-Rights (KYR) Education:

  •  KYR trainings are provided directly to workers, either in-person or virtually, in formats that are safe, accessible, and responsive to the needs they’ve identified. Topics covered include:

    • Workplace Safety and Health

    • Workers’ Rights Regardless of Immigration Status (FLSA, EEOC, OSHA, NLRB)

    • Immigration Enforcement & ICE Interactions – Knowing Your Rights 

• Worker Advisory Committee (“WAC”) Initiative

  • Launched under the Susan Harwood Capacity Building Pilot Grant program, the WAC serves as a steering committee, composed of workers within Georgia’s high-hazard, low-wage industries that bring their vast lived experiences (both with labor and immigration justice) into this space to provide our team with insight, advice, and updates on the issues that are the most pressing within their communities. 

  • Through relational, high-touch interactions with all WAC members, insights provided through focus-group style meetings inform Sur Legal’s priority areas for educational materials and trainings. 

  • WAC-member trainings: WAC members receive know‑your‑rights trainings on: OSHA/ workplace health & safety, whistleblower rights, heat justice, KYR during immigration enforcement interactions, emergency and family preparedness, and more. 

The program operates in a hybrid format, combining in-person convenings and webinars to reach workers across Georgia. Previous Worker Advisory Committee participants have been based in Macon and Tennessee, with the current base in Gainesville, Georgia. Participation often spans multiple years per constituent.

Catalyzing Change by Demanding Accountability from the Systems and People in Power.

Sur Legal Collaborative works to change the systems that allow exploitation to persist. Through advocacy around more robust labor enforcement and stronger protections for immigrant workers who report abuse, we seek to shift the dominant paradigm around worker justice to be one that is inclusive of ALL workers – regardless of immigration status. 

This work includes:

• Strong coalition participation with allies nationwide to advocate for increased protections for immigrant workers

• Engagement in relationship building and strategic enforcement with federal labor agencies to advocate for targeted enforcement of labor laws to protect immigrant workers in ways that address particular vulnerabilities faced by immigrant workers

• Administrative advocacy with immigration agencies to improve opportunities for immigrant workers who have suffered labor abuse

• Advocacy before federal agencies, such as testifying before federal agencies in favor of stronger worker protections from occupational heat exposure

• Filings of Amicus Briefs in support of workers

• Media Campaigns bringing to light  exploitation and abuse carried out by unscrupulous employers to increase public awareness

• Providing education and tools to coalition partners to support national advocacy efforts

Sharing Tools and Growing the Movement Towards Immigration and Labor Justice.

Sur Legal Collaborative we offer a variety of technical assistance opportunities to our partner organizations, worker centers, and community-based organizations that work with attention to issues emerging at the intersection of immigration, labor, and the carceral state. Whether through legal research and provision of legal guidance, or direct “train-the-trainer” style sessions to build capacity and impart expertise to workers and organizers, Sur Legal seeks to strengthen a robust ecosystem of support for low-income, BIPOC, justice-impacted, and immigrant worker communities.

This work includes:

• Train-the-trainer sessions and workshops are provided to community-based organizations, values-aligned coalitions, movement partners, and more, that build the expertise of allies to support workers within their respective communities in filing effective labor complaints

• Providing local and regional context on issues emerging at the intersection of labor and immigration within national labor and immigrant-justice spaces (ex: National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, or “National COSH”)

• Developing and disseminating tools, templates, resources, and guides to support movement partners, organizations, and leaders with the tools needed to: file effective labor complaints and support their membership bases.