Mesa will soon be home to a Workers’ Rights Center, which will aim to educate students about their rights as workers and will provide referrals to a host of resources including attorneys and various government agencies.

Organized by the American Federation of Teachers, the Workers’ Rights Center is a referral-based organization offering assistance to students dealing with work-related issues.  Initially started at City College, the AFT was able to extend the service to Mesa from a grant by the California Federation of Teachers.

Although Mesa’s ongoing construction has slightly hindered the official open date and office location, most of the WRC’s services are already available to students.  AFT intern John Reid stated, “What we’re doing in the meantime is we’re giving people our contact info – both the WRC email and our phone number – and if they need to set up an appointment and talk to us about something, they can either talk to us via email, or we can meet up with them somewhere on campus.”

Citing the high amount of student workers as one of the reasons for the WRC, AFT intern Nunno Pacano stated, “About 70 percent of part-time students are workers and that’s one of the biggest reasons that people drop out of college – especially community college – is because of work-related issues, so the AFT wanted to minimize that as much as possible.”

The WRC is equipped to handle virtually all work-related issues, including wage claims, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and discrimination. “A lot of people call in for discrimination, both racial and sexual, and we deal with a lot of immigrants,” Pacano said.

AFT interns like Reid and Pacano have been given training by attorneys from the Employee Rights Center, a non-profit organization in San Diego. “They’ve given training to us interns to refer people to the proper legal service or government agency to get issues resolved,” Reid said. “We’re not lawyers and we’re not giving legal advice, but we can point [students] in the right direction. Sometimes, all people need is to be referred to the right government agency.”

Once referred to the correct agency, the WRC remains available to students as needed and offers ongoing support and resources.

The WRC also provides clarification about complex state laws like wrongful termination and wages.  “A lot of people think that they’ve been wrongfully terminated,” Reid said, “but under California law, you have to prove you were fired because you are part of a protected class of discrimination or retaliation.  California is at will, so technically employees can be fired for any reason.”

Wage laws are likewise tricky, and employers often leave inexperienced employees in the dark.  Giving an example of such a situation, Reid stated, “There could be something like their boss isn’t giving them breaks and they don’t know what California law entitles them to. For example, if you work five hours, you’re entitled to a 30-minute lunch.”

In addition to helping resolve workplace issues, the WRC also hopes to raise student awareness. “We can increase student awareness about what their rights are,” Reid said, “because a lot of times, unless they’re union members, their employers aren’t going to tell them [their rights] so there’s a lot of ignorance and we can do something about that.”

Marissa Manson, also an intern with the AFT, shared her fellow interns’ enthusiasm about the WRC’s mission and remarked, “I hope that students will understand their rights and are more educated.”

Students who need assistance with workplace issues can reach the WRC at 619-388-3528, or via email at wrcmesacollege@gmail.com.