The face of poverty is no stranger in Louisiana and Mississippi, where populations consistently rank among the poorest in America.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita highlighted how poverty is defined by the structural inequalities of race, class, nationality and gender. Although the hurricanes struck everyone, these inequalities revealed the deep differences in people's ability to protect themselves,  evacuate, access decent temporary shelter and the basics of relief aid, and return to their communities and rebuild. 

These inequalities have fundamentally affected people’s ability to exercise their human and labor rights. Low wage and immigrant workers were not only passed over during the initial relief phase but are also being stripped of their employment rights in an environment with little enforcement of existing labor laws. Strengthening the rights of the most marginalized and vulnerable workers in the Gulf Coast region provides an opportunity for impacting poverty at its roots. 

UUSC is working strategically to promote workers rights in the Gulf Coast region as a joint project between our Economic Justice and Rights in Humanitarian Crises programs.  The Service Committee is building on the synergies between program areas, yet we are also deepening this impact by collaborating with other organizations. 

UUSC and Oxfam America recently organized and co-sponsored a convening of local and national groups addressing workers rights in the Gulf. Over 50 advocates from 27 local, regional, and national organizations came together in Hammond, La., to update each other, strategize, and explore common approaches for addressing ongoing worker abuses. Read more at "Treadmarks of the Oppression" and "Plight of Gulf Workers Fuels Rights Groups Gathering."

The objectives of the conference were to:

• Provide a forum for information-sharing among various local, regional and national groups; supporting workers rights in the Gulf Coast rebuilding process;
• Support a comprehensive understanding about the ongoing and emerging needs of workers in the Gulf, and to learn about the current work of organizations currently working to address these issues;
• Map the range of issues affecting reconstruction workers in the Gulf Coast, and explore a common analysis of how to organize the most effective response to worker abuses.
• Provide potential funders who are committed to supporting workers rights in the Gulf with a clearer picture about what is happening locally, regionally, and nationally;
• Envision how local groups and allied coalitions can work together to build a social change movement on behalf of worker rights.

The day-long convening included a keynote address on "Bridging the Racial Divide" by Rep. James Evans of the Mississippi State Legislature, and a panel discussion on "Defending Rights and Empowering Workers" led by Charese Jordan, deputy director of Interfaith Worker Justice; Doris Koo, Gulf Coast liaison for Enterprise Community Partners; Gerry Hudson, international executive vice president of SEIU; and Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Facilitating the convening was Dr. Phil Thompson, a long-time activist and professor of urban studies and planning at MIT.