Workshop Description
“Day Laborers in Struggle/ Jornaleros en lucha” (2010) is a 30-minute documentary chronicling the struggle for civil rights in Orange and Costa Mesa. The City of Orange had the nation’s most anti-day laborer law (passed in 2007) until Arizona’s SB1070 passed in 2010. In spite of the City Council’s effort to deny these workers’ access to the economy, they have organized into two corners of resistance (Manzanita & Katella) and (Tustin and Taft). The City of Costa Mesa also passed an anti-day laborer law in 2005, which has been suspended since 2009 due to pending litigation which alleges that the policy is unconstitutional. The Tonantzin Collective is a plaintiff in this suit, and successfully overturned similar ordinances in Lake Forest and Mission Viejo in 2006 along with other community allies. This is a crucial free speech (1st Amendment) and human rights issue (Article 23 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights) that is current and extremely local. The workshop will include Q & A as well as the most recent updates.
Presenter Background
Scott Sink is a founding member of the Colectivo Tonantzin, an Orange County human rights organization started in 2004. The collective focuses on the indigenous people of the world and works to educate and raise consciousness about issues that affect all oppressed people. He is the coordinator of the Collective’s Community Self Defense Program and the Zapatista Coffee (Café para la Vida Digna) Campaign. Scott has a Masters Degree in Spanish Language and Literature from Cal State Fullerton and currently teaches High School Spanish in the Capistrano Unified School District.
