HISTORY
The boom in construction and clean-up work after Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures in 2005 created a new demand for workers in New Orleans. Workers came from all over the country and the world to help in these mostly low-wage jobs. The new job were followed quickly by stories of abuse – the most common abuse was the failure of employers to pay workers for their labor. The work – an
d the abuse – served to expose the long-present reality of low-wage workers in New Orleans. In response, several organizations came forward to respond to this crisis. Among them were the Loyola College of Law, Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans—Hispanic Apostolate Community Services, and, eventually, the Pro Bono Project. Loyola quickly set up the Workplace Justice Project and Catholic Charities established its Workers’ Rights Initiative. In 2007, a Loyola graduate who had assisted with this work went to work for the Pro Bono Project, bringing them into the partnership. Initially, each agency took wage claims in various locations, and began communicating and working together to leverage resources. This collaboration eventually led to a formal partnership between the three. In January 2008, the Wage Claim Clinic (WCC) began operating in its current form, creating a central point of entry for wage claims, through a weekly clinic. The three partners worked together for several years, each contributing distinct roles and resources to the operation of the Wage Claim Clinic. Loyola and Pro Bono managed all legal aspects of the claims, volunteers, and Student Practitioners. Catholic Charities provided case management and outreach support. In the summer of 2011, following structural changes within the Pro Bono Project and Catholic Charities, the Wage Claim Clinic was institutionalized as part of the Workplace Justice Project section of the Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice within the Loyola College of Law, where it has found a permanent home. The Wage Claim Clinic is now a central part of the larger mission of the Workplace Justice Project, which seeks to educate workers and the community about worker rights issues, to litigate cases of unpaid wages, and to advocate for just working conditions and for remedies for unpaid wages. The Workplace Justice Project thanks our funders, whose generous support makes our work possible: W.K.Kellogg Foundation, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana Bar Foundation, Foundation for Louisiana, Baptist Community Ministries.
