Línea Laboral Reaches Out to Woodside Community
Sunday, October 28, 2012
On Sunday, Línea Laboral operator Rebecca Rybaltowski spoke to parishioners and community residents at St. Sebastian’s Church in Woodside, Queens. Following the church’s Spanish Mass, Rebecca gave a brief presentation about Línea Laboral, the toll-free worker’s rights hotline operated by Catholic Migration Services, the NY and US Departments of Labor, the NYC Comptroller’s Office, and the Consulates General of Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, El Salvador, and Honduras.
(left to right) Immigration counselor Marisol Canales and Línea Laboral Operators Rebecca Rybaltowski and Evelyn Ligardo at the CMS services table.
Línea Laboral provides a safe venue for workers to ask questions, raise their concerns, report abuses, and learn about their workplace rights. During the presentation, Rebecca explained worker’s rights with regard to minimum wage, overtime, and health and safety conditions in the workplace. She also discussed the services that Línea Laboral provides, particularly in filing complaints on clients’ behalf with the U.S. and New York State Departments of Labor.
After Mass, Rebecca, along with Evelyn Ligardo (fellow Línea Laboral operator) and Marisol Canales (immigration counselor), set up a table in the church to provide parishioners with more information about Línea Laboral and Catholic Migration’s housing and immigration services.
It was particularly important for the Línea Laboral team to reach out to the Woodside community, since the majority of calls to the hotline come from Woodside, Corona, Jackson Heights, and Jamaica. Línea Laboral will continue reaching out to parishes in these communities and throughout Brooklyn and Queens.
Línea Laboral: 1-877-52-LABOR (52267)
Article by Rebecca Rybaltowski, Línea Laboral Operator and Maureen Hussain, Immigrant Workers Rights Program Coordinator/Employment Attorney