Workers Defense Project

In North Texas, Workers Defense Project (WDP) is leading the charge to create safer, fairer workplaces for Texas’s hardworking construction industry. We stand up for workers facing wage theft and unsafe conditions, providing essential legal support to reclaim what’s rightfully theirs and holding employers accountable. Our mission is to uplift and protect North Texas’s essential and immigrant workers through dedicated programs that drive real change.

Here’s how we make a difference:

1.) Employment & Legal Services (ELS): Provides direct legal support to low-wage workers facing serious workplace issues, helping them recover wages and address injustices.
2.) Organizing: Empowers workers through education, advocacy, and leadership development to drive systemic change.
3.) Better Builder®: Promotes safer and fairer job sites through advocacy and certification.

4.) Policy: Works to improve conditions for working and immigrant families across Texas by advocating for higher standards in the construction industry and beyond.

In 2023, Workers Defense Project made great progress for our community. Some of our greatest accomplishments include:

- Recruiting more than 113 new members to join Workers Defense Project and reactivating more than 500 members to re-engage with Workers Defense Project, growing our total membership base of essential immigrant/undocumented workers to over 6,000 statewide!

- Graduated 20 new leaders from our Leadership Class.

- Recovered $14,683 in unpaid wages and compensation for injuries.

- Supported 325 workers with legal advice, referrals, resources and/or legal support for employment rights issues

- Improved conditions for 4,957 construction workers through Better Builder®.

- Ensured OSHA training for 31.4% and workers' compensation for 31.9% of workers on Better Builder® sites.

- Addressed 433 safety violations and recovered $1,212 in owed wages on Better Builder® sites.

- Secured Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) protections for members in Austin facing wage theft and retaliation.

Addressing the Crisis:

In Texas, up to half of the construction workforce is immigrant labor. Texas, in particular, sees a construction worker fatality every 3 days, making it the most dangerous state for construction labor. To address this, Workers Defense launched a comprehensive study in 2023 to update our previous research on construction working conditions. Led by our Better Builder® program, this study will assess conditions in major Texas cities, providing essential data for policymakers and organizers. We plan to survey hundreds of workers across different construction sectors by the end of 2024.

How You Can Help:

Workers Defense Project's funding priorities in 2024 include:

DEFENDING OUR FAMILIES: Continue to challenge discriminatory laws like SB4 and provide essential Know Your Rights training to over 29,000 immigrants.

EMPLOYMENT AND LEGAL SERVICES: Helps victims of wage theft and workplace injuries regain the pay or compensation that is rightfully theirs. This year, the program aims to recover at least $20,000 in judgements/settlement agreements for 25 WDP members who have experienced workplace abuses.

ORGANIZING: Provides workers' rights education and OSHA-certified safety training to over 2,000 low-wage Latinx workers annually. This year, the program aims to recruit 300 new members, graduate 25 new leaders from our Leadership Institute, involve 25 members in worker committees, provide basic workers' rights education to at least 1,000 individuals, and graduate 35 individuals from our OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 safety training courses.

BETTER BUILDER AND POLICY: Aims to improve the lives of working people across Texas by advocating for higher standards in the construction industry and beyond. This year, the program aims to provide at least 5,000 construction workers with better, safer jobs as a result of the Better Builder program's local, state and national advocacy efforts.

"Support Workers Defense Project: Empowering Workers, Improving Lives"