Aspiring citizens in New York City are not going anywhere after Superstorm Sandy devastated parts of the region. They are pitching in to help rebuild what was lost. Latino workers and day laborers organized themselves with assistance from El Centro del Inmigrante, which advocates for the economic advancement and well-being of immigrant workers and their families, to form the the Staten Island Day Laborer Hurricane Relief Brigade and other cleanup volunteer groups. Day laborers have volunteered to clean up New York City neighborhoods, including restaurants affected in Coney Island.

In a historic move to strengthen advocacy and mobilization efforts for day laborers, domestic workers and all working people, the Graton Day Labor Center today formally affiliated with the North Bay Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

The partnership announcement fittingly comes on May Day, International Workers’ Day, when working people across the country and around the world are highlighting and celebrating the contributions of workers every day and the role immigrants play in our economy.

"Immigration policy is work policy,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) conference in Los Angeles this morning.

Saying “a worker is a worker,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), and several taxi drivers from New York City today told the AFL-CIO Executive Council they want to be a part of the national labor federation.

In a historic move, the AFL-CIO today signed new, separate partnership agreements with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the National Guestworkers’ Alliance. The landmark agreements outline a framework for the groups to partner around issues of organizing, winning rights for excluded workers and building long-term relationships. The new partnership agreements kicked off the three-day Excluded Workers Congress in New York City.