At Northwest Workers Justice Project, we believe that legal strategies can do more than win cases — they can strengthen the organizing that leads to long-term, transformative change. This year, our team has worked closely with partners at PCUN, Alianza Poder, and Centro de Servicios para Campesinos (Centro) to do just that: center worker voices and build collective power.
From Walk-Ins to Wins
Our Worker Leadership Coordinator, Nicthé Verdugo, and Staff Attorney, Laurie Hoefer, have spent the past year deepening this collaboration — meeting workers where they are, literally. During their walk-in hours at Centro and PCUN offices in Woodburn, they’ve created a welcoming space for workers to share their experiences and strategize together.
Laurie describes what success can look like there:
“For me, the big wins are when a worker comes in, and they're not getting their sick days or they're not able to get paid leave. And we work with them on how to approach management or to provide a letter to the employer. And when they get the leave, they go back to an improved workplace.
To me, that's a huge win because it’s the worker’s own voice that makes it happen.”
Trust as the Foundation for Change
Through supporting programs like PCUN’s Defensores de Derechos Laborales (“Labor Rights Defenders”), Nicthé and Laurie have seen transformation unfold in real time. Defensores is a six-week leadership development program that gives workers grounding in workplace rights and organizing, preparing them to plug into the next phase of PCUN’s strategies.
Nicthé reflects,
“What we've seen from the first session to the latest one is that people have grown in confidence — they trust their cohort and know this is a safe space to share their thoughts and experiences. They’re making their own assessments and bringing ideas for strategies they want to pursue.”
These moments of confidence and connection are at the heart of how NWJP approaches worker justice. Many people come to us believing that the only path forward is legal — to file a claim, call an attorney, or look for a remedy in the law. While enforcing the law is essential, we know that lasting change happens when workers organize.
Listening, Partnering, and Building Power
That’s why NWJP’s legal team works hand in hand with organizers and worker leaders. Together, we explore a range of strategies — from legal action to collective advocacy to workplace organizing — so that workers can choose the path that best reflects their vision of justice.
As Nicthé and Laurie describe it, our role is to listen first, then partner with workers to imagine the path forward. Whether it’s coaching someone to speak up, helping a group draft a letter to management, or strategizing with our allies, we’re reminded every day that economic justice grows from relationships, courage, and collective action.
As we move toward the end of the year, we hold close the hope and complexity of this work — and the power of workers leading the way.