Abstract
There are increasing numbers of undocumented Latinos living in every part of the country. In some places, like the rural northeast, they are living well beyond the bounds of sheltering Latino communities. As workers forced to take the lowest-paying jobs, they lack political, economic, and social power to press claims with their employers directly, through public pressure, or through established political channels. As profit from their labor has increased, so have advocacy efforts to combat their exploitation. An emergent sector of community-based advocacy organizations called worker centers, operating outside the National Labor Relations Board structure, has sought to improve conditions for these undocumented immigrants and other low-wage workers. Worker centers tend to cater to low-wage, immigrant workers who are excluded, for one reason or another, from the purview of the union organizer.