Linea Laboral

When a MVC staff member said at orientation that we shouldn’t set expectations about this year because our experiences would far surpass them, he wasn’t kidding. Working at the Catholic Migration Office (CMO) this year has been nothing like I expected. Being the Mercy Volunteer “guinea pig” at this office, I had no one to give me any background or feedback as to what this year was going to be like. However, at this point in the year, I can truthfully say that I am proud to be the first Mercy Volunteer at CMO and I’m excited to serve here for another year!!!

One of the best things that I’ve gotten to do at my job this year is to work with a smaller program called “Linea Laboral” (labor line) in our office in Sunnyside, Queens. This is a hotline that immigrants (99.% Hispanic) call if their bosses are treating them unfairly, paying them less than minimum wage (or not paying them at all), or who have been hurt on the job. My job is to write up their complaints which we send to the Department of Labor (both New York State and US) for review. In one case, after being treated unfairly for so long, a Mexican woman finally called our hotline in November 2011 to file a complaint. She and two other workers had been working in a party supply store in Woodside, Queens (ironically, where I live), making hundreds of piñatas a week. They were working for 11 hours a day and getting paid only about $3 an hour. Worst of all, these women were literally locked in the basement of this store and were not even allowed to use the bathroom. Because of their call to our office, their case is in court and their story has been covered by Telemundo and Univision (the two most prominent Spanish news channels in the country) as well as several local news stations. If you want to read more about the story, ClickHere.

Even though I didn’t specifically work on this case, I am proud that I work for this office that is helping so many people live better lives. I hope that next year, I will be able to help this program expand in order to reach even more people!

Becca Rybaltowski - Catholic Migration Office - New York, NY