About This Project
Labor Center Welcome!
The labor movement and its community allies are constantly working to strengthen and build on our rights at work – fighting and winning protections at the local, state and federal levels. We at the Labor Center teach workers about the rights that have been won. One of our goals is to ensure that each worker has access to good tools to learn about their rights at work, how to protect those rights, and what resources are available to help.
This 5th Edition of the Workers Rights Manual has a new focus–the five basic rights that all workers should enjoy at their workplaces. There are literally hundreds of laws affecting employment and work, enforced (or not enforced) by local, state and federal government agencies. Most of them fall under one of the five categories this manual highlights:
- The Right To Be Paid
- The Right To Care For Yourself And Your Family
- The Right To Be Free Of Discrimination
- The Right To Be Safe At Work
- The Right To Organize
In addition, we have tried to make information on workers’ rights easier to access and easier to use. By using this new framework, and by moving the manual to a mobile- friendly website, we can help ensure that this information travels far and wide
On behalf of the Labor Center and our community and labor partners, we thank working people worldwide and throughout history who fight and sacrifice for the rights of us all.
Adair Dammann, Director
Washington State Labor Education and Research Center
South Seattle College
Intro to the 5th Edition
This online version of the Workers’ Rights Manual is written to be an easy-to-use reference guide to workplace rights covered by federal, state and local laws. However, this is not a substitute for legal advice. If you need practical legal assistance, please contact an attorney or one of the community services listed in the resources chapter at the end of the manual.
If you want a copy of this manual, and are unable to download and print it from the website, or if you want your organization added to the resource section, please contact us at the Labor Center. The Labor Center takes no responsibility for any content in the linked materials.
We hope this latest online guide is useful–please give us feedback using the comment form at RightsAtWorkWA.org.
David West
Washington State Labor Education and Research Center
South Seattle College
About the Washington Labor Education and Research Center
The mission of the Washington State Labor Education and Research Center is to deliver high-quality research, education and training programs for the working women and men of Washington State. In addition to publishing this manual/website, the Labor Center builds the skills, confidence and knowledge workers need to improve their work lives and their communities, and promote a just economy through collective action. As a unique program within higher education in the state, we use the best practices of adult education to serve our dynamic and diverse labor force.
The Washington State Labor Education and Research Center
SCC Georgetown Campus
6737 Corson Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108, Building B Room 106
Phone: 206.934.6671
Website: http://WaLaborCenter.org
