D. Dale
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D. Dale 2003 fellow
Bold Idea
Protect the rights of low-wage, immigrant, and contingent workers in the Pacific Northwest by providing high-quality legal services and trainings.
Organization
In this current time, when relative minimum wages are falling, international trade is depressing wages, and welfare reform is pushing women into low-wage jobs, employers have adopted subcontracting and temporary employment strategies, often hiring immigrant workers. In response to these shifting economic and employment trends, there is a critical need for immigrant workers to protect themselves. The Northwest Worker’s Justice Program provides high-quality legal services, organizing assistance, and trainings to protect the rights of low-wage, immigrant, and contingent workers; mitigate the effects of international trade; and build partnerships with labor unions and other non-traditional funders of legal services.
Biography
D. Michael Dale worked for 25 years as a legal services attorney in Oregon, directing its migrant program. In 1995, when federally funded legal services were restricted from representing undocumented individuals and from class action litigation, Michael helped establish the Oregon Law Center to meet those needs. He has litigated and won significant cases involving minimum wage law, immigration rights, and workers compensation in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Oregon appellate courts.
