Mia Butzbaugh

2003

Mia Butzbaugh

Northwest Workers' Justice Project

http://www.nwjp.org

Portland, Oregon, United States

Civil and Human Rights, Legal Advocacy

The Bold Idea:

Protecting the rights of low-wage, immigrant and contingent workers in the pacific northwest by providing trainings, organizing assistance, and legal services.

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:

After receiving her undergraduate degree, Mia Butzbaugh interned and then worked for Labor Notes, an organization in Detroit that is committed to building a democratic, inclusive, and responsive labor movement. She later graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2001 and cofounded the Northwest Workers' Justice Project in 2003.