Our Work in Orange County

Demanding economic justice for all and committed to change, CLUE organizes and mobilizes the community to create an economy that works for all, regardless of age, ethnicity, immigration status, experience with law enforcement, gender, sexual orientation, educational background, or any of myriad ways people are categorized and disenfranchised along the way.  Since 2005 when CLUE first came to Orange County, the organization has strived to empower workers and community members better their lives and those of the community.

Whether Disney workers or the immigrant rights campaigns, CLUE is profoundly pro-immigrant.  The documentation status of immigrant workers has had perhaps the greatest impact on the well-being of area low-wage workers.  Seeing the exploitative trends in the workplace against immigrants, especially hotel workers, carwasheros, and port truck drivers, CLUE from its inception has embarked on efforts to fundamentally improve the economic outcomes of immigrant families, participating in close partnership with congregations and immigrant rights groups. CLUE organizers have endeavored to lift up working conditions and the experience of hard-working Orange County residents, with an emphasis on immigrants.  Specifically this past year, CLUE has convened the broader network of faith-based organizations to address the crisis of Central American unaccompanied minors arriving at our southern border.  CLUE has coordinated the efforts of direct service providers, legal and social service providers, welcoming congregations, and denominational efforts, to alleviate the suffering of these children and their families. 

Worker justice is the chief cornerstone of our ongoing work.  CLUE joined the effort to support Disney workers during their negotiations with Disneyland. After years of struggle, the employees finally won a new contract that included increased wages, a choice of affordable health care benefits, decreased, safe workloads for housekeepers, and job security, as well as seniority for both part time and full time employees. The fierce campaign was marked by a hunger strike, a walkout, a one-day strike, arrests and dozens of protests, engaging countless Orange County clergy and lay leaders in the struggle.

Currently, the fight for fairness and dignity in the workplace has brought us into direct contact with workers from the El Super Grocery stores.  Workers have demanded more paid sick days, respect in howthey are addressed on the floor and how hours are distributed (workers allege that weekly schedules can change with little notice). El Super refuses to bargain in good faith, and despite National Labor Relations Board victory after victory, with two years of working without a renewed contract, workers demand that the company stop the delays and finalize a contract.  CLUE has prayed, marched, delegated, and even engaged in civil disobedience in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties to support these workers, and will continue to do so until their contract is finalized and until they allow a fair process at their non-union stores.

In Anaheim, CLUE leaders currently play an active role in ensuring that the California Voting Rights Act—which demands that all communities with sizeable populations are represented within municipalities such as cities—be observed in the city.  Key clergy and community leaders have successfully advocated for the establishment of “the people’s [district] map” that ensures broader inclusion of the Latino residents of Anaheim.  The decision marks a crucial victory for the citizens of the city, who are entitled to more representation in a city government historically controlled by Disneyland and other players in the tourism industry. The map carves the city into six districts and requires council candidates to live in those districts as they campaign for council. Supporters said it perfectly balanced the interests of the city by not dividing communities of interest and neighborhoods between districts.

In Santa Ana, CLUE is actively engaged with the Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities efforts of The California Endowment, serving as a catalyst for community transformation. Our focus areas—Equity for All and Restorative Justice—are two of the three key realms of this collaborative effort. The Restorative Justice work challenges the traditional “school to prison pipeline,” and our Economic Justice work is ensuring that new Santa Ana development is accompanied by community benefits that uplift the entire community.

In Irvine, where the City Council there voted 4-1 to eliminate a living wage for city contract workers (the only known example of decreasing wages in all of California), religious leaders jumped into action to organize a referendum opposing the mean-spirited actions of a spiteful council.  Only event co-host and Irvine Councilmember Beth Krom opposed this attack on working people, but deeply engaged religious leaders such as Paul Tellstrom, Paige Eaves, and keynote speaker Mark Whitlock spoke eloquently and forcefully against the unchristian actions taken by the council in the name of Christianity.  Every one of these leaders deserves an award for their commitment to what is right and just.