Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance Works to Keep People Safe and Empowered

Los Angeles, CA. Executive Director Alexandra Suh (seen above) of KIWA (Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance) has announced in July of the organization’s support for establishing Public Health Councils in LA workplaces in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As coronavirus cases continue to increase in LA, the LA Board of Supervisors approved a motion on July 21 that would allow worker-led health councils to be established to help monitor the safety of active workplaces.

The Department of Public Health in LA County were quickly overwhelmed with enforcing citations on businesses that did not follow the guidelines. With nearly hundreds of citations and thousands of more businesses to monitor, another proposal arose in September for the Board of Supervisors. for worker-led public health councils was announced to the LA Board of Supervisors with one major upgrade of allowing third-party organizations to assist in education,

KIWA has established itself as one of the first worker centers in the United States and opened its doors only two months before the 1992 LA Riots took place.

The organization’s foundational focus was to address “worker exploitation” among Koreatown workers.

Koreatown is known as the densest neighborhood in Los Angeles with populations predominantly made up of Koreans and Hispanics. The average income is comparably low to the rest of the city and the nonprofit started to bring these issue in the forefront of the LA Board of Supervisors.

KIWA began its mission by compensating Korean and Hispanic workers and business owners who were affected by the damages from the aforementioned civil unrest in 1992.

After nearly three decades KIWA continues to strongly campaign for a variety of city and neighborhood issues aimed to help disadvantaged working populations. addressing gentrification, ICE raids, and underpaid immigrant workers.

Recently, the organization has teamed up with other nonprofits to advocate and organize public health councils to monitor the health and safety of workers. The policy proposed to the LA Board of Supervisors would help monitor any instances of violation of CDC guidelines in the workplace and would be reported to the Department of Public Health to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to LA citizens.

It is important to note that Los Angeles cases are increasing daily with roughly 1,000 more each day in the city alone as “pandemic fatigue” continues to settle in. The Public Health Council website has a counter of the numbers of cases updated every few days.

KIWA has a history of supporting causes that affect the city of Los Angeles and its county. The Healthy LA Coalition is one example

From KIWA: Workers for Justice:

Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)’s mission is to empower Koreatown’s immigrant workers in low-wage industries for dignity and respect in the workplace and community, and to work together with other communities to realize a vision of a just Los Angeles.  One of the nation’s most established workers centers, KIWA is one of few community groups organizes both Korean and Latino workers. Our vision is to bring together workers, community members, and students in a broad, multi-ethnic coalition.