Home - Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project

One comes here thinking we are going to find a better life. We trust in the promises that our employers make us, but then it turns out they are false. I would never have moved forward with the case if FLAP had not stood by me every step of the way.
Gloria
Former Client
Some people might think a week’s pay that we never received is not worth a lawsuit. That money, however, is the only source of sustenance that my family and I have for the next month. FLAP understood this and helped us fight for our rights.
Jesus
Former Client
I used to think that legal rights were only for the benefit of people with money. But FLAP did not ask me for any money; all they asked for was my trust. The fact that FLAP staff spoke Spanish made me feel comfortable. Now I know that the laws are not made just for the rich and that I too can fight for my rights.
Miguel
Former Client
I like the fact that FLAP will visit us in the fields and in the nursery and see the real conditions under which we work. You taste the water we have to drink; you see the bathrooms we have to use. Seeing FLAP staff in the middle of the field under the burning sun, talking to us about our rights really made me want to trust them
Anonymous
Nursery Worker & Former Client

Educated more than 1 million low-income Latinx workers on their legal rights – an average of 100,000 workers per year
Partnered with more than 150 organizations, including Consulates, law firms and foundations, to improve working conditions in Illinois
Distributed more than 2.6 million of community outreach and education material with resources and legal information
Delivered more than 25,000 “Know Your Rights” presentations – an average of 8 per day
Received more than 80,000 telephone calls from workers requesting assistance
Filed 210 lawsuits in federal and state courts – 90% representing multiple workers
Sent 86 demand letters in the name of very low-income workers and their households in the following industries: cannery, farms, greenhouse, landscaping, meat, nursery, packinghouse, poultry, restaurants and snow plowing
Recovered almost 5.0 million dollars in back wages and damages for the workers
During the COVID-19, FLAP has secured cash donations for 2,730 very low-income Latinx individuals making an impact on roughly 16,380 family members for a total of $1,459,084 in cash distribution
45,158 Personnel Protective Equipment has been distributed. Of those 26,780 went directly to Illinois’ Farmworkers and 4,052 to immigrant children