On September 15th, Thivya met with unions and worker center leaders in Florida to discuss gender-based violence and harassment in the work\place.

The meeting was the first stop in Thivya’s virtual speaking tour to cities across the United States in support of the Justice for Jeyasre campaign. Central Florida Jobs with Justice, Dream Defenders, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Policy Institute, Florida Student Power Network, Miami Workers Center, United for Respect, WeCount!, and SEIU 1199 all came out virtually to discuss strategies for organizing against retaliation and gender-based violence and harassment, and to learn about the Justice for Jeyasre campaign.

The Florida groups shared the prevalence of gender-based violence and harassment in many sectors they organize in including agriculture, highlighting the barriers to organizing that farmworkers and undocumented workers face in doing so. In addition, Florida groups organizing in rural and often isolated areas face similar challenges as TTCU, whose base is in a rural area of Tamil Nadu where the garment industry has expanded in recent years. 

Florida groups pledged their solidarity with the Justice for Jeyasre campaign — as did TTCU for Florida workers in their struggles.