Team
Ammad Rafiqi
Staff Attorney, Workers' Rights
Ammad Rafiqi
Staff Attorney, Workers' Rights
Prior to joining ALC’s Workers’ Rights team, Ammad worked as a civil rights advocate serving members of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities on a broad range of issues, including employment discrimination/unemployment insurance benefits, religious accommodation issues, law enforcement harassment and anti-Muslim bullying in schools. Through previous roles, Ammad also has experience from his time in New York (and Canada) on immigration matters, including refugee, asylum, and DACA issues. A native of Kashmir, Ammad works with Americans for Kashmir to engage political stakeholders in finding a permanent internationally mediated solution to the Indian-occupation of Kashmir. In his spare time, Ammad plays in cricket/soccer leagues and often finds that most of his planned hikes are far beyond his lung capacity.
Mei Mei Chan
Community Advocate, Workers' Rights
Mei Mei Chan
Community Advocate, Workers' Rights
Mei Mei is a Community Advocate with the Workers’ Rights Program where she supports the legal counseling clinic and works on “Know Your Rights” trainings and materials.
She was born in Kaiping, Guangdong and grew up in Bakersfield as the child of low-wage immigrant workers. Her experience living as a first generation immigrant household is one of Mei Mei's reasons for her commitment to social justice. Another reason is her desire to survive in a world headed towards climate disaster. In her free time, she maintains her morning pages streak and studies peoples' movements against U.S. imperialism.
Winifred Kao
Senior Counsel, Impact Litigation & Program Manager, Workers' Rights
Winifred Kao
Senior Counsel, Impact Litigation & Program Manager, Workers' Rights
Our Focus
Fair pay, full benefits, and freedom from retaliation and discrimination in the workplace are key to economic security. We have a long history of helping low-wage immigrant workers get justice on a wide range of workplace issues, from race and national origin discrimination to retaliation and workplace safety. In partnership with worker centers and community organizations, we are supporting workers across the Bay Area to assert their rights, win back wages, and organize for better workplaces.
- We represent workers and worker centers organizing for just pay, fair treatment, and safe working conditions through impact litigation, direct services, legislative advocacy, and our counseling clinic.
- We advocate for government agencies to provide resources for workers, no matter what language they speak or read.
- We produce know-your-rights and in-language materials to help workers advocate for themselves and hold employers to account.
Yank Sing workers gather after an organizing meeting with the Asian Law Caucus and Chinese Progressive Association.