Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez
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Cristina Tzintzún | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1982 (age 41–42) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin |
| Occupation | Labor organizer |
| Known for | Workers Defense Project, Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition |
| Awards | New Hero of Civil Rights, Texas Change Makers |
Cristina Tzintzún born in 1982 is a Chicana / Mexican American organizer, author, and co-founder of the Workers Defense Project. [1]
Biography
Cristina Tzintzún is bi-racial, her mother is from a rural farm working community in Michoacán, Mexico and her father is a white American who came to live in Mexico along with numerous other hippies in the 1960’s and 1970’s. [2] Cristina Tzintzún was born and raised in the state of Ohio where her parents ran a fair-trade Mexican jewelry business. [3] The family business required that the Tzintzun family live and travel to Mexico throughout Tzintzún’s life which gave her a unique perspective in living between U.S. and Mexico regarding the economic conditions that caused immigrant communities to migrate. Her parents were both progressive and encouraged their children to participate in various causes, especially with the Latino/a immigrant community. In High School, Cristina began organizing and working with the newly arrived Mexican immigrants in Ohio. [2]
Background
Cristina Tzintzún began organizing with Latino immigrant workers in 2000 in Columbus, Ohio and then moved to Texas where she helped found Workers Defense Project (WDP) and served as Executive Director from 2006 until 2016.[4]
Career
At Workers Defense Project (WDP), Cristina Tzintzún along with co-founder Emily Timm, led the organization to focus its efforts on the construction industry, the largest employer of undocumented labor in Texas. [1] She helped spearhead the organization’s efforts to organize workers in one-of the most hostile political climates for worker and immigrant organizing in the country. [1] Every 2.5 days a construction worker in Texas is killed on the job and one in five experience wage theft.[5]
In 2006, Tzintzún served as the lead coordinator of immigrant mobilizations in Austin, TX on April 10th (30,000 participants, the largest public demonstration in Austin history) [6] and May 1st (10,000 participants). May 1st was also a general strike, with the immigrant community told not to go to work, not to attend school and buy anything that day as a symbol of the economic strength of the immigrant community. It was estimated by some news reports that 60% of restaurants closed in Austin that day and 80% of construction sites. [6]
In 2008, she helped co-found the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition (AIRC) to bring together stakeholders across the city to advocate for the rights of immigrants. [6]
Cristina Tzintzún helped lead the organization to pass over half a dozen local ordinances and state laws better protecting the rights of hundreds of thousands of workers by combining grassroots organizing, strategic research and smart communications strategies. [6] She co-authored two reports on construction workers in Texas that resulted in a federal investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and led the agency to review 900 construction sites resulting in $2 million in fines[7]
Cristina Tzintzún created and developed the organization’s Better Builder Program that won construction workers living wages, higher safety standards, training and on-site enforcement by Better Builder monitors against some of the largest corporations in the world .[8] At the close of 2015, the Better Builder program had won agreements on nearly a billion worth of construction projects covering 10,000 workers. [9] One-quarter of workers surveyed on Better Builder sites reported receiving a raise from their last job, 38% reported receiving safety training for the first-time and and 30% reported receiving workers’ compensation coverage for the first time in their construction careers[10]
Honors and awards
In 2013, Tzintzún was selected by Southern Living Magazine as one of four honorees who represent the next generation of leaders and named her as the 2013 New Hero of Civil Rights.[11] As part of its 60th year anniversary The Texas Observer selected her as one of seven Texans who’ve helped change the state for the better.[12]
Published Works
Cristina Tzintzún is also an author on issues of race, gender and immigration her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, The Dallas Morning News and Al Jazeera and in the following books:
- Presente! Latino Immigrant Voices in the Struggle for Racial Justice" Co-Editor, AK Press, 2014 ISBN 978-1849351669
- “Build a Better Texas: Construction Working Conditions in the Lone Star State", University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Co-Author
- “Building a Better Nation: A Case for Comprehensive Immigration Reform” University of Texas at Austin, 2013
- “Building Austin, Building Injustice: Working Conditions in Austin’s Construction Industry” University of Texas at Austin, 2009
- “Killing Misogyny: A Personal Story of Love, Violence and Strategies for Survival” in: “Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape. Seal Press, 2008 ISBN 9781580052573
- “Colonize This!” in: Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, Edited by Daisy Hernández and Bushra Rehman. New York. Seal Press, 2002 ISBN 9781580050678
References
- ^ a b c "The Workers Defense Project, A Union in Spirit". New York Times. August 11, 2013.
- ^ a b “Colonize This!” in: Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, Edited by Daisy Hernández and Bushra Rehman. New York. Seal Press, 2002 ISBN 9781580050678
- ^ "Costello International".
- ^ "Time for a Change After a decade of fighting for immigrant worker rights in Austin, Cristina Tzintzún is going national".
- ^ Tzintzun, Cristina. "Build a Better Texas" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d Tzintzun, Cristina. "Presente!Latin@ Immigrant Voices in the Struggle for Racial Justice / Voces de Inmigrantes Latin@s en la Lucha por la Justicia Racial".
- ^ "The Workers Defense Project, A Union in Spirit".
- ^ "Time for a Change After a decade of fighting for immigrant worker rights in Austin, Cristina Tzintzún is going national".
- ^ "Better Builder Texas, Victories & Campaigns".
- ^ "Better Builder Texas".
- ^ "Southern Living, New Hero of Civil Rights".
- ^ "Change Makers".
Template:Persondata DEFAULTSORT: Tzintzún, Cristina Category:American activists Category:American organizer Category:Latina organizer Category:New Hero of the Civil Rights Category:American people of Mexican descent Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni Category:Latina author Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century women activist
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| This article, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
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