Andolan (Organizing South Asian Workers) Records

Andolan (Organizing South Asian Workers) is a non-governmental, membership-based group in New York City that organizes and advocates on behalf of South Asian immigrant workers, with particular focus on Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Nepalese, and Sri Lankan laborers in the retail, food service, and domestic work industries, many of whom are women.

Founded in 1998 by low-wage South Asian workers, Andolan’s goal is to support and empower working-class communities to realize their rights and overcome obstacles including language barriers, discrimination, immigration status, and gaps in social services.

Andolan’s major program areas include providing support to workers, promoting legal advocacy, and community campaigning through meetings, educational workshops, referrals for medical assistance, counseling, and translation services. The group supports members navigating the legal challenges against abusive employers for wage violations, sexual harassment, assault, domestic violence, and imprisonment.

Materials in this collection include photographs of members and events, administrative office records, organizational brochures and press kits, event files, financial records, funding resource files with applications and correspondence, and banners used during demonstrations. A large portion of the collection consists of legal aid files related to wage compensation, political asylum, and domestic violence.

To learn more about the contents of the Andolan (Organizing South Asian Workers) Records, located at the NYU Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, view the collection’s finding aid.

Image: Photograph of Andolan members at a demonstration, 1992-2012, undated; Andolan (Organizing South Asian Workers) Records; WAG.354; Box: 2; Folder: 10; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.