The Wage Theft Project
Yuchen Wu, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design
Collaborators: Mikayla Misiak, LSA; Tanjina Saeed, LSA; Christian Loredo-Duran, Public Policy; Dr. Tiffany Ball: Lecturer, Women’s and Gender Studies; Emilia Young, Assistant Professor, Stamps; Ian Robinson, Huron Valley Worker Organizing and Research Center (HV-WORC)
My project will be a documentary that focuses on the topic of worker rights and wage theft issues, about 20 minutes in length. The central part of the video features three students who are working on “the wage theft project”, a collaboration with the Huron Valley Working Organizing and Research Center to survey Ann Arbor local restaurant staff on their wage condition and help workers learn about their rights under Michigan’s changing wage laws.
The documentary will capture their learning and growth in leading community change works as they navigate through various challenges. Moreover, the documentary will incorporate a holistic introduction of work rights and wage theft issues to provide context, as well as providing interviews that feature Ann Arbor local restaurant staff, restaurant owners, educators, social workers and organizers, who would provide different perspectives and stories on the topic.
The project is a collaboration between three main disciplines: art & filmmaking, social work & community action, feminist leadership.
Feminist leadership is the heart of the project. Me and my other two collaborators, Mikayla and Tanjina, met though WGS 351: leading feminism this semester. Feminist leadership is a leadership that incorporates the vision of social justice and transformation in their work, and that’s why we decided to work on the wage theft project to advocate for worker rights. We also decided that our project and collaboration will use a process-oriented approach — as much as we value the final deliverable, we also believe that how we work together and work with community members are equally important. We will strive to apply the skills we learned in the class: power sharing among group members, group decision-making, transparent and respectful communication, open-mindedness, compassion, joy, and mutual learning.
Social work is the bones and flesh of our project. The documentary will feature these students’ learning and growth in leading community change works as they navigate through various challenges. Footages include but are not limited to their on-site surveying process, flash interviews, team meeting and debrief, practicing effective communication, participation in the Ginsberg Center on anti-racist community engagement workshop. These detailed footages dig into the nuts and bolts of community work, and how students could be involved. We will also connect with social workers to talk about their ongoing efforts in advocating and protecting worker rights.
Finally, art & filmmaking gives a solid shape to all our ideas and actions. There are a lot of people doing great, difficult works, fighting for change, but rarely are these stories featured, documented, and discussed. Through documentary, the impact would be first raising more awareness and conversations on worker rights and wage theft issues locally; and second to demonstrate how students can take on leadership in community action and social change through an anti-racism, feminist way of engagement, thus encouraging more people to become change agents.
About the Team
Yuchen Wu majors in art and design (Stamps) and minor in Gender, race, and nation (LSA) & community action and social change (School of social work). She has experience with research, interviewing, documentary filmmaking, and social work. She will be leading the filming and editing process.
Mikayla Misiak majors in Environment (LSA) and Urban Studies(LSA) and minor in urban planning (Taubman). She has taken courses in journalism and will lead in conjuring interview questions and conducting interviews.
Tanjina Saeed majors in Women and Gender Studies (LSA). She will be leading the wage theft surveying project.
Christian Loredo-Duran majors in public policy (Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy) and minor in Latina/o Studies & Music & Law, Justice, & Social Change. He will be researching and reaching out to restaurant staff, social workers, educators and other people to be subjects for the documentary.