Biography

A nationally known expert on immigrant rights and low-wage workers, Victor Narro has been involved with immigrant rights and labor issues for over 30 years. Currently, Project Director for the UCLA Labor Center, Victor's focus is to provide leadership programs for Los Angeles's immigrant workers, policy and campaign planning for unions and worker centers, and internship opportunities for UCLA students. Victor is currently a Lecturer for the Labor and Workplace Studies Program at UCLA and Lecturer in Law at UCLA Law School, where he teaches a class entitled, Community Lawyering and Low Wage Worker Organizing. Victor was formerly the Co-Executive Director of Sweatshop Watch. Prior to that, he was the Workers Rights Project Director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) where he was involved with organizing day laborers, domestic workers, garment workers, and gardeners. Before his tenure at CHIRLA, Victor worked in the Los Angeles Regional Office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Among his many board memberships, Victor is a proud member of the Executive Board of the National Lawyers Guild's LA Chapter.

Over the past 30 years, Victor has worked with the Los Angeles labor movement on major immigrant worker policy and organizing campaigns with janitors, hotel workers, laundry workers, sanitation workers, port truckers, and more recently, the CLEAN Carwash Campaign. Victor is co-author of Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America's Cities (2008), and Wage Theft and Workplace Violations in Los Angeles (2010). He is also co-editor of Working for Justice: The L.A. Model of Organizing and Advocacy (Cornell University Press, 2010). More recently, Victor has become a leading voice for self-care and spirituality in the work for social justice through his new book, Living Peace: Connecting Your Spirituality with Your Work for Justice (CreateSpace Publication, 2014) and its Spanish translation, Paz en Accion Conecta tu espiritualidad con tu trabajo por la justicia social (2015). Victor just published a children's book about labor solidarity, Jimmy's Carwash Adventure (Hard Ball Press 2016). Victor is a contributing editor for Law@theMargins, where he anchors a monthly blog space called #FaithJustice.

Victor is happily married to Laureen Lazarovici, a long time labor activist and journalist.

Courses Taught

Spirituality, Mindfulness, Self-Care, and Social Justice Activism; Worker Center Movement: Next Wave Organizing for Justice for Immigrant Workers; Community Lawyering and Low-Wage Worker Organizing (UCLA Law School); and Public Solving in the Public Interest (UCLA Law School). LBR STDS M167, LBR STDS 177