Centro de Trabajadores Unidos

What Centro de Trabajadores Unidos does

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (CTU), also known as United Workers' Center, is a member-led, grassroots nonprofit worker center founded in 2008 and headquartered at 9805 S. Ewing Ave on Chicago's Southeast Side. The organization serves immigrant, Black, and Latino low-wage workers across the Southeast Side and south suburbs (including Calumet City, Blue Island, Harvey, and East Side), and operates an interconnected portfolio of programs rather than a single product: a Labor Organizing program, a Southeast Worker Cooperative Incubator (with at least three incubated cooperatives - Las Visionarias, Amora Clean, and Red Arrow Systems), a free Immigration Services Program covering DACA, asylum, U-Visa, VAWA, and removal defense, a quarterly Citizenship & Civic Education Program, a Parent Mentor Program operating across 7 partner schools, a free weekly Legal Clinic run in partnership with Beyond Legal Aid, and a Civic Engagement Program covering voter registration and policy advocacy.

CTU's service delivery model is human-led and community-embedded rather than technology-driven. Programs are delivered through direct in-person service at the SE Side office, mobile quarterly citizenship workshops, weekly legal clinics, and embedded parent mentors in schools. Tracked outcomes include over $3 million in stolen wages recovered for workers since inception, 147 community members assisted in becoming U.S. citizens, and 82% voter approval of the Calumet City $15 minimum wage referendum in 2017. The organization has co-founded multiple statewide coalitions (Just Pay for All in 2009, IWCA in 2015, ICCA in 2018) and co-authored legislation including the 2010 amendments to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and the 2019 HB3663 Limited Worker Cooperative Association Act.

CTU is funded primarily through individual donations (processed via PayPal), event fundraising (an annual dinner with ticket tiers of $5-$50 and sponsorship tiers of $100-$5,000, plus raffles for the community center capital campaign), and foundation/grant funding (including the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund administered by United Way of Metro Chicago and Chicago Community Trust, and the Woods Fund Emergency Fund). All direct services to community members - legal representation, citizenship application assistance, cooperative incubation - are provided free of charge. Leadership includes Executive Director Ana Guajardo and a team of program directors across organizing, immigration, legal clinic, cooperative development, parent mentoring, and civic engagement. A Southeast Side Community Center is under construction at the corner of 98th St and Ewing Ave, planned to provide office and community space, a workforce development industrial kitchen, and temporary housing for newly arrived immigrant families.

Name

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos

Legal name

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos

Website

https://centrodetrabajadoresunidos.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos is a member-led, grassroots nonprofit worker center founded in 2008 on Chicago's Southeast Side, serving immigrant and low-wage workers through labor organizing, worker cooperative incubation, free immigration legal services, citizenship classes, and a parent mentor program across 7 schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (6243), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ), Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment) (BPADAHAI), Workplace & Career Integration for Immigrants (Credentialing, Job Readiness) (EDAAADAE)

Keywords

• Worker center services
• Immigrant worker organizing
• Worker cooperative incubation
• Immigration legal services
• Community organizing advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations and Membership: Individual donations through PayPal and event fundraising including annual dinner celebrations and raffles. Sponsorship levels ranging from $100 to $5,000 for annual events.
2. Foundation and Grant Funding: Support from institutional funders including Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund (United Way of Metro Chicago and Chicago Community Trust), Woods Fund Emergency Fund, and other grantmaking organizations.
3. Community Center Construction Fundraising: Capital campaign to fund construction of southeast side community center, including raffle fundraisers for brand new vehicles.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos is a member-led grassroots worker center that organizes immigrant and low-wage workers to recover stolen wages, challenge workplace exploitation, and build collective power. It provides free legal services (labor, immigration, criminal records, housing), runs a worker cooperative incubator, offers citizenship preparation, and trains parent mentors — all at no cost to community members on Chicago's Southeast Side.

Product overview

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (CTU) is a member-led grassroots worker center offering a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a single unified product. The organization provides Labor Organizing services to help low-wage and immigrant workers recover stolen wages and challenge workplace exploitation. Its Southeast Worker Cooperative Incubator supports the formation of worker-owned cooperatives including Las Visionarias, Amora Clean, and Red Arrow Systems, and CTU co-founded the Illinois Worker Cooperative Alliance (IWCA) and Illinois Coalition for Cooperative Advancement (ICCA). The Immigration Services Program offers free legal assistance including DACA, asylum, and citizenship support, while the Citizenship & Civic Education Program helps permanent residents naturalize. The Parent Mentor Program trains mothers as classroom volunteers, and the Legal Clinic provides free legal representation for labor, immigration, criminal records, and housing matters. A Civic Engagement Program supports voter registration and policy advocacy. The organization is developing a Southeast Side Community Center featuring community space, an industrial kitchen for cooperative incubation, and temporary housing for immigrant families.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Southeast Worker Cooperative Incubator: A program started in 2014 to prepare and train members how to form and operate their own worker cooperatives on Chicago's Southeast Side.

Quantifiable outcome

• $3 million+ in stolen wages recovered for workers
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Beyond Legal AidcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to conduct free legal clinic for CTU members every Thursday. Beyond Legal Aid develops activism-based legal clinics in communities throughout the southeast side and south suburbs. Through an empowerment-based partnership model, CTU and Beyond Legal Aid provide community members with legal assistance while supporting collective organizing actions and campaigns.
• Community Enterprise & Solidarity Economy Clinic at UIC Law SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide comprehensive business development services to low-income, immigrant and Latino community members through the Southeast Worker Cooperative Incubator. UIC Law School provides legal and business expertise for cooperative formation.
• Chicago Food Policy Action CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Southeast Worker Cooperative Incubator providing support for cooperative business development serving low-income communities on Chicago's southeast side.
• Illinois Worker Cooperative Alliance (IWCA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTU is a co-founder of IWCA (2015) along with Chicago Community & Workers Rights, Domestic Worker and Day Laborer Center of Chicago, New Hope Rising, and The Co-op Ed Center. IWCA's mission is to support a worker-owned cooperative system that promotes economic stability and independence for workers and their communities.
• Illinois Coalition for Cooperative Advancement (ICCA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTU co-founded ICCA in 2018 as a statewide coalition including Catatumbo Cooperative Farm, Chicago Community & Workers' Rights, Chicago Food Policy Action Council, The Coop Ed Center, Las Visionarias, Upside Down Consulting, D@W Chicago, Domestic Worker and Day Labor Center, Englewood Village Farms, Grow Greater Englewood, John Marshall Law School, IWCA, LVEJO, Kola Nut Collaborative, New Era Windows, and Raise the Floor Alliance. Successfully passed HB3663: Limited Worker Cooperative Association Act in 2019.
• New Americans InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for quarterly citizenship workshops held in different locations throughout the South Side and South Suburbs. New Americans Initiative helps organize the workshops and connects applicants with resources.
• Parent Engagement InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to offer the Parent Mentor Program to schools on the Southeast Side starting in 2018. The program trains parent leaders to assist teachers in classrooms.
• ROC ChicagominorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for minimum wage advocacy and Calumet City One Fair Wage campaign. ROC Chicago provided support and guidance for the referendum campaign.
• Healthy IllinoisminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for advocacy work including lobbying in Springfield for HB1290 (wage theft recovery) and All Kids healthcare program.
• Raise the Floor AllianceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCoalition partner for advocacy to improve lives of Illinois working-class families including healthcare and wage issues.
• Local UnionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal unions provided generous support in the form of labor and building supplies for construction of CTU's southeast side community center.
• Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Power CoalitionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCoalition including Claretian Associates, Pilgrim Baptist Church, Alliance of the South East, South Chicago Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and CTU hosting nonpartisan candidate forums.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• CASA: Mid-Atlantic immigrant advocacy and worker organizing organization providing legal services, civic engagement, and worker rights education—comparable member-led immigrant services model.
• Working Hands Legal Clinic: Chicago-based legal clinic serving workers facing wage theft and exploitation—founding co-member of Just Pay for All with CTU, comparable legal-plus-organizing service model.
• Chicago Workers Collaborative: Chicago worker center and founding co-member with CTU of the Just Pay for All coalition, working on wage theft, minimum wage, and immigrant worker rights—directly comparable model and geography.
• Latino Union of Chicago: Chicago-based worker center organizing immigrant day laborers and domestic workers—founding co-member of Just Pay for All with CTU and overlapping heavily on immigrant worker organizing and cooperative development.
• Arise Chicago: Faith-based worker center in Chicago focused on low-wage and immigrant worker organizing, leadership development, and worker rights—operating in the same city and overlapping on labor organizing, know-your-rights training, and base-building.
• Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) Chicago: Restaurant industry worker center that partnered with CTU on the Calumet City One Fair Wage campaign—comparable worker center model targeting low-wage workers in a specific industry.
• Make the Road New York: Large member-led immigrant and worker center on the East Coast providing legal services, organizing, education, and workforce development—comparable integrated model to CTU at greater scale.

Emerging players

• Raise the Floor Alliance: Chicago-area coalition of worker centers and allies (including CTU's partner network) advancing policies for working-class families—comparable coalition structure and policy advocacy mission.
• Illinois Worker Cooperative Alliance (IWCA): Statewide coalition co-founded by CTU in 2015 to support worker-owned cooperatives—directly comparable economic justice and cooperative development mission.

Broad incumbents

• National Domestic Workers Alliance: National coalition advancing rights for domestic and care workers, of which CTU-style local worker centers are affiliates—comparable mission and constituency but operating at national policy and federation scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@centrodetrabajadores3169/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/CentroDeTrabajadoresUnidos
• Instagraminstagram.com/centrodetrabajadoresunidos
• Xx.com/ctu_iwp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centro-de-trabajadores-unidos-immigrant-workers-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centro de Trabajadores Unidos