The Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa hosted a local dance on Tuesday to promote workers’ rights.

The gathering took place at the Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., and was the third and last of the “Dance with CWJ” events. Many locals gathered and enjoyed food, dancing, socializing, and music provided by local music group Tropicante.

“We think this event is a way to educate our community,” Executive Director Rafael Morataya said. “It’s a way to connect with our community.”

However, the group’s main purpose is to celebrate the new community ID design. Morataya said the ID, which people use to identify themselves in lieu of a state-issued ID, had its two-year anniversary this past July, prompting the three center dance events on June 27, July 25, and Tuesday.

Daniela Bularzik, an intern at the center and a social-work major, admires the issues the center supports, specifically the community ID.

“The community ID is such a great solution for those who can’t sign up for a bank account or things like that due to poverty and other circumstances,” Bularzik said. “The way that the center approaches things is really unique.”

Tropicante, a group that features upbeat music including sambas, cumbias, salsa tunes, and merengue, provided the music for the dance. It joined the event because the members wanted to raise awareness of the center and also because it’s personal to them; two of its members, Karin Stein and Ed East, are immigrants.

“Worker justice is a situation that should concern all of us,” Stein said. “We need anybody who’s willing to work and make this city and this state functional. It shouldn’t matter where they’re from, what their legal status is.”

Stein also emphasized the importance of protecting immigrants when they are the most vulnerable.

“It’s important to have organizations like the Center for Worker Justice to protect people who are vulnerable and afraid to ask for things that are their basic needs,” Stein said. “So [the center is] just the kind of organization that I like to associate my music with.”

East, a Panamanian immigrant and Stein’s musical partner, both in Tropicante and their other group, Calle Sur, expressed similar sentiments.

“I know it doesn’t look like it, and that’s the beauty of it, but I’m Latin American. I’m an immigrant,” East said. “And it’s concerning to think that the status of immigrants is a threat to others, to the point where they will exact abuses, simply because they know they can’t be prosecuted.”

The center hopes their efforts, and events like these, will raise awareness of issues workers are not allowed to address themselves. Most importantly, however, CWJ hopes they will inspire change in the local Iowa City community.

“We need to make sure our community moves forward,” Morataya said.

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