Workers Defense Project began in 2002 as a small legal aid project that helped low-wage and immigrant workers recover unpaid wages from employers. By 2006, WDP understood that to address the systemic problems that affected its members, 80% of whom worked in construction, it needed to develop innovative organizing models that raise standards for low-income workers, while also serving workers traditionally excluded from organizing efforts, like immigrants and day laborers. WDP focused its organizing efforts on the Texas construction industry and, through its work, began to change the practices that led so many of its members to experience workplace problems. Throughout its history, Workers Defense Project has achieved widespread gains for low-wage workers in Texas.