Symposium: Building Bridges to Labor’s Community Allies
Marvin Bing, a member of the AFL-CIO Special Committee on Labor-Community Partnerships, sends us this report on a meeting of AFL-CIO constituency groups in Phoenix.
AFL-CIO constituency groups kicked off the “We Are One Moving America Forward” symposium late last week with a series of great speeches by William Lucy, Ben Jealous, George Gresham, Danny Ortega and Judith Browne-Dianis. A resounding theme: “We can’t let the 1 percent trick us into believing we are different—We are the 99 percent, we are one and if we don’t work together on issues that bring us together, we will fall together.” We are the people who fight for working families, we are the people who fight to protect our students, children, seniors and families. We are the labor movement and together with the community we are unbeatable.
Constituency members include: The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), Pride At Work (PAW), Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).
Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, closed the panel, “Organizing in Our Communities: How African Americans and Latinos Have Strength in Unity,” by saying: Read the rest of this entry »
APALA Members Join in Solidarity with Restaurant Workers
Katrina Dizon, president of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)-DC, sends us this.
APALA members joined a packed room at Eatonville Restaurant yesterday as the Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC-United) released its “Diners’ Guide 2012,” a booklet rating 150 of the most popular restaurants in the United States on a variety of workplace standards. Criteria include the restaurant’s high-road practices, the extent workers are tipped and non-tipped wages and access to paid sick leave and advancement opportunities.
The event was hosted by ROC-DC and brought together a panel of industry workers, high-road employers and consumers to talk about the importance of being an informed diner and supporting establishments that prioritize workers’ rights. ROC-DC leaders also spoke briefly about their new campaign against a well-known Washington, D.C., fine dining restaurant, Capital Grille, for various discrimination and wage theft allegations brought to their attention by former servers and current staff.
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders Not Immune from U.S. Jobs’ Crisis
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Emmelle Israel, AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, sends us this.
“Unemployed, Not Undeserving”—the first-ever congressional briefing on Asian American and Pacific Islander unemployment and job creation—yesterday brought to light issues of long-term unemployment, income inequality, and the need for bold jobs legislation as it relates to Asian American and Pacific Islander workers.
Sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), the briefing included Reps. Mike Honda and Judy Chu of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, who said applauded the briefing for lifting up Asian American and Pacific Islander voices into the national discussion on the jobs crisis.
Honda stressed the importance of “chiming up, chiming in” on the issues:
Unemployment hit Asian Americans in different ways, sometimes unnoticed… We need to make sure the discussion includes us.
As a group, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have higher than average Read the rest of this entry »
First New Jersey APALA Chapter Founded
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The first-ever New Jersey chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) was chartered today at a ceremony at New Jersey State AFL-CIO headquarters.
At the signing ceremony, New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said:
Connecting the labor movement with our diverse communities is part of our future, and we are proud to build this future working hand in hand with APALA. As one of the nation’s most diverse labor movements, achieving full participation from all of our diverse communities is a priority of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.
APALA is one of seven AFL-CIO constituency groups.
Click here for more from the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and here for more photos.
APALA, White House Host Jobs and Housing Forum
Tomorrow in Henderson, Nev., the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) will co-host a forum on jobs and housing with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The forum is part of the AFL-CIO’s America Wants to Work National Week of Action on jobs and the economy.
Senior Obama administration and state officials will explain job-creating small business initiatives, opportunities for training to prepare for jobs in a green economy and programs to expand homeownership and ensure equal access to affordable housing.
The forum runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PDT at the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 159 union hall. If you are in the area and wish to attend, click here.
For more information on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, visit Facebook or follow on Twitter.
International Teachers Join Educators, Students, Community in March for Education Reform
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Emmelle Israel, AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, took part in the Save Our Schools rally this weekend and sends us this report.
Educators, students and community members from across the nation joined together July 30 for the Save Our Schools March and National Day of Action. The crowd of thousands rallied for two hours in the Washington, D.C., summer sun on the Ellipse Park, just south of the White House. After hearing from speakers such as former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and New York University professor Diane Ravitch to actor/activist Matt Damon—whose mother was a teacher and union member—the crowd began a march around the White House. The rally united everyone under the cause of education reform, but the variety of signs and slogans on display (“We Need Teachers Not Tests,” “Equality for English Learning Students,” “Cut Corporations Not Education”) emphasized the variety of issues that need to be addressed to rebuild public education.
Asian Immigrants: Building a Better America
Samuel Sukaton is a graduate of UCLA, a youth member of the APALA-Los Angeles Chapter and will be an inaugural participant in the Generations United mentorship program. For more information on the APALA convention and to register, visit http://www.apalanet.org/Labor-Community/apala-2011-convention.html.
I’m going to the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) 11th Biennial Convention for my family. My mom is an Indonesian immigrant LVN working three jobs to pay off student loans; she spent 20 years finishing her bachelor’s degree, then went back to school again for nursing. My dad has a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University and works for the U.S. Postal Service; both of them love their jobs, value education and raised me to work hard, study hard and do the right thing.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be enough in America anymore.
Asian Pacific American Community Active in State Battle Fights
Jenny Ho, a labor economist with AFSCME and secretary-treasurer for the D.C. Chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), sends us this report from her experience in Ohio mobilizing residents
The forces against workers’ rights are powerful. Super-rich global conglomerates and a web of very well-funded conservative think tanks are currently fueling GOP-led attacks against working families across the nation, shamelessly lobbying for union-busting and corporate tax cuts in a campaign that even Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin has admitted has little to do with budget deficits. Yet America’s workers have shown time and again that workers, united, have prevailed in the most daunting battles. More than ever, the union movement must build solidarity. We must pull together all the stakeholders of the American Dream.
Asian Pacific American Groups Announce Support for Public Employees
The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), representing a wide range of Asian Pacific American communities, pledged support for public employees in a historic and unified gesture of solidarity. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), a constituency group of the AFL-CIO, is one of the 29 member organizations of the coalition and currently sits on the Executive Committee.
Recently, politicians in several states have sought to undermine the long-held right of public employees to form unions and to bargain collectively. Said Gregory Cendana, APALA executive director and NCAPA secretary:
Supporting public employee unions will help Asian Pacific Americans achieve the American Dream by allowing us to continue fighting for a voice in the workplace. Asian Pacific American workers are struggling to keep up in today’s economy, and unions are the front line of defending APA workers, who are often immigrants. Eliminating collective bargaining rights would weaken workers’ ability to provide for their families, address issues of dangerous workplaces, discrimination, pay, benefits and dignity on the job.
USSA’s Cendana Named New Asian Pacific Labor Alliance Executive Director
Gregory Allan Cendana, former president of the United States Student Association (USSA) and a labor, student, and community activist, has been appointed Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA).
Cendana succeeds Malcolm Amado Uno, who served as executive director since March 2008 and who now is working at the Department of Labor as a Special Assistant to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in the Department’s Office of Public Engagement.
APALA President Luisa Blue says Cendana, who was raised in an immigrant and union family,
is grounded with strong values that are in line with our mission and vision and has a proven track record of success. Read the rest of this entry »
