Paychecks Higher for Asian Pacific Women in Unions
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According to a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), being a member of a union adds about $2 an hour to an Asian Pacific American woman’s paycheck compared with her nonunion counterpart.
That jibes with a previous CEPR study, which shows immigrant workers who belong to unions have a large wage and benefit advantage over their nonunion counterparts. (Click here to read CEPR’s previous report, “Unions and Upward Mobility for Immigrant Workers.”
One of eight Asian Pacific American women—12.8 percent—are union members or are represented by a union at their workplace.
Based on the latest report, the average Asian Pacific American woman union member also is:
- Better educated—59.6 percent have a college degree—a higher rate than for Asian Pacific American male union members and the union membership overall.
- An immigrant (more than two-thirds) and about half (46.6 percent) work in the public sector.
- Living and working in a Pacific state.
Read the CEPR study here.
APALA Mobilizing Asian Americans for Organizing and Political Action
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One of the fastest growing segments of the union movement, Asian Pacific Americans, are mobilizing to make their voices heard in politics and in the workplace. With the crucial midterm elections just four months away, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) is urging workers and their communities to take action and make a difference in the upcoming elections. The Asian Pacific American vote could be especially decisive in Nevada where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in a tough bid for re-election.
Late last month, several Asian Pacific American leaders visited Las Vegas seeking to mobilize local residents in political action. They also urged Asian Americans to register and vote during elections.
Asian Pacific Americans Tell Their Stories at First National Workers’ Rights Hearing
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Ricky Lau, an electrician with the Electrical Workers (IBEW) and a Chinese immigrant, worked for 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week for his former employer, a contracting company. He and his mostly immigrant co-workers, many of whom did not speak English, were ripped off, he says. While they worked 60 to 70 hours, their weekly time cards read 16 to 20 hours. They had no benefits and no health care coverage.
Fed up, he and three other co-workers left the company and joined IBEW. With the help of his union, Lau and the other workers have been able to assert themselves. Now the four workers are suing the company in a class-action suit for back wages.
