Asian American Workers Rising
This book celebrates the first thirty years of the Asian Pacific Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, the first national Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) worker organization within the US labor movement. The voices in this book capture the spirit, determination and commitment of a mutiethnic, multigenerational group of AAPI labor activists who have built a dynamic organization to advance workers' rights and labor solidarity. Included are foiunding members, emerging young activists who are charting the new path for AAPI in labor, and the leaders who are no longer with us but who inspire others to continue their legacy.
On May 1, 1992, five hundred union members from throughout the United States came together to from APALA, a breakthrough in a union movement that had historically excluded AAPI workers. APALA launched a national network of AAPI activists who have orginized workers into unions, advanced labor's political power, forged labor and community alliances, recruited the next genration of organizers and activists, promoted diversity within labor, and implemented a comprehensive agenda for economic and social justice.
Though AAPI workers have made enourmous contributions to the advancement of unions and communities ove the generations, their stories have seldom been recorded or documented. This book helps create a written record.