APALA

Johanna Hester, President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, the only organization of Asian Pacific American union members, issued the following statement of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement on behalf of the APALA National Executive Board, which met this weekend in Los Angeles:

We stand with the 99 percent of Americans who are tired of corporate greed. Wall Street financiers have profited off the backs of working people, resulting in millions of Americans losing their homes and jobs, and a generation of graduates facing crushing debt with few jobs in sight. Asian Americans in particular face some of the highest rates of long-term unemployment. So just why are we bailing out banks and laying off teachers? We as a nation need to re-examine our priorities.

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Washington D.C. – The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), a coalition of 29 organizations representing a wide range of Asian Pacific American communities, pledged their support for public employees today in an historic and unified gesture of solidarity.

Recently, politicians in several states have sought to undermine the long-held right of public employees to form unions and to bargain collectively. APA families face unprecedented challenges and should have the right to form unions to seek economic security and protection against unfair employment practices.

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Washington D.C.-The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) announced that Gregory Allan Cendana, a labor, student, and community activist who recently completed his term as President of the United States Student Association, has been chosen to become the next Executive Director. Cendana replaces Malcolm Amado Uno, who recently started as a Special Assistant to Secretary Hilda Solis in the Department of Labor's Office of Public Engagement. Cendana joins APALA of Asian American and Pacific Islander union members and supporters, at a time when the labor movement and APALA are increasingly focused on outreach to young workers.

Washington, D.C. - APALA, in partnership with the UCLA Labor Center, released a report that documents the challenges that Asian Pacific American workers face in exercising their right to organize, and work place abuses endured by low-wage immigrant workers. The report, Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence, profiles Asian Pacific American workers who testified at the first national Asian Pacific American Workers' Rights Hearing in November 2009 at the AFL-CIO national headquarters in Washington, D.C.