More than 2 million Asian American and Pacific Islander workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. APALA is raising our demands to improve the well-being and economic security of the AAPI community and working people, as well as combat anti-Asian racism. The pandemic has demonstrated just how critical the work of farmworkers, domestic workers, grocery personnel, home healthcare providers, and more workers are—both to addressing COVID-19 and to maintaining systems that sustain families and communities.
It is up to us to ensure that our nation's response to COVID-19 is centered on our communities and families.
It is up to us to ensure that our nation's response to COVID-19 is centered on our communities and families.
Evan's dad was an Amazon worker who passed away 2 weeks after starting
Please note there are English, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Urdu, and Tagalog subtitles to choose from.
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Evan lost his father, Harry, just two weeks after Harry started work at an Amazon warehouse in Irvine, California. In March, a surge in demand for essential and non-essential items prompted Amazon to undergo a massive hiring spree. But at the expense of workers and their families, Amazon failed and continues to fail to adequately prioritize the safety of their workers.
Amazon was not shutting down and cleaning up their facilities as much as needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among workers. Many did not feel safe and there was no transparency whatsoever. It was hard for employees to identify if they were at risk and speak up about it. For workers like Harry, that meant life or death. Evan shares that in the later half of his dad’s life, he really dedicated all of his time and energy towards raising his family and was really just the best dad Evan could ever ask for. These are the stories we are bringing to Congress to demand more for essential workers. Read more about Evan and Harry’s story. We demand that the next relief bill, the HEROES Act include the full Essential Workers Bill of Rights that guarantees adequate paid sick leave and hazard pay, safety standards, child care, and job protection. We need to be able to hold corporations who don’t follow these guidelines accountable because lives are on the line. This means that the Senate must oppose any package that includes immunity for businesses. Take Action to protect essential workers! |
Balram is a Bus Driver
Please note there are English, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Urdu, and Tagalog subtitles to choose from.
Download the AAPIs Are #EssentialNotExpendable graphics.
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Balram is an Indian bus driver for the City and County of San Francisco and his job has become precarious and dangerous in the face of COVID-19. Balram and fellow public transit workers across the nation are ensuring essential workers are able to get to their jobs safely, and the rest of us are able to safely go to the grocery store or local food distribution site and make other essential trips.
Outrageously, our public transit agencies have been woefully underfunded by billions of dollars and the COVID-19 global pandemic has put essential workers like Balram under even more pressure. Transit workers like Balram have had to fight to get adequate PPE and safety protocols for their high risk jobs. They shouldn’t have to fight for basic job protections. We must strengthen our laws to ensure all workers are covered by an essential bill of rights. In the next COVID-19 relief bill, the HEROES Act, we ask that Congress include the full Essential Workers Bill of Rights in addition to expanding relief to undocumented immigrants. We also ask Congress to double the allocation for transit agencies for operating expenditures to meet the current need that has been exacerbated by decades of funding shortfalls. It is disturbing that there are no funds allocated specifically for transit programs operated by Indigenous tribes, this must be changed. Amidst the uprisings across the nation to protect Black lives, it is also disturbing that the HEROES Act includes a requirement for transit passengers to wear face masks without ensuring that the enforcement will not result in further surveillance and criminalization of Black and brown people. We must defund transit police. Take Action to support essential workers like Balram! |
Andee had worked at her hotel for 13 years, before she got laid off
Please note there are English, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Urdu, and Tagalog subtitles to choose from.
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Andee Huang is a laid-off hotel worker from Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of UNITE HERE Local 26. She'd been working at the Westin Boston Waterfront for 13 years. Ever since she and all her coworkers lost their jobs in March, Andee has been helping other workers apply for unemployment, food assistance, and other needs.
Andee is also volunteering with the Chinese Progressive Association to help homecare workers apply for unemployment--some of them contracted COVID-19 at their jobs and got sick. Like millions of Americans, Andee has lost her job and is facing mounting bills and a mortgage. With her coworkers, she is pushing for companies to stay accountable to their employees. Hotels have received bailout money from the federal government, but they need to pay to support the workers who earn them money. Andee and her coworkers have written letters to Congress, organizing together just like they did last year when they went on strike for 46 days. Andee says: "We need to stand up and fight until we win." That’s why we are fighting for major changes that will bring us through COVID19 as safe as possible and build strong and prepared communities for the future. Join us to support the Paycheck Guarantee Act to end mass unemployment and return millions of workers back to payroll and healthcare. Take Action to support laid off workers like Andee! |
Nicanora is an IHSS Provider
Please note there are English, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Urdu, and Tagalog subtitles to choose from.
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Nicanora Montenegro is a Filipina in home support services (IHHS) provider in San Diego, California and the district chair of United Domestic Workers of America (UDW) - AFSCME local 3930. As an IHSS provider, she takes care of the most vulnerable folks in our community who are also the most at-risk of COVID-19.
This pandemic has illustrated just how essential the often invisibilized and undervalued work that caregivers like Nicanora provide. Without them, frontline workers who are parents or have other family responsibilities wouldn’t be able to go to work and older adults, disabled folks, and people with chronic illnesses would not be able to shelter in place. Nicanora and her union have been fighting for the rights and respect that home care workers deserve like better wages, access to health care, paid sick days, and more. It's well past time that we all recognize domestic workers as essential workers! Join our calls to Congress to ensure ALL essential workers have the protections they need, the rights they are entitled to, and the compensation they deserve in the next COVID-19 package. Take Action to support domestic workers like Nicanora!
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Kalani is a Child/Adult Protective Services Specialist
Take Action to support essential workers like Kalani!
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“Two months ago, placing a child in a foster home wasn’t a problem. Now it’s nearly impossible,” says Hawaii Child/Adult Protective Services Specialist Kalani Motta, a member of HGEA/AFSCME Local 152.
One of Motta’s primary duties as a case manager with the state Department of Human Services in Hilo is to find foster homes for children in East Hawaii. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, he’s been classified as an essential employee, and although he was given the option to work from home during the crisis, the nature of his job doesn’t allow for it. “Certain parts of this job, there’s no way you can work from home,” Motta says. “When we respond to calls of concern, we have to go out and physically locate the family. The only way we can help these children is if we get out there and do it in person.” Before the pandemic, most of the calls Motta responded to typically came from schools. Now that students are not in the schools, the calls are coming in from the public. “We still go out, we still investigate and try to place the kids in our care. Our responsibilities haven’t stopped because of the health crisis, but it’s much more stressful to maintain a high level of service,” he says. Read Kalani's full story in AFSCME's blog. |
Earl Continues to Serve Special Needs Individuals
Take Action to support essential workers like Earl!
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What was already a demanding process to provide services for a high-risk group of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities has become even more challenging in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. For Earl Young and his staff of case managers, it is the new norm.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and the most difficult challenge our division has ever faced,” said Young, a supervisor in the case management branch at the Hawaii Department of Health’s developmental disabilities division. “Each individual’s situation is unique, and case managers develop a plan with each person’s desired outcomes and goals in mind through planning and coordination of services,” said Young. “What makes this whole situation complicated is being able to provide continued care and services at the same time we are trying to be safe and healthy without direct interaction with our clients.” As essential workers, Young and his staff go in to work every day while taking the necessary safety precautions. “We are fully committed to our work. Our goal first and foremost is to help our participants and their families, providing them with the support and services so they can live safe, healthy and meaningful lives in the community,” he said. “We won’t stop working to make sure that continues, pandemic or not.” Read Earl's full story in AFSCME's blog. |
Marina is a Registered Nurse
Please note there are English, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Urdu, and Tagalog subtitles to choose from.
Download the AAPIs Are #EssentialNotExpendable toolkit to get these graphics.
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Marina Robinson is a Chuukese registered nurse in Honolulu, Hawaii working in the OBGYN Department. She is proud to bring the idea of aterenges, or family, into her care work. She keeps pregnant people and their families safe during COVID-19.
Like so many others, Marina is concerned that worker protections are not being prioritized in the nation’s response. Her concerns are heightened because of the high number of essential workers and the prevalence of existing chronic health conditions in Pacific Islander communities. Some states and counties are beginning to report that Pacific Islanders are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, including California and Nevada. Our society’s inequities are especially revealed during this pandemic. That’s why we are fighting for major changes that will bring us through COVID19 as safe as possible and build strong and prepared communities for the future. Marina and organizations like Empowering Pacific Islander Communities are organizing our communities to build power and demand what we need. Join us to call for the Essential Worker Bill of Rights, which includes guaranteeing safety protections for all workers on the job; universal healthcare access; compensation and job protections workers deserve for their heightened risks and; and more. Take Action to Support Health Care Workers! |
Angel is an EVS Technician
Please note there are English, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Urdu, and Tagalog subtitles to choose from.
Download the AAPIs Are #EssentialNotExpendable toolkit to get these graphics.
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Angel is an EVS technician in Seattle: she keeps patients safe by disinfecting hospital rooms including COVID-19 patients. Her job is critical to stopping the spread of coronavirus infections. However, there is not enough personal protective equipment (PPE) being allocated to protect workers and the government is not doing enough.
When patients go to the hospital, one of the worst things that can happen is hazardous conditions for their healthcare workers. And now, on top of everyday healthcare challenges, our world is facing the COVID-19 crisis. It is a failing of the highest order when workers do not have access to personal protective equipment and safe working environments. Without protection for workers, there's no way they can do what they do best - keeping our communities healthy and alive every day. Angel and her union SEIU are fighting for workers like her every day. We need everyone to rise up and demand protection for workers. Join us to call for the Essential Worker Bill of Rights, which includes guaranteeing safety protections for all workers on the job; universal healthcare access; compensation and job protections workers deserve for their heightened risks and; and more. We can't let Angel and millions of workers like her down. Take Action to Support Health Care Workers!
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Know Your Rights Videos from AAAJ-Asian Law Caucus
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Content for the videos was drawn in part from resources provided by Legal Aid at Work, Bet Tzedek, and other members of the Coalition of Low Income and Immigrant Worker Advocates.
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A-Doc launched a storytelling initiative: Asian American Stories in the Time of Coronavirus. COVID-19 has upended lives around the world and will be remembered as a tipping point moment in global history.
As non-fiction storytellers of the Asian diaspora, A-Doc members are leaning into their strengths as documentarians and disrupting mainstream narratives about their communities during this critical moment. Check out more #AsianAmCovidStories on: IGtv: bit.ly/adoc-igtv Facebook: bit.ly/adoc-stories-fb YouTube: bit.ly/adoc-youtube-stories |