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Press Releases

APALA Condemns Anti-Asian Remarks at Delaware State AFL-CIO, Calls on Labor Leaders Across the Country to Work with APALA to Build an Accountable and Inclusive Labor Movement

8/30/2021

 
Aug 30, 2021
Contact: michelle@apalanet.org 

Washington, DC - Last month, Delaware State AFL-CIO Executive Director Gerald Brady used racist and sexist slurs in a work email. This was revealed just a year after the Delaware AFL-CIO President James Maravelias made anti-Asian and anti-Semitic remarks on social media. APALA knows that this pattern of racist behavior from the Delaware AFL-CIO leadership does not reflect the values of Delaware union members, but it is indicative of the hard work we all must do in the labor movement to ensure our solidarity is inclusive and reflective of the full diversity of workers.

In a statement released last week, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said, “I am sickened by the despicable remarks made by Executive Director Brady and call for his immediate resignation. The leadership team at the AFL-CIO and I are committed to ending discrimination and bigotry in all its forms. Every single union member must come together to root out hate—from inappropriate language to acts of violence. America’s labor movement must use our position of trust to lead by example.” 

APALA National President Brady Calma said, “We are heartened to see the swift, strong response from President Shuler. What happened at the Delaware AFL-CIO demonstrates why constituency groups like APALA are important. I want to thank President Shuler for setting the example for labor leaders across the country. It is this type of leadership that will realize a labor movement that is truly inclusive and reflective of the full diversity of America’s workers. APALA will continue to fight for AAPI working people in Delaware and everywhere. We invite you to join us.”

APALA National Executive Board Member Viriginia Rodino added, “We echo the demands of other local and national AAPI leaders who call on Executive Director Brady to resign and to apologize to AAPI workers in Delaware, specifically to women and explain how he will make amends to the community. We also call on labor leaders at the State Federation and in Delaware more broadly to meet with community leaders to discuss an action plan that includes anti-racism training, support for a local APALA chapter, and how to resource organizing and growth of a multi-racial labor movement in Delaware.”

To this end, APALA calls on Delaware union affiliates to transform the culture of the Delaware AFL-CIO through enforcing and strengthening mechanisms which are intended to hold leaders and members accountable for all forms of racism including anti-Asian racism. By partnering with APALA and local AAPI community organizations to invest in AAPI worker organizing and leadership development, AAPI workers can have a real seat at the table.

​Racist actions like these are not limited to the leadership of the Delaware AFL-CIO. That’s why APALA created the Labor Toolkit on Anti-Asian Racism. It urges the following steps for State Feds and CLCs to stop Anti-Asian racism in the labor movement: 
  • State Federations and CLCs should make every effort to ensure that all constituency groups are meaningfully represented on their boards;
  • create and enforce codes of conduct that hold leaders and members accountable for anti-Asian racism;
  • strengthen and invest in partnerships with worker centers and community organizations; and
  • make meaningful investments in equity, inclusion, racial justice, and supporting the development of Black indigenous and people of color leaders within the labor movement. Back up solidarity statements and resolutions with investments of money and other resources.
Check out the full Labor Toolkit on Anti-Asian Racism for more details or contact us to get started. 

APALA Welcomes Liz Shuler and Fred Redmond as the Newly Elected President and Secretary- Treasurer of the AFL-CIO

8/24/2021

 
Picture
August 24, 2021
Contact: Michelle Loo, michelle@apalanet.org
​

Washington, DC - Last week, Liz Shuler was elected as the first woman President of the AFL-CIO and Fred Redmond was elected as the first African American Secretary-Treasurer. Liz Shuler was formerly the AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer and Fred Redmond was formerly the United Steelworkers Vice President. 

APALA Executive Director Alvina Yeh states, “Liz Shuler and Fred Redmond are powerful voices for working people. In 2009, Shuler spoke at the first national Asian American Pacific Islander Workers’ Rights Hearing that APALA and the AFL-CIO co-convened. Shuler’s IBEW roots and experience with organizing and advocating for working women is critical. Building on that work to organize workers of color is exactly what the labor movement needs right now. Fred Redmond’s experience with overseeing the United Steelworkers Civil and Human Rights Department provides a foundation for racial justice work that we are excited to build on with the AFL-CIO.”

Shuler and Redmond join Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre on the AFL-CIO Executive leadership team. We look forward to working with them to continue Richard Trumka’s legacy in the fight for working people. 

Biden Administration Must Act Swiftly to Prioritize Afghan Refugee Assistance

8/19/2021

 
August 19, 2021
Contact: apala@apalanet.org

Washington, DC — The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO released the following statement in response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan:  

“The horrors we have seen this week in Afghanistan are reminiscent of the violent situations we saw in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam due to years of military intervention: families, desperate to escape the incoming regime, clinging to military aircraft during takeoff; refugees struggling to find refuge outside their home country and now, Afghans are left behind to an uncertain future of Afghanistan. We know intimately the trauma that lingers intergenerationally in our communities, and that endless U.S. militarism only causes further harm and creates refugee crises like this. It is clear that we must listen to the voices of the Afghan people most impacted and that the United States has a moral imperative to welcome Afghan refugees and their families during this ongoing humanitarian crisis. 

The U.S. cannot turn its back on Afghan families evacuated from their homeland. It cannot close its borders and continue to enforce exclusionary policies that have criminalized refugees and migrants. On the contrary, the U.S. must welcome the Afghan refugees with open arms, without reservations, red tape, or hesitation, and it must provide shelter and security to a group of people who have not known either for many years. Just as Southeast Asian refugees were able to resettle in the United States following the Vietnam War, so should the Afghan people be free to seek a safe haven in this country. 

There is still an opportunity to do better than the actions the United States took at the fall of Saigon. The Biden administration must act swiftly to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable in Afghanistan, especially women and children, and ensure the safety of all Afghan refugees who will resettle in the U.S. and in neighboring countries. The Afghan people deserve that and so much more.” 
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Founded in 1992, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, is the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, most of whom are union members and our allies, building power for AAPI workers and communities.
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