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Press Releases

Tipped workers, educators, and public schools win in omnibus bill, while fate of undocumented immigrants remains uncertain

3/26/2018

 
Washington, DC - Last Friday, Trump signed the omnibus spending bill into a law which was victorious for tipped workers and public schools but left the fate of undocumented youth uncertain and advanced an anti-immigrant agenda. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO issued the following statement in response from APALA National President Monica Thammarath of the National Education Association:
 
“Restaurant workers can breathe a sigh of relief as the spending bill included a provision that protects their tips from employers. Together with hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, APALA is proud to have helped defeat the Trump administration’s misguided attempt to steal hard-earned tips from the people who earned them. We also celebrate the defeat of Betsy DeVos’ attack on our public schools and attempt to defund Title II, which helps districts pay for teacher development, reduce class size, improve evaluation systems, and more. The spending bill provides long overdue increases in education funding — a step forward in making the investments in our kids, schools, and communities that we need.
 
These wins for restaurant workers, educators, and public schools are a true testament to the power of collective organizing that must continue if we are to build on the momentum of resistance against this administration’s white supremacist, polarizing, and greedy agenda.
 
At the same time, the spending bill falls short for immigrant workers and families, including the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Absent from the bill was a permanent legislative solution for the 800,000 DACA recipients, TPS holders whose protections the administration has discontinued this past year, and the thousands of more undocumented youth and families who live in fear of detention and deportation. Instead, the bill includes funding for an unnecessary border wall, immigration enforcement, and border patrol, all of which do not make our communities safer. 
 
We will not stand for the criminalization of people of color nor will we back down without a fight. We call on our Congressional champions and leaders to fight back on the administration’s hateful agenda and protect our immigrant communities who contribute to this country every single day. 

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tipped_workers_educators_and_public_schools_win_in_omnibus_bill_while_fate_of_undocumented_immigrants_remains_uncertain.pdf
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APALA on SOTU: Nothing But Damaging Policies

1/31/2018

 
​Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) issued the following statement in response to Trump's State of the Union address:
 
"Given the difficult year for workers, immigrants, refugees, women, and so many more, the State of the Union did not shed light to the true state of our union. Instead, Trump resorted to usual tactics and rhetoric, scapegoating and criminalizing immigrants and celebrating corporate greed at the hands of working people. Though Trump called for unity in a very polarized time, his speech last night meant nothing but damaging policies for our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, families, and communities.
 
Trump's latest immigration proposal continues to hold DREAMers hostage by offering up our families, neighbors, and loved ones. DREAMers are not and should not be used as political bargaining chips, and we remain resolute to counter any attacks to pit our communities against each other. With the White House's white supremacist wish list to slash legal immigration by 50%, gut asylum laws and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that offer refugees a new start, and build a mass deportation force, Trump is proposing measures that are a waste of taxpayer dollars and that have nothing to do with national security, instead of making long-term investments into communities.
 
Furthermore, Trump's empty words on his regime's impact on working families is grossly misleading as the administration has prioritized corporate greed over working people from the beginning. From the tax scam bill to rolling back protections to keep workers safe to potentially even stealing tips from workers, the wealthy 1% is profiting at hands of workers everywhere.
 
The true state of our union and our new American moment now lie in the organizing and mobilization of workers, women, people of color, and people from all walks of life who demand to live and work with dignity, safety, and respect. The power we are building together with national, local, and grassroots partners nationwide will not and cannot be stopped. We see it in our unions that continue to fight against attacks on the right to collectively bargain and organize. We see it in our communities who are turning out the vote in historic numbers. We see it in our APALA members who understand that an attack on one is an attack on all. This is the state of our union, and this is how we will win."
 
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apala_on_sotu_nothing_but_damaging_policies.pdf
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​APALA Disappointed in Trump Shutdown Deal

1/22/2018

 
Washington, DC - The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) issued the following statement from Monica Thammarath, APALA National President, after the Senate voted to end the Trump shutdown with a deal that makes no real changes for undocumented youth:
 
"Though we are heartened that the Senate reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for the next six years, the Senate turned its back on DREAMers once again. Without a DREAM Act as part of the spending bill, thousands are still left with uncertainty and fear for their futures. The GOP shut down the government because they refused to budge on protecting our undocumented youth, and yet they were able to wrangle a deal without any long-term investment for families, neighborhoods, and communities.
 
The Democrats who voted for the deal should be ashamed as they are now complicit in Trump's mass deportation machine. Undocumented youth are not and should not be used as bargaining chips in the GOP's political game. The Trump administration and the GOP need to stop gambling with people's lives and rewriting American values of diversity and inclusion.
 
DREAMers and immigrants make invaluable contributions to our country every single day. That's why we remain resolute because our fight is far from over. We will continue to call our representatives, organize our communities, and resist this terrible regime of white supremacy and xenophobia."

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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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