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| APALA |
Organized labor needs to invest more outreach and education to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, a rapidly growing and increasingly powerful segment of the US labor force, according to a recently released report.
The report, "Untapped Power: The Strength of Asian American, Native American & Pacific Islander Working People" was released by the Asian American Pacific Labor Alliance of the AFL-CIO earlier this month.
“In our work and for this report we centered low-wage workers because they are the most vulnerable to the power dynamics between employer and employee," said Executive Director Alvina Yeh. In an economy that is rigged against workers, we have to shift the burden away from workers and power away from bosses. All workers stand to gain from shifting these power dynamics."
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) workers are the fastest growing working age population in the United States, overrepresented at the lower and higher ends of the labor market - meaning that our communities experience wide income disparity. And yet AANHPI working people are often overlooked and under organized.
Among the findings of the report is that the AANHPI population is the fastest-growing population in the US. In 2017, the combined AANHPI population comprised of 18,793,997 (AAPI alone) or 22,604,911 (AAPI alone or in combination with other races) people. This is roughly 6% or 7% of the US population respectively. Paired with this increase is a major rise in the AANHPI working population, which has grown nearly ten times faster than their white counterparts.
In 2017, the labor force participation rate of Asian Americans was 63.6%. The NHPI labor force participation rate of 67% was the highest among all racial groups, including people of two or more races (66.9%) and Hispanics (66.1%).
Among AANHPIs participating in the labor force, Indians made up the largest group (23% of all Asians), followed by Chinese (22%), Filipino (16%), Vietnamese (11%), Koreans (8%), and Japanese (5%).
As our immigrant and working class communities are under attack, it is increasingly important that the labor movement, community-based organizations, and policymakers take into the unique challenges and needs that AANHPIs face as well as recognize the common issues and experiences that this community shares with all workers.
The report emphasizes the urgency with which the labor movement and policymakers must continue to organize and protect AANHPI communities in order to secure safe, healthy, and prosperous livelihoods for all working people and to harness their political potential to drive progressive change. In short, the labor movement stands to grow stronger from organizing AANHPI workers, and AANHPI communities stand to benefit from uniting together and joining the labor movement.
The report takes a look at who AANHPI workers are, what barriers we face, and how advocates, policymakers, and the labor movement can fight for AANHPI communities and all workers.
"AANHPIs are the fastest growing working age population and a recent poll shows that our community supports a vision for a progressive economy," says Yeh. "Tapping into the strength of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander working people is integral to the future of work and the labor movement.”
The Executive Summary follows:
There are more than 21 million AANHPIs, comprising roughly 5% of the population.
Accompanying this rapid population growth is the rise of AANHPI working people. AANHPI working people span a wide range of incomes and occupations, from office and administrative support, to nail salon and personal care occupations, to food and restaurant workers.
In 2017, AANHPIs had a poverty rate of 11.1%. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders had the highest poverty rates at 16.1% and 18.3% respectively.
Notably, roughly 3 in 4 (72%) Asian American low-wage workers are immigrants; this is significant as Asian Americans account for over one-quarter (27.1%) of the immigrant population in the U.S.
While the number of AANHPI working people increases, the union membership rate among Asian Americans is on the decline, even though the union benefit is clear. Thanks to unions, AANHPI union members enjoy higher wages, better benefits, safer workplaces, and a voice on the job.
AANHPI workers face many challenges when it comes to organizing — some of which are similar to the challenges of organizing across all workers, and some of which are unique to AANHPI and other communities of color. Exclusionary provisions were built into our federal labor laws that leave workers of color vulnerable to exploitation. The Trump administration has further endangered these workers with anti-immigrant policies and xenophobic rhetoric that make it even less likely for workers to seek recourse for illegal or inhumane treatment. The current political climate has fueled large tax cuts for the wealthy, stacked anti-worker activists in our cabinet and courts, and multiplied anti-worker and anti-immigrant policies and practices.
AANHPI workers, especially immigrants and women, are vulnerable to employer abuse due to systemic racism, xenophobia, and sexism, and devaluation of their labor. The community’s lack of familiarity with the labor movement and the rise of aggressive anti-union campaigns only marginalize these workers more. While these obstacles create a difficult climate to organize AANHPI workers, there are many ripe opportunities for unions,
organizers, and policymakers:
Policies for stronger worker rights: Occupations such as food preparation and serving and sales have high concentrations of AANHPI workers but have some of the lowest unionization rates. Some of these jobs leave working people even more vulnerable due to policies that exclude them from basic but critical labor standards, such as the rights to form a union, earn a minimum wage, and receive overtime pay. Policymakers must strengthen standards for workers that have been historically excluded from federal labor laws by:
Over 80% of Asian Americans believe that workers should have access to livable wages, affordable and comprehensive healthcare, more education and job training, safe working conditions, and dignity and financial stability in retirement. Unfortunately, Asian American voters receive sparse contact from political parties and traditional institutions when it comes to voting.
This lack of outreach shows up as AANHPIs are not very familiar with the role of unions, and only 40% of Asian American voters have a favorable impression of unions. In order to harness the political power of AANHPIs, the labor movement must:
More than half of LGBTQ people live in a state that does not have laws protecting them from discrimination, including the workplace.
These workers receive some of the lowest pay among all workers. To lift up LGBTQ AANHPIs, the labor movement must:
Organize Cross-Racial Coalitions: As unions organize AANHPIs, they must reckon with the labor movement’s past alienation of Asian immigrant workers. It is incumbent upon unions to avoid perpetuating nativist and anti-immigrant agendas, to work on ending white supremacy, disrupt model minority practices that pit Asian Americans against other communities of color and organize with a racial justice lens in mind. The labor movement must:
READ the entire report here.
As our immigrant and working class communities are under attack, it is increasingly important that the labor movement, community-based organizations, and policymakers take into the unique challenges and needs that AANHPIs face as well as recognize the common issues and experiences that this community shares with all workers.
The report emphasizes the urgency with which the labor movement and policymakers must continue to organize and protect AANHPI communities in order to secure safe, healthy, and prosperous livelihoods for all working people and to harness their political potential to drive progressive change. In short, the labor movement stands to grow stronger from organizing AANHPI workers, and AANHPI communities stand to benefit from uniting together and joining the labor movement.
The report takes a look at who AANHPI workers are, what barriers we face, and how advocates, policymakers, and the labor movement can fight for AANHPI communities and all workers.
"AANHPIs are the fastest growing working age population and a recent poll shows that our community supports a vision for a progressive economy," says Yeh. "Tapping into the strength of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander working people is integral to the future of work and the labor movement.”
The Executive Summary follows:
UNTAPPED POWER
As unions and the labor movement come under attack, it becomes increasingly important to organize Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders — the fastest-growing population in the United States.There are more than 21 million AANHPIs, comprising roughly 5% of the population.
Accompanying this rapid population growth is the rise of AANHPI working people. AANHPI working people span a wide range of incomes and occupations, from office and administrative support, to nail salon and personal care occupations, to food and restaurant workers.
In 2017, AANHPIs had a poverty rate of 11.1%. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders had the highest poverty rates at 16.1% and 18.3% respectively.
Notably, roughly 3 in 4 (72%) Asian American low-wage workers are immigrants; this is significant as Asian Americans account for over one-quarter (27.1%) of the immigrant population in the U.S.
While the number of AANHPI working people increases, the union membership rate among Asian Americans is on the decline, even though the union benefit is clear. Thanks to unions, AANHPI union members enjoy higher wages, better benefits, safer workplaces, and a voice on the job.
AANHPI workers face many challenges when it comes to organizing — some of which are similar to the challenges of organizing across all workers, and some of which are unique to AANHPI and other communities of color. Exclusionary provisions were built into our federal labor laws that leave workers of color vulnerable to exploitation. The Trump administration has further endangered these workers with anti-immigrant policies and xenophobic rhetoric that make it even less likely for workers to seek recourse for illegal or inhumane treatment. The current political climate has fueled large tax cuts for the wealthy, stacked anti-worker activists in our cabinet and courts, and multiplied anti-worker and anti-immigrant policies and practices.
AANHPI workers, especially immigrants and women, are vulnerable to employer abuse due to systemic racism, xenophobia, and sexism, and devaluation of their labor. The community’s lack of familiarity with the labor movement and the rise of aggressive anti-union campaigns only marginalize these workers more. While these obstacles create a difficult climate to organize AANHPI workers, there are many ripe opportunities for unions,
organizers, and policymakers:
Policies for stronger worker rights: Occupations such as food preparation and serving and sales have high concentrations of AANHPI workers but have some of the lowest unionization rates. Some of these jobs leave working people even more vulnerable due to policies that exclude them from basic but critical labor standards, such as the rights to form a union, earn a minimum wage, and receive overtime pay. Policymakers must strengthen standards for workers that have been historically excluded from federal labor laws by:
• expanding coverage under the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal labor laws to all workers regardless of industry, size of employer, and worker classification type;
• shifting the burden and risk of enforcing labor standards from workers to employers;
• ensuring working people are guaranteed a living wage and good benefits in order to build thriving communities; and,
• restoring fairness to an economy rigged against workers through stronger employee organizing rights.Research and tap into AANHPIs’ political power:
Over 80% of Asian Americans believe that workers should have access to livable wages, affordable and comprehensive healthcare, more education and job training, safe working conditions, and dignity and financial stability in retirement. Unfortunately, Asian American voters receive sparse contact from political parties and traditional institutions when it comes to voting.
This lack of outreach shows up as AANHPIs are not very familiar with the role of unions, and only 40% of Asian American voters have a favorable impression of unions. In order to harness the political power of AANHPIs, the labor movement must:
• advance union education and outreach to AANHPI communities;
• collect disaggregated data on AANHPI union members; and,
• center AANHPIs in civic engagement programs and rapidly increase outreach.Organize young, immigrant, women, and LGBTQ workers: Asian American and NHPI working age populations generally skew younger than the white working age population. The challenges that Millennials and Generation Z workers face are unique and growing: they are confronting the decline of the middle class, the rise of the precarious gig economy, contract work that leave workers unable to make ends meet, and worsening labor conditions. To harness the power of young workers, the labor movement must:
• expand and invest in programs that promote intergenerational organizing and mobilize and train young workers; and
• support schools where young workers are already organizing, especially graduate students and adjunct faculty through policy and training programs. 17.4 percent of the American workforce, or 28.2 million people, are foreign-born — Asian Americans account for nearly one-quarter of this population.In other words, AANHPIs are a vital part of the global migrant workforce. In addition to inadequate access to educational attainment, language barriers, discrimination, and limited English proficiency, immigrant workers are under attack by federal anti-immigrant policies. To empower immigrant workers, policymakers and the labor movement must:
• support pro-immigrant policies and legislation that create pathways to citizenship;
• work towards language justice and provide culturally competent resources on worker and immigrant rights;
• ensure that union halls and union employer workplaces are safe spaces; and,
• hold corporations accountable for their labor violations both in the U.S. and abroad.As a whole, AANHPI women have a 66.7% participation rate in the labor force, second only to Hispanic women.4 With respect to unionization rates, AANHPI women have a higher rate (11%) compared to AANHPI men (8%).5 While unionization rates for AANHPI women are higher than that of AANHPI men, women workers may face challenges to organizing together. To support women workers, we must:
• support union caucus and affinity spaces for women union leaders;
• rectify policies and practices that prevent women workers from organizing; and,
• work toward ending discrimination and gender-based violence in the workplace.Nearly 5 percent of Asian adults in the United States identify as LGBTQ.
More than half of LGBTQ people live in a state that does not have laws protecting them from discrimination, including the workplace.
These workers receive some of the lowest pay among all workers. To lift up LGBTQ AANHPIs, the labor movement must:
• support policies and legislation that are inclusive of LGBTQ workers and protects against harassment and discrimination;
• support union caucus and affinity spaces for LGBTQ union leaders; and
• Address the lack of comprehensive, timely, and detailed data on LGBTQ workers of color, including AANHPI workers.
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| Members of the Culinary Workers demonstrate for better benefits and working conditions in Las Vegas. |
Organize Cross-Racial Coalitions: As unions organize AANHPIs, they must reckon with the labor movement’s past alienation of Asian immigrant workers. It is incumbent upon unions to avoid perpetuating nativist and anti-immigrant agendas, to work on ending white supremacy, disrupt model minority practices that pit Asian Americans against other communities of color and organize with a racial justice lens in mind. The labor movement must:
• build cross-racial and cross-issue coalitions;
• invest in trainings, programs, and campaigns that strengthen racial equity; and,
• collaborate and tap into the expertise of AFL-CIO constituency groups.Strengthen worker center organizing and expand into more industries: Income inequality and the gig economy are rapidly changing the face of work today. Declining union membership rates mean that unions must be flexible and responsive to the needs of workers. Worker centers and community organizations have long held a place in the labor movement as spaces where workers can receive training, English classes, and information about their rights. At the same time, several industries are ripe for union organizing, such as the tech industry, ridesharing services, and nail salon workers. The labor movement must:
• increase investment in organizing non-union workers in industries with higher concentrations of AANHPIs workers;
• strengthen and invest in partnerships with worker centers, and
• stop independent contractor misclassification and restore accountability for labor standards in outsourced work, including temp work and gig economy jobs.Unleashing AANHPI power for worker justice and tapping into the progressive political power of the AANHPI community is crucial to the future of workers and the labor movement. Without AANHPIs the labor movement cannot survive, and AANHPIs need the labor movement now more than ever. This is our future. This is the state of AANHPI working people.
READ the entire report here.
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