APALA Awards Recognize Local Labor Union Leaders

by Ronnie Estoque

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) gathered for its first national convention in Seattle from Aug. 3—6, featuring hundreds who marched in support of Embassy Suites hotel workers in Pioneer Square seeking an updated labor contract.

During the convention, APALA also recognized two local organizers with national awards for their dedication to the Asian and Pacific American labor movement, which has a long and storied history in the Seattle area.

The Philip Vera Cruz Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Tracy Lai, who is a Seattle Central College professor, past president of Seattle's APALA chapter, and member of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

The APALA's Art Takei Leadership Award went to Jason Chan, chief of staff of IAM District 751.

Philip Vera Cruz was a Filipino American labor organizer who played a prominent role in the founding of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. As a farmworker, he also demonstrated his leadership by uniting workers during the Delano farmworkers strike and boycott.

"At the heart of organizing is the one-on-one, the relationships that we build with each individual," Lai said. "A movement is a collection of all of those one-on-ones."

When Lai first began teaching as an adjunct at Seattle Central College, she was encouraged to attend the part-time faculty caucus and was immediately supported by an AFT union representative.

Lai appreciated "having that more experienced person be able to say, 'You don't have to start her at the lowest level as a new person, because she actually has a lot of teaching experience,'" she said. "I was fearful because I was so new, and it really helped having this more senior person who is a union representative who could say, based on all her other experience, 'No way can you start her this low.'"

Lai developed her passion for teaching as an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, studying ethnic studies. She felt inspired by the students who went on strike in 1969 at San Francisco State College and UC Berkeley, and she also had the opportunity to visit the Agbayani Village, where many older Filipino men ("manongs") built community among themselves. She said she's also inspired by the organizing she sees happening today internationally.

"There is a lot of very exciting organizing that is going on. … I'm really glad that there were as many [APALA convention] delegates from a variety of Asian countries who could come and tell us, in their own words, what their issues are, how they are approaching things," Lai said. "I think we need to just really seize this moment and make the most of it to really support each other and to do the things to build more unity and support for each other."

Currently, the Seattle APALA chapter is the largest in the country, but it was built up by local labor leaders, such as Lai, who often hosted meetings at her house.

Chan often attended meetings at Lai's house and began to connect with labor organizers across different industries.

APALA presented Chan with the Art Takei Leadership Award, honoring Takei, who was the founder of APALA and the Los Angeles Chapter. Takei began his labor union organizing journey at United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770 in Los Angeles in 1954.

When receiving the reward, Chan recounted his own history. "I was born in Taiwan. I was raised here in Seattle, so I've lived here my whole life. I came as an infant, and my father passed away when I was 1, so I was raised by a single mother, only child," Chan said.

Chan was a banker for 12 years, and by the time he was 30, he had two small kids, a wife, and a house. Chan was seeking a career shift, and he was referred to apply for machinist positions at Boeing. After applying for about 15 jobs, he got a call back for a mechanic entry-level job at the Renton plant, and he worked on 737 wings. Chan recalled that on his first night on the job, his shop steward came up to him inviting him to the union meeting the following week. He quickly found camaraderie in the union.

"I'm a very emotional person; [receiving the Art Takei Leadership Award] hit me pretty hard. None of us in the labor movement do the work that we do to receive awards, and if you do, you're not doing it for the right reason," Chan said.

Currently, Chan serves as a board member on the APALA National Executive Board.

"If you look across the country, you're seeing not only folks in manufacturing, workers in manufacturing, but you're seeing the push for unionization in places like Starbucks," Chan said. "These are people that are seeing … their worth and what they deserve, and that they want to have rights on the job. They want to be able to collectively bargain their wages and their benefits in their working conditions, so they really are using their voices."

📸 Featured Image: Left: Eunice How, left, president of Seattle APALA, presents Tracy Lai (holding flowers) with the Philip Vera Cruz Lifetime Achievement Award. Right: Jason Chan receiving the Art Takei Leadership Award at the APALA convention in Seattle. (Photos: Sharon Maeda)