Latino labor demonstrates its might

The AFT was “presente” at the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement convention July 28-Aug. 2 in Atlanta, with Evelyn DeJesus—president of LCLAA and executive vice president of the AFT—injecting her signature enthusiasm and energy, and AFT President Randi Weingarten inspiring participants to organize, build power and stand strong in the face of threats to democracy and immigrant rights.

Recognizing that our rights are in danger and “our very own dignity is being challenged,” DeJesus assured the crowd of attendees that if we come together, we will rise above the attacks. “What they fail to understand is this,” she said. “When they come for one of us, they come for all of us—y aquí estamos, juntos.”

As the Trump administration is “disappearing people,” said Weingarten—a reference to masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents snatching people from the streets—it is also trying to divide us by pitting immigrants against people who are not immigrants. And President Donald Trump and his allies are attacking education, unions and activists because “knowledge is power, just like mobilization and organizing are power,” she said. Standing strong, together, is key.

United we stand

The AFT’s partnership with LCLAA is built on decades of shared advocacy, organizing and action. This year’s convention, themed “United We Stand: Construyendo Puentes, Rompiendo Barreras y Protegiendo Nuestro Legado,” reflected our shared commitment, which remains strong even in the current landscape of mass deportation and threats to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Despite the fear that is palpable in the Latino community—fear that is personal for many of the conference attendees—LCLAA’s focus remains on fighting forward: coming together to meet the moment, to build bridges, break down barriers and protect the Latino legacy. More specifically, the conference conveyed a deep commitment to defend workers’ rights, protect immigrant communities, advance equity and justice and empower Latino leadership.

“Building bridges means reaching out to each other, across generations, across movements, across trade unions, across comunidades, across all the lines they have tried to use to divide us,” said DeJesus. “It means forging deep, unbreakable bonds with our labor allies, with civil rights organizations, with immigrant communities, with every sister, brother and sibling who believes in justice.”

Over the course of the conference, LCLAA welcomed three new charters, in Arizona, Kentucky and Minnesota, signaling robust growth in the Latino labor community. Workshops engaged participants with new strategies for success—including a session on career and technical education led by DeJesus, a session on union wins and community coalitions from Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and a plenary that focused on youth-led activism and multigenerational organizing in the fight for justice.

Fighting forward

AFT members were also front-and-center during community service projects: They helped build six Little Free Libraries and stock them with books from the AFT’s Reading Opens the World project; painted the pavement at an elementary school playground with children’s games; and partnered with El Refugio, an immigrant rights organization, to assemble backpacks full of essential toiletries for deportees held in the Stewart Detention Center south of Atlanta.

The AFT was also instrumental in passing several LCLAA resolutions, including statements regarding solidarity with campus protesters and the right to free speech, the staffing crisis in healthcare, the paraprofessionals and school-related personnel bill of rights, defending the right for all children to learn in public schools, defending public sector workers, and the right to learn free from the threat of deportation.

Weingarten urged attendees to do more than just fight back but to also take a step toward fighting forward. “We have to imagine a future that includes everyone, a better life for working people,” said Weingarten, and we must fight for it at the bargaining table, on the streets, at local school board meetings and in the statehouse. “We have to fight for that better future as we are fighting back,” she said. “We have to give people hope.”

Other AFT representatives at LCLAA were AFT Vice Presidents J. Philippe Abraham, secretary of New York State United Teachers; Victor Bonilla, president of the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico; Kathy Chavez, president of the Albuquerque Educational Assistants Association; and Juan Ramirez, executive vice president of the CFT, California’s AFT affiliate. Bonilla, Chavez, Ramirez and senior staff member Cesar Moreno Perez also serve on the LCLAA national executive board. 

[Virginia Myers]