Category Archives: Labor

The History of Chinese Immigrant Workers and Labor Unions in America

Introduction The history of Chinese immigrant laborers began with the California Gold Rush, where thousands of hopeful workers migrated to the US in hopes of attaining wealth and being able to send some of that wealth back home to their … Continue reading

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Exploitasian: The Story of Chinese Workers in Gold-Rush America

China’s rise to economic dominance in the late 1900s largely came from its massive population and the cheap labor that it provided to foreign corporations, with “companies like Nike, Apple and Walmart relying on Chinese workers to manufacture their products”. … Continue reading

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Kanaye Nagasawa and the other Asian Americans who built California Wine Country

Asian Americans are generally not associated with California Wine Country, but they were key players in getting it established.  Chinese laborers built and worked in Sonoma’s oldest winery, Buena Vista Winery, as well as planting millions of grapevines between 1856 … Continue reading

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California Shootings Highlight the Struggles of Asian American Seniors

After the initial shock about hearing about the Half Moon Bay shootings, my next reaction to hearing that Chunli Zhao actions were related to his work on a farm was “why is a 66-year-old working on a farm?” This shooting … Continue reading

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COVID-19’s Disproportional Impact on Asian American Employment

A recent report published by UCLA finds that Asian Americans workers have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.   As shown above in the graph above, Asian American unemployment rates and jobless rates were at one point lower than that of whites, … Continue reading

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Why there are so Many Filipino Nurses in the US: A Video Explanation

We talked about how Filipino American nurses have been hard hit by the Coronavirus, which makes sense since they are a significant proportion of the US nursing workforce compared to their proportion of the general US population.  How did that … Continue reading

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8mm Review: ‘American Factory’

I forgot how I came across this Netflix documentary, ‘American Factory,’ but after my brother saw the film and mentioned it, I knew I had to watch it. The film is about: “In 2014, Fuyao bought part of a closed General Motors … Continue reading

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Union City School changes name to honor Filipino American Farm Labor Leaders

Alvarado Middle School in Union City California will officially change its name to Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School this September.  Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz were farm worker labor leaders instrumental in the founding of the United Farm Workers.   The … Continue reading

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October 25 in California is now Larry Itliong day

On June 30, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed bill AB 7 making October 25 in California Larry Itliong day.  Who is Larry Itliong?  He was one of the key Filipino contributors, along with Phillip Vera Cruz (shown on the … Continue reading

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CAAM: The Golden Spike

2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad by Chinese immigrants.Often, the immigrant Chinese’s role in this historic accomplishment has been literally white washed. As part of celebrating Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, the Center … Continue reading

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Chinese Railroad Workers Inducted into the U.S. Labor Hall of Honor & Reclaiming Promontory Point

On May 9th, history was made as the Chinese Railroad Workers were inducted into the U.S. Labor Hall of Honor. You can view the entire ceremony on the Department of Labor’s YouTube channel. If you don’t happen to know: “But … Continue reading

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First Asian Pacific American Worker Congress To Be Held in Los Angeles

On Saturday, March 15, 2014, the first Asian Pacific American Worker Congress in Los Angeles will be held at the Service Employees International Union #721 at 1545 Wilshire Blvd. from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 100 Asian American … Continue reading

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