Asian and Asian American workers in the United States have faced enormous challenges over the past year. They’ve suffered deaths and poor health due to COVID-19, high unemployment and now most visible to the public: anti-Asian racism.

Anti-Asian racism has a long history in the United States. Many institutions, including the labor movement, need to recognize their own history of discrimination toward people of color.

Racism, xenophobia and misogyny fueled the recent shooting of Asian women in Atlanta. And those stem from the targeted discrimination against Asian Americans.

We need to talk about how Asian American workers are impacted. How do we all commit to stop treating Asian American workers as disposable, perpetual foreigners or invisible?

Our labor movement fights hard for workers’ rights. How do we build a labor movement that fights just as hard to end anti-Asian racism?

Attend the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance’s (APALA’s) town hall to hear from leaders across the labor movement and pledge to build a more equitable labor movement for all workers.

In Solidarity,

Richard Trumka

President, AFL-CIO