APALA Prepares for 2008 Election
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Contact:
Malcolm Amado Uno
Phone:
202-508-3733
Email:
muno@aflcio.org
Website:
www.apalanet.org
APALA Prepares for
2008 Election
Washington
D.C. – Building on momentum from prior
election cycles, Asian Pacific American
Labor Alliance (APALA) chapters engaged in
voter mobilization efforts across
the country. APALA
chapters coordinated
precinct walking efforts, phone bank
operations and town hall forums to ensure
that the Asian Pacific American (APA)
community was educated on the issues and
mobilized for the 2007 election cycle.
“The local chapters anchor our
political program by providing
opportunities to connect to the work.
Members are making calls, walking
precincts, organizing events and
talking to workers on the job about the
importance of Asian Pacific American
involvement in the political process,”
stated Maria Somma, President of
APALA.
“Furthermore, APALA members are
not only engaged in their chapter’s
political program, but our members are
involved in their Central Labor Councils, Area
Labor Federations, State
Federations and their international
unions.”
Highlights
included the following:
- The Alameda County
chapter partnered with the Alameda County
Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
to mobilize voters to support Shilen
Patel, an Asian American candidate
for the Emeryville City Council, a city
with a growing APA community that
has reached 25 percent of the
population.
While Patel won three precincts
outright, the initial results
suggest that he fell 107 votes short of
winning the seat.
Election officials are still counting
provisional
ballots.
- The Los Angeles
chapter
coordinated a precinct walk with the Los
Angeles County Federation of
Labor, AFL-CIO to mobilize voters to
support Warren Furutani, an APALA
member and candidate for the
55th Assembly District in
California.
The special election
is scheduled for December 11, 2007.
After the precinct walk, LA
chapter members conducted a community
forum targeting the Pacific Islander
community in the Carson
area.
- The San Francisco
chapter organized a Cantonese and
Mandarin language phone bank operation
that successfully contacted 4,000 Chinese
American union members to
advocate for the passage of Proposition A
in the countywide election. The measure ultimately
passed,
garnering 53% of the vote. APALA
members also walked precincts in the
Excelsior District in San Francisco,
a community with a strong Filipino
American presence.
- The Washington D.C.
chapter sponsored a phone bank and a
precinct walk to assist the AFL-CIO
to mobilize union workers and families
for the Virginia election.
Virginia is of particular significance
due to the growing APA population in the
Northern Virginia region.
Furthermore, the state will be the site
for a closely contested Senate race in
the upcoming 2008
election.
Furthermore,
this election cycle provided the opportunity
for APALA chapters to begin
building the necessary infrastructure to roll
out the Every Vote Counts
political program for the upcoming
presidential election in 2008. “While it is important
to elect candidates
that favor a working class agenda, it is
equally vital to build the necessary
infrastructure to maintain our momentum
through election cycles,” said Linda
Mann, Vice President of the Washington D.C.
chapter. “The
Every Vote Counts political program
provides the
chapters with the framework to advocate for
the political interests of the
Asian Pacific American community while also
developing our next generation of
leaders.”
The
Every Vote Counts political program
consists of four major components –
voter registration, voter education, voter
mobilization and election
protection. In
collaboration with the
AFL-CIO and APIAVote, APALA has identified
battleground states and regions
where the Asian Pacific American community
will influence the outcome of the
election. “The
2007 election served as
a springboard to launch us into the 2008
presidential election.
We are gearing up to ensure that APALA
continues to serve as the bridge connecting
organized labor and the Asian
Pacific American community,” stated Gloria
T. Caoile, Executive Director of
APALA.
Founded
in 1992, the Asian Pacific American Labor
Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, is the
first and only national organization of Asian
Pacific American union
members.
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