Entries by admin

“They embraced their cause 24 hours a day”

In the summer of 1992, immigrant construction workers across southern California launched a militant strike that surprised both their employers and the Anglo leaders of trade unions. Aided by the California Immigrant Workers Association (CIWA), the drywallers’ strike succeeded in improving working conditions in residential construction across the region. This account is from CIWA organizer […]

April 1, 1993 by

City on the Edge

Release shortly after the 1992 civil unrest in Los Angeles, City on the Edge criticized the low-wage policies of the tourism industry and challenged political leaders to embrace equitable development. Featuring interviews with historian Mike Davis, business leaders, city officials, and workers, the film offers a glimpse of LA contending with deep social and economic […]

April 29, 1992 by

Building sustainable peace in Guatemala, the union perspective

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Central American nations of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala experienced civil war, government-sponsored death squads, and genocide. Many who fled the violence settled in Los Angeles were they joined other immigrant workers in low-wage service sector jobs, and became part of the unionization drives of the 1990s. Immigrants […]

October 14, 1991 by
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Cleaning Workers to Go on Strike: October 19, 1990

A clipping of a 1990 article describing a Justice for Janitors training held in from of the Los Angeles Police Department. Janitors were preparing to use non-violent civil disobedience in their strike on Bradford Building Services in November of that year. Translated from Spanish by Juan Torres. “Cleaning workers to go on strike” La Opinion, […]

October 19, 1990 by

Stop the Cooperation between the Police and the INS

A flyer announcing a protest rally and march organized by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) in the fall of 1990. Formed in the wake of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, CHIRLA drew together organizations and activists from many communities to demand inclusion for immigrants. Reflecting growing progressive coalition […]

October 16, 1990 by