A brief interview of APALA Executive Board Member Maf Misbah Uddin, President of AFSCME local 1407 and Treasurer of District Council 37 and the highest ranking Bangladeshi American in labor.

On becoming involved with the labor movement:

I started working in 1988 for the City of New York, which had sponsored me for immigration as a pension actuary. Colleagues started telling me about the union, and I started going to meetings. Initially, they couldn't understand my questions.

I began to mobilize. Back then, there weren't many Asians in the union. But if you were talking about issues, they were union issues, not Asian ones, so people started listening. In '92 I ran for an Executive Board position, and I went to everybody, whoever that could understand me. Sometimes I would bring a notebook so that I could make them understand.

I won that election, and I was the only one who looked like me.

In 1997, I ran against an incumbent for a citywide delegate position within the union, and I got elected. So that gave me the idea that I could do a citywide election.

In 2000, I ran with a slate of 16 people, and only 3 of them didn't win. I became president of my local. In 2004, I ran with my slate again and this time we took 19 VP positions, plus I became the custodian of DC 37's budget.

By 2001, I had become active with APALA and I ran for APALA's Executive Board from the floor in 2005 and won. I think within AFSCME, I hold the highest position for any Asian American.

On opportunities for Asian Americans in unions:

Nobody is going to give it to us. We have to make sure we have recognition by becoming aggressively involved in the labor movememnt. We have a huge population from Asia, even in a few states we can make a difference. And the union leadership is recognizing it.

These opportunities were not given to us; we must claim them, and exert our power and ability to lead.

The future for the Asian American labor movement is bright . . . We must lead others who are behind us and we must push those who are in front of us. We must present ourselves not as a problem but as the solution.

I think APALA is a bright platform to bring us to be where we want to be.  With 15 million APAs, there is a space here, and I think there is take to take it.

On the economic downturn:

As working class people, we opposed from the beginning the $3 Trillion tax credit that only benefited 1% of America.

You can read Maf's extended biography on the APALA site.

APALA applauds President Obama's selection of Congresswoman Hilda Solis as the next Secretary of Labor and encourages the U.S. Senate to confirm this appointment.  APALA is optimistic that Congresswoman Solis will re-instill the original intent of the Department of Labor to defend workers' basic rights in our nation's workplaces.
 
Congresswoman Solis has a personal connection and appreciation for the plight of working families.  Her father, an immigrant from Mexico, was a steward for the Teamsters, and her mother, originally from Nicaragua, worked on an assembly line.  This upbringing has translated into tangible results in Congress that we hope will transfer to the Department of Labor.
 
First elected in 2000 to represent California's 32nd Congressional District, where Asian Pacific Americans comprise close to 20 percent of the population, Solis' voting record reflects her commitment to working families.  During the 110th Congress, Solis voted with APALA's position on every piece of legislation in the 2008 Congressional Voter Guide.  Specifically, her support of the Employee Free Choice Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the DREAM Act reinforce the hope that Solis will reform the Department of Labor to guarantee workers' rights to safe and healthy working condition and ensure freedom from employment discrimination.