Language barrier forces immigrants to unionize

Language barrier forces immigrants to unionize

By Julia Song

Ten years ago, I came to America from Korea. I am now a UCLA
student, but my road to UCLA was not easy. I had to learn English
as a second language.

There were many incidents where I could not voice myself. For
instance, I remember my fifth-grade open house. It had been only
about a year since we came to America. Because my parents did not
speak any English, and I was the oldest child, I was the translator
for my parents.

That night, in the middle of translating the conversation
between my parents and my teacher, we were interrupted by a parent
behind us. That parent walked up to my teacher and started shaking
hands with her in the middle of translation. I felt so insulted and
I got really mad. But I know it hurt my parents more, because being
in America made them feel helpless since they could not do anything
about the situation.

Fifteen years ago, another immigrant, Adriana Strada, came to
America from El Salvador. Adriana has been working as a cook at the
New Otani Hotel in Little Tokyo ever since it opened 15 years ago.
A few weeks ago, in preparation for a banquet, she was told to make
a new salad dressing she had never made before. Adriana told her
supervisor that she could not do it because she was not fluent
enough in English to read the recipe. Her supervisor then ridiculed
her, and Adriana got so upset and angry she cried at work because
she could not speak up for her dignity.

My experience and Adriana’s experience in America are connected.
Even though some think these two stories have no relevance
whatsoever, they are related in the immigrant experience, which is
filled with hardship.

One of the toughest battles for an immigrant cross-culturally
and across time periods is the language barrier. Most immigrants
come to United States not knowing English. Thus, they run into
barriers when they are not able to speak up at times when
self-expression is needed.

Today in Los Angeles at the New Otani Hotel, workers like
Adriana are struggling to unionize their workplace. The New Otani
Hotel, located in Little Tokyo, is owned by Kajima Corporation, the
fourth largest construction firm in the world. They employ 280
workers who are mostly immigrants ­ 60 percent Latina/o and 25
percent Asian and Asian Pacific Islanders.

The workers, along with Local 11 of the Hotel and Restaurant
Employee Union (HERE) and community supporters, are trying to form
a union to fight for better wages, better benefits like health care
and better working conditions. But most of all, they are fighting
to protect the workers’ voice in the workplace so that workers may
gain dignity and respect. Through unionization, these workers, many
of whom are not fluent in English, would have a way to voice
themselves without the fear of losing their jobs.

A union is a way to empower workers. And not only are the
workers fighting for their rights at their work place ­ in a
larger sense, they are also fighting for me. And they also fight
the people who do not respect immigrants who cannot talk as
fluently as those native born.

Although I am now in a position to speak English and express
myself, I cannot forget the times when I needed someone to be my
voice. I was very fortunate to be able to go to school and learn
English.

However, people like my parents and the workers at New Otani
Hotel were never given that chance to learn English. "Issei," the
first generation parents, had to work to make a living and they
made sacrifices for their children.

I think it is my time and turn as an immigrant who went through
the hardships to help the other immigrants voice themselves. I can
help the New Otani workers by supporting their movement, by writing
to the hotel management and going out to their rallies to gain
public support.

It is not only their struggle. It is also mine.

Song is a second-year student majoring in Asian American
studies.