PEP, March 2013: South Asian labor group draws political support

Public Employee Press

South Asian labor group draws political support

Immigration reform will be a top priority of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASAAL) this year as the Obama administration seeks legislation to establish a pathway to citizenship for the country's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

ASAAL focused on building political power and fighting for workers' rights Dec. 15 at its fifth annual convention, whose theme was "Transforming South Asians' Vision into Power."

"The labor movement must make the community's issues their issues and the community values their values," said
DC 37 Treasurer and Local 1407 President Maf Misbah Uddin, ASAAL's president and founder.

His opening remarks highlighted some of ASAAL's recent accomplishments:

helping elect Rep. Grace Meng from the 6th Congressional District in Queens - the first Asian-American to represent New York in the U.S. Congress.
participating in the redistricting process so that Asian-Americans are properly represented. Last year, a new State Assembly district was created in a Queens community in which nearly one-third of the residents are South Asians.
successfully lobbying for the Bengali language to be included on the ballot for the first time.

The convention at Teamsters Local 237 headquarters in Manhattan included workshops on youth issues, women's concerns, and the South Asian vote and the 2013 mayoral election.

Besides endorsing immigration reform, convention participants backed resolutions calling for an increase in the minimum wage, job creation and support for union jobs and benefits. ASAAL honored Local 420 President Carmen Charles and Saleh Ahmed, senior manager at Wellcare of New York.

ASAAL's growing strength was shown in the long list of politicians who addressed the convention, including New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli; New York City Comptroller John Liu; mayoral candidate William Thompson; Assembly members N. Nick Perry of Brooklyn, Eric Stevenson of the Bronx and David Weprin of Queens; City Council members Darlene Mealy, Mark Weprin and Robert Jackson, a candidate for Manhattan borough president, and Nuran Nobi, the first City Council member of Bangladeshi origin in Plainsboro, N.J.