Labor Union Activity and the Civic Participation of Latino Immigrant Workers

Abstract

Purpose

This research examines how labor union involvement shapes the civic participation of low-wage Latino immigrant workers.

Methodology/approach

Drawing on survey and semi-structured interview data gathered from a Los Angeles janitors’ labor union, I examine whether or not and how Latino immigrants apply their union experience to involvement in their children’s schools.

Findings

Results indicate that the union’s targeted member mobilization efforts produce unequal participation in union activities among immigrant workers, fostering civic and leadership skills among some and not others. At the same time, immigrant workers who do become involved in their union are then able to draw on their labor organizing and advocacy experience to address issues and concerns at their children’s schools. For some, worksite activism functions as a catalyst for newfound civic engagement; for other immigrant workers with prior civic experience in their country origin or in the United States, union involvement enhances their leadership capacity.

Originality/value

This empirical investigation shows how the experience of mobilizing for protests and participating in worksite campaigns allows Latino immigrant union members to overcome what are typically considered barriers to civic participation – that is, limited formal education, low occupational status, and limited English language skills. This study therefore suggests that labor union participation can have long-term effects on immigrants well beyond the benefits of a union contract.

Citation

Terriquez, V. (2015), "Labor Union Activity and the Civic Participation of Latino Immigrant Workers", Immigration and Work (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 27), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 55-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0277-283320150000027014