By Salvador Oceguera,
Organized labor, social justice and environmental justice dominated the day Thursday at the 10th CSUDH Labor, Social And Environmental Justice fair. More than two dozen of groups ranging from local union chapters and student activist groups to immigration organization and a CSUDH labor class were on hand to shine a light on workers’ rights and to provide the campus community with job information all while expanding on issues of social and environmental justice.
“It connects very well [with the community] because people who come here looking for jobs are willing to work and sometimes they just get hooked up in the wrong group of people and they end up in” in uncomfortable situations, Maura Kain from Faith Ministry said. “So we just try to help them out to avoid that from happening.”
Workers’ rights–knowing what they are and how to exercise them–was a big focus of the fair.
“A lot of folks in school are future employees or employers so everyone should know the laws that pertain to either being a worker or an employer,” said Shari Bell from the California Labor Commission’s office. “I think it makes the levels of the playing fields good for employees, and it’s good for employers to have a good fair competition as it also empowers workers to know their rights. We have a lot of new trends in our economy, and I think that by people just being aware of current laws and trends will help make a better future for the next generation.
Aside from the rights of our working community, the fair hosted a variety of student social activist groups like the CSUDH chapter of SQE, Students for Quality Education. Student activism is nothing new and has helped many movements get their start. Students voices are empowering and it’s because of events like these that they get the courage to speak out and learn a few things of what they can actually do.
The fair lasted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the East Walkway of the Loker Student Union, which is where the various organization staffed their booths. But there were also presentations and workshops inside the LSU, including a keynote address by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, and presentations on why unitons matters and immigrant rights and
The event was hosted by the Labor Studies program under the guidance of coordinator Vivian Price. The interdepartmental program offer sthe only labor studies major of any public four-year university to offer a bachelor’s in labor studies. Graduates from CSUDH go on to work in unions, worker centers, community organizations, human resource centers, and some even work as social workers or public administrators.
