United We Stand: Sergio Acuña and the Fight for Workers’ Rights
“Workers need unions for protection. Companies and the government each look after their own interests, and those interests do not always align with those of workers,” Sergio says.Sergio Acuña came to the United States the same way thousands of workers come to Alaska: with hope, with promises, but above all with a willingness to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
In 1988, his brother Enrique arrived in Alaska during the oil boom. Meanwhile, Sergio, disappointed with the education system, studied law in Mexico. But, as he says, his plans “went sideways.” Sergio decided to leave university and travel to Alaska in 1991, largely inspired by the landscapes his brother had shown him. He fell in love with the state, began working here, and in 1996 he joined Laborers Local 341. The union represents workers in construction, the public sector, health care, maintenance, and custodial services. From the beginning, Sergio was an active union member, eventually rising through the ranks to become vice president. Manual labor—the work performed by blue-collar workers—carries inherent risks. In Alaska, however, those risks are higher. Here, where the climate is extreme, wildlife roams near communities, and job sites can be remote, workers face conditions in which there is virtually no margin for error. That is why, Sergio says, workers need unions for protection. Companies and the government each look after their own interests, and those interests do not always align with those of workers. At times, he explains, the government “creates obstacles—not necessarily to prevent unions from reaching workers—but by making it harder for workers to receive benefits and better working conditions.” For that reason, he says, workers must organize to fight for health insurance, fair wages, and better working conditions. According to Sergio, although union membership has been increasing, the number of Latino blue-collar workers continues to grow, and Latino workers are among the “most formidable” laborers he has ever seen, they still do not make up a significant share of union membership. Sergio noted that union leaders and the companies behind the Alaska LNG pipeline project have already signed labor agreements. He warned that Alaska’s local workforce will not be enough to meet the project’s demands. As a result, he expects a large influx of migrant workers, both from other parts of the United States and from Latin America, to fill those jobs. With their arrival, Sergio’s story comes full circle: decades earlier, his brother had come to Alaska to work on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Finally, Sergio poses a question: “Why do people become rich?” He answers it himself: “Because they exploit others, because they promote practices that work against workers.” He also insists that his job is to ensure union members can “return home with all their limbs.” To Sergio, workers are not victims of their circumstances because they do not have to stand by and take abuse without responding. Workers can always fight back. But no one can stand up alone against those in power. Collective organization is what gives workers strength. “United we stand. Divided we fall,” he said. |