Connecting the Movement: Sam Sukaton
Today, we continue “Connecting the Movement” with Sam Sukaton, a recent graduate of UCLA.
How’d you get involved with SLAP?
Honestly? I fell into it. I’d always been interest in ethnic activism – I’m Indonesian-American – and UCLA’s economic situation (or rather, the fact I was going to UCLA with no money) really developed my interest in solutions.
As for SLAP specifically, I was at USSA’s National Student Congress in the summer of 2010 at UCLA, where I met student/labor activists from all over the country and began to connect the fights for education and employment in a meaningful way.
What is the biggest problem facing workers in the country?
Confusion. The world seems so complicated, so big, and so frightening, millions of people just can’t figure out where to swing and how. Immigrant workers feel ignored or victimized by the powers in our country, Tea Partiers express fear for their own livelihoods, and younger workers are starting to find their debt means more than their degrees. We all know there our country is in a bad place, but because we’re so confused, divided, and frightened we take it out on each other.
What is the importance of having students in the fight for workers rights?
Students are workers. Ask anybody why school/college/education is important and one of the first things out of their mouth will be a variation of “jobs.” Americans value the role of education for preparing workers and residents of society, regardless of political position. Students become workers, so creating ethical, equitable employment now provides jobs and workplaces for us when we eventually move into the working world.
Building a society that respects workers’ rights is an investment in our future. Whether you’re an investment banker with a Harvard class ring, a labor organizer from UCLA, or an electrician from LA Trade Tech, people my age have to decide right now if we’re going to spend the next half century in a world where we and our children can lose our jobs, our livelihoods, and our lives if we’re not profitable – or if we’ll live and raise our families in a world that treats human life with dignity on the job and everywhere else.
What campaigns have you and your group been working on this year?
The California DREAM Act (AB 130 and 131, Cedillo) has been huge across the University of California system, and we’re very excited about how far it has come; Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed it multiple times, but Governor Jerry Brown has promised he will sign it once it reaches his desk. In the wake of the federal DREAM Act’s failure in the Senate last year and the draconian enforcement bills being passed in Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, and elsewhere, California students are hoping to show the rest of the country a different model for dealing with immigrants.
Next, UC students have worked to increase student and worker power within the UC. Students and workers now have representatives on the Investments Advisory Group, which oversees the UC’s portfolio and has a major position in recommending whether fees go up or not. UCLA’s own Bob Samuels, president of UC-AFT, sits on that board.
Finally, California is still in a budget crisis. UC students have pushed for tax extensions to protect funding for higher education and social services, while also supporting an oil severance tax to fund higher education (California, unlike both Texas and Alaska, does not tax oil drilled within its borders) and opposing an “all-cuts” budget which would be catastrophic for the UC, CSU, and community college systems.
What are you most excited for at the Jobs with Justice national conference?
As an intern with SEIU ULTCW, I’m working with a lot of home care and nursing home workers. ULTCW has stood with senior advocates lobbying, advocating, and organizing to protect funds and secure revenue to take care of California’s seniors and disabled population. As more and more people retire, workers in this industry will grow ever more important. Other organizations also recognize this moment, and have organized Caring Across Generations, a national campaign aimed at uplifting domestic workers and building a care industry that does right by patients, workers, and their families. I hope to share some of the great work ULTCW is doing in California at the conference. It seems to me that all this work is connected.
My mom’s concerns about employment and my own concerns about education fit together in a sort of spectrum – the world doesn’t seem to be working for those at the start of their adult life or those at the end of it. I hope to connect with other organizers and activists working on these issues and to help JwJ activists and allies get out our message: this economy doesn’t work for the young, old, or anyone in between – and another world is not only possible, but necessary.
Don’t forget to register for the Jobs with Justice Conference here! The early registration deadline is this Friday!
Get it Sam! It is so important to understand taht we are all in a single movement fighting for social justice for all. Glad to be in this fight alongside you!