The Alaska cannery workers’ lawsuits of the 1970s and ’80s powerfully demonstrate workers of color solidarity, the strategy of legal mobilization and the limits of the justice system. In this workshop we’ll examine the cannery industry as vestige of “plantation” segregation, the cannery workers’ organizing and their road to the Supreme Court and the World Conference on Racism and Racial Discrimination. We’ll discuss ways that the cannery worker legacies can be incorporated into class activities.
Cindy Domingo chairs the board of LELO, Legacy of Equality, Leadership & Organizing, as well as leading the U.S. Women and Cuba Collaboration. Her roots in Seattle’s progressive community have strengthened coalitions and mentored new leaders.
Tracy Lai teaches history and American Ethnic Studies at Seattle Central College. She is co-authoring a chapter on labor for UCLA’s Asian American & Pacific Islander multimedia textbook (launching summer 2025).
