AANHPIs need critical labor protections, including the right to form a union, earn a minimum wage, and receive overtime pay. However, for more than 80 years, loopholes in federal labor laws have excluded industries with high concentrations of AA and NHPI employees – affecting those who earn a tipped wage, farm and agriculture workers, domestic workers, and more. Low-wage AA and NHPI workers are at additional risk because they often lack access to even the most basic benefits, including sick leave, and tend to be isolated in industries where they cannot organize to improve their working conditions.
Recent reports show that about four million (one in five) Asian Americans live at less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. We must build power for workers to organize for better wages, benefits, and conditions in their workplaces. NCAPA urges lawmakers to adopt our recommendations to finally close the racial wealth gap in AA and NHPI communities.