Seiu Summer: A Photo Diary | Katherine McCormick

Katherine McCormick is a recent UMass Boston graduate with a major in Anthropology and minor in Labor Studies who is eternally grateful to the Labor Studies department for catapulting her into the arena she belongs in. She is passionate about workers’ rights, immigrant rights, racial/economic justice issues, animal rights, and climate change. She is currently a labor organizer, working to strengthen unions and pass worker-friendly legislation, with the long-term goal of getting a masters in Labor History and helping other universities set up/reinvigorate their own Labor programs, so other students can have the same opportunity she had at UMass.

**First Place Award for Activist Reflection**

First Action: Philly Airport Workers

July 2017: Low wage airport workers at the Philadelphia airport demand a fair contract from American Airlines and are prepared to strike if negotiations don’t go in a favorable direction. At the 11th hour, American Airlines agrees to sit down with the union and draft a contract. To bring attention to unacceptable working conditions and poverty wages, we shut down an entire terminal of the airport with a huge rally. We were joined by faith groups, other unions, the airports fast food workers, elected officials, the president of SEIU, and hundreds of concerned citizens who came to express solidarity with the some of the poorest and most vulnerable workers in Philly. At the rally, I realized that these workers (mostly immigrants) were not vulnerable or powerless; in fact, these workers had tremendous strength. Despite language barriers and cultural differences, workers from all over the world banded together and spoke with one, loud, clear voice: demanding that American Airlines cease the abuse and provide their employees with basic necessities. Every worker I talked to told me that it wasn’t about a higher wage or healthcare benefits, but instead, it was about being treated with dignity while at work.

Second Action: Protesting ICE at the State House

August 2017: Here we are at the State House, furious at the legislature for not going forward with the Safe Communities Act. Charlie Baker has essentially allowed our state and local police force to assist the ICE in fnding and detaining our undocumented neighbors. Francisco Rodriguez, a father, a husband, a janitor at MIT, a small business owner and active member of 32BJ was detained in late July 2017 when he went for his routine immigration check-in at the Federal Building, while his wife was going into labor with their third child. An outpouring of support erupted from the city of Boston and surrounding areas. MIT students formed a protective barrier around other immigrants who were in danger to send a symbolic message to the State House that they cannot and will not continue to let ICE terrorize our communities. State Rep. Mike Connolly made an impassioned speech, people held signs that read “Stop The Ice Age,” and “We Are Here To Stay.” In such a depressing political climate, it was really wonderful to gather together and protest the American Gestapo, however: sign-holding and speech-making only goes so far. Despite our rallies, the Safe Communities Act was put on the back burner. Our immigrant brothers and sisters are at risk in Massachusetts and we need to make political decisions as a Commonwealth to elect a leadership that will not play ball with the Trump Administration.