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Photo by REED HUTCHINSON

Freshman class started their four-year journey

BY MEG SULLIVAN

For eight graduates, a single class taken four years ago hit them like no other. “Work, Labor and Social Justice,” a yearlong general education cluster class, exposed them to the ugly exploitation of Asian-American garment workers in Los Angeles.

“After this class, I couldn’t just go, ‘Oh, I’m sorry this happened.’ I felt we needed to take action,” said Jacqueline Ng (pictured). Even as they continued on with their college careers and progressed to studies in different majors — Ng went on to major in biology — the impact of that class stayed with them throughout.

Recently, the eight graduating seniors and a fellow student gathered at the Faculty Club with their former instructor, Kent Wong, to celebrate a journey that started with that class and ended with the publication of a 104-page book they decided to write, “Sweatshop Slaves: Asian Americans in the Garment Industry,” published by UCLA’s Center for Labor Research and Education. It’s the first book ever written about this group of workers.

“The students, by and large, knew nothing about these conditions before the class,” recalled Wong, director of the center. “The book is a fulfillment of their interest to get the word out that sweatshops aren’t something that only happened 100 years ago. They’re here and now.”

“Having this book finished before graduation makes this time extra special,” Ng said. “I feel like I’ve surpassed my own expectations for myself.”