Lauren San Juan

After reading hundreds of essays, at the top of everyone's list was Lauren San Juan's. Her keen essay about the importance of unions and her desire to support working families made her an easy pick for our top scholarship. She plans on attending the University of California- Santa Cruz in the fall.

I live in a rural area, 20 miles east of California’s central valley.  The central valley has a strong presence of agricultural workers, laborers, and union members.   As a young girl growing up in the central valley, I recognized early how moral responsibility, sacrifice, unity, and commitment bring progress.  My early exposure to unions and growing up in a union family, has helped shaped who I am and who I want to become.

I learned at an early age about moral responsibility and sacrifice.  When a popular soda company’s workers went on strike, we boycotted the products.  Our neighbor, who at one time gave us free soft drinks from his employee surplus, asked my family to stop buying the brand until the labor dispute ended.  I remember fighting back the urge to sip my favorite Sprite drink, yet proudly refusing it because its distributor wasn’t paying its workers fair wages.   My parents pointed out the boycott on our local News channel and confirmed that our neighbor and his co-workers’ efforts, along with our sacrifice, to win a fair employment contract were important to all workers because it helped balance power.   The news footage of protesters in the community also brought bad publicity to the soft drink manufacturer, who likely pressured the local distributor to settle. The experience also gave me a better appreciation for the manufacturers of products I use every day.  I am more likely to buy a product when I know the path it traveled before arriving on the store shelf.   

My family’s support for unions also brought another lesson on sacrifice and the impact of unity. When the local grocers’ union went on strike and workers gave up their pay, my family gave up the convenience of shopping at our neighborhood store.  At the grocery store strike, we drove by daily to honk our horn in support.  We brought the strikers food, water, and hot coffee in the evenings.  One morning I arrived at a bus stop near the grocery store, after having walked several blocks in the cold and after whining about not catching a ride with my parents. As I planted myself quickly under the bus shelter as if I had walked through a winter storm, I caught a glimpse of all of the workers rallied around the store with their picket signs held high.  How could they still be there? The mist from their warm breath billowed out into the morning frost, as they yelled in support of the union.  I was reminded of their commitment.  I understood the meaning of what “banding together” meant:  pushing forward for progress (around-the-clock), without concern for preferred or predictable comfort.   After months of “banding together,” they won their battle to keep the benefits they fought collectively to preserve.   Their strong bond in the face of adversity really made an impression on me.

Unity among the workers happened during peaceful times, too.  With my family, I attended many union picnics, ball park games, holiday parties, and parades where union workers congregated.  At these events I bonded with other kids my age, while my parents networked with the workers and their families.  At some point a truck‑driver or a politician or a civic leader would get behind the microphone and deliver a speech.   As a child, I listened because it always came before the announcement of the Raffle prizes.  Yes, I wanted to win tickets to the waterslide or to a movie. However, as each year passed, I listened a little more attentively and often I would hear a catchy phrase that would stick with me, like “An injury to one is an injury to all! ” or  Cesar Chavez’ famous motto, “Sí, se puede” (translation: Yes we can!). Most of all, the union events served to unite workers and their families, and to build a network of workers, laborers, and activists.  It made me feel a sense of belonging, and I learned to appreciate compassion and fellowship among people.

As I grew older, my understanding of the union and its relation to the rest of the world increased.  My small gesture of boycotting my favorite soft drink evolved into precinct-walking to fight the governor’s proposed measures in 2005.  California Governor Schwarzenegger had successfully replaced Democratic Governor Gray Davis in an earlier Recall Election.  It would be challenging because voters loved the actor-politician Schwarzenegger, even some democrats.  Governor Schwarzenegger’s Proposition 73 intended to increase the number of years teachers had to work before they could retire and Proposition 74 would have silenced the political voice of public employee unions.  I walked door-to-door for an entire weekend and talked to registered democrats about the propositions, and sometimes I was discouraged by apathy and cynicism, but mostly people were supportive and liked my enthusiasm.   By the second day, I was excited and I learned a lot from my fellow precinct-walkers who were mostly union activists from the Teamsters, the International Laborer’s Union, and SEIU.  When the results came back in our favor, the feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming.  It was empowering.  My confidence and interest in the world around me was boosted.  It helped me to be assertive in my beliefs, because I learned how ideas can evolve into meaningful change, that education on important issues matters, and that arguing a stance brings progress.  Additionally, if we band together on important issues, we can reach more people and deliver a stronger, more amplified message.

The union’s advocacy for justice was an inspiration in my selecting a career goal, too.  The picnics and parade speeches resurrect powerful messages, the chants and bullhorn speeches that called to action better pay and working conditions are amplified, and the shouting words of striking workers rallying around a store still ring in my ears.  The message of organized labor resonates within me.  Additionally, I felt connected to unionism because the workers advocating for justice was my father, my grandfather, and people in my community. I was equally impacted by the labor leaders I read about such as James Hoffa, Cesar Chavez, Delores Huerta, and A. Phillip Randolph.  These leaders championed the rights and equality of workers.  Driven by a similar thirst for justice and equality, I am inspired to become a labor law attorney and follow this calling.  I am prepared to embark on an educational journey that will equip me to spread awareness and to continue the work of organized labor.