Organizing and mobilization, in theory, is one thing; it’s a whole different ballgame in practice.

After a week of orientation at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., Union Summer interns in Portland, Ore., are applying the theories they learned to the hands-on work they do on-site.

Intern Lesley Salinas explains:

The time spent in Washington I classify as ’theory’ versus the hands-on training that I have been involved in locally in the community. During the training, I was given a lot of information that has been truly useful during these Union Summer weeks.

One of six interns in Oregon, Salinas is currently involved in a variety of projects dealing with the research, outreach and mobilization aspects of the labor movement.

As a first-generation Mexican American, she always has been extremely aware of the privilege she’s been given by being an American citizen. She heard about the Union Summer internship in her Latinos in Education Class at Portland State University. Salinas saw the program as a way to continue exploring her interest in social justice, by using her privilege in a positive way.

It’s very important that people who have privilege work with people who don’t, in order to create change for everyone.

She was initially intrigued by the Union Summer’s approach to social justice. After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in telecommunications, she realized she wanted to do work that actively helped the people around her. She became interested in teaching but was still unsatisfied.

Salinas says:

I realized that there was too much structure in what I taught and how I taught. And so I decided to go into social work instead. I thought that then I could be fighting for human rights in general. I’m passionate about a lot of different things, and then I heard about Union Summer and thought what better way to help people than in the workplace? Because everybody works.

Along with her fellow interns, she has been working with the Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA). They have been practicing house calls and creating surveys to better understand working people’s perspectives on unions. With OSEA, they also are working to empower union members and educate members not in the union about the work that the union is doing.

A pilot program called the Candidate School, which will work to assist union members in running for elected offices, is another project the Oregon interns are working on. The goal is to ensure greater union representation in these elected positions, as opposed to giving campaign contributions and support for politicians who don’t always support labor once elected.

Salinas also has been working on building a coalition with a local immigrant rights organization called CAUSA, through voter registration programs. She has also been an integral part of the Dosha Salon and Spa Campaign through Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7901, where workers are fighting to keep their union.  

Employees of Dosha are the first local business of its kind to unionize and fight for guaranteed pension plans and health benefits for themselves and their families.

Though she has had a lot to do, Salinas has been consistently blown away by how much she has enjoyed the internship.

I find that I am doing what I love, helping people! I am surprised at how ‘productive’ I feel and believe I have found an occupation that allows me to do what I am passionate about.

More than anything, Union Summer has been a growing experience for Salinas and, as it comes to an end, she is most excited about the change she has seen in herself and hopes to work as a union organizer in the near future.

[In the past few weeks of the program, I look forward to] more personal growth and also gaining all the knowledge I can from the amazing organizers who I have been working with.