Unions did such a good job…that so much of their work goes unnoticed

 Union Summer participant Lesly Salinas, 36, will be working with Portland hairstylists, janitors and bus drivers, trying to form unions when she goes out into the field. She says the Union Summer training resonated strongly with her passion to help people who are less privileged than she:

"I hope to create change. I hope to have an impact. The interesting thing about Union Summer is that not only do we get to participate in this program, but we are gaining these skills for life. I hope to bring all the knowledge I gained from Union Summer into my community and create change for them."

Salinas says her time at the AFL-CIO made her realize how important the labor movement is:

 "Unions did such a good job…that so much of their work goes unnoticed—kind of like the civil rights movement. Now we have all these rights in the workplace and we don’t even think about them because they are just rights….We don’t know how we got there, and I think young people need to be invested in the possibility of creating positive change for the future."