Local 21’s Kat General Elected First VP to APALA National Board

IFPTE is proud to report that Local 21 Field Director, Kat General, was elected as the First Vice President to the national board of the AFL-CIO’s Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA).  Sister General’s election occurred last weekend as a part of APALA’s 18th Biennial Convention, where upwards of 20 IFPTE members participated from Locals 21, SPEEA/2001, and the International. 

Kat commented that, “I am honored by the support and trust that APALA’s delegates from across the United States have extended to me. I will work hard to build collaborative relationships with AFL-CIO affiliates and community stakeholders to win for everyday working people in our country."

"Congratulations to Kat General on her election as 1st Vice President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance! I have the dual honor of serving as the Local 21 President and being an active member of our APALA San Francisco chapter. In these roles, I have had a front-row seat to Kat’s excellence for years,” said IFPTE Local 21 President Bianca Polovina. She went on to say, “Kat has been teaching all of us how to win campaigns for years now. The most successful organizers, like Kat, are brilliant teachers who meet ordinary people where they are and help them walk their own path to making true change via collective power. Our local in particular has been transformed because of how Kat teaches and models this, and because of who she is - an AAPI woman who shines brightly and cultivates space for others to shine, too. Congratulations to APALA as well. Kat is the best of us in the San Francisco Bay Area, and APALA will rise with her as its General." 

Julian Ware, IFPTE Local 21 Oakland Vice-President and IFPTE Western Area Vice President, said, “Kat has always been a source of power in IFPTE Local 21.  In all of her roles, she has tackled them from a place of understanding, strength, and empathy.  I think nothing highlights it more than when we were striking with our brothers and sisters from SEIU in 2019. Harnessing the multitude of emotions that our members had during that period and directing it to make a significant impact demonstrates the type of leader she is.  APALA has an amazing leader with Kat General.” 

 IFPTE General Counsel, Teresa Ellis, who serves on the APALA board as well, commented as well, saying that, “Kat being elected to the second ranking position in APALA will provide a huge boost to furthering our mission of advancing worker, immigrant, and civil rights for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Union members and workers overall.”  IFPTE President, Matt Biggs, weighed in, saying that, “APALA’s convention theme was Solidarity, Unity, Resistance, which certainly guides Sister General every day,” while Secretary-Henson noted that, “Kat will no doubt make an already strong APALA even more fierce.”  Congratulations Kat!