MOCA TALKS: Reflections on the 1982 Garment Workers Strike

Moderated by Community Organizer May Ying Chen, panelists Rachel Bernstein, Director of LaborArts, June Jee, Community Affairs Consultant, and Mae M. Ngai, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History, and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University, will discuss the history and importance of garment workers in Chinatown in the 1980s and 1990s, unpack issues involving the union and workers’ labor rights and women’s activism, illustrate the economic impact of the garment industry on Asian American communities, remember stories and oral histories from a large number of families and children who grew up in these garment worker households.

Moreover, various archival materials related to Chinatown garment workers from the MOCA collections will be presented during the program to support the discussion and bring to the fore more personal experiences – many will be shown publicly for the first time since the fire in 2020. Yue Ma, MOCA’s Director of Collections and Research Center, will also highlight the significance of archives in preserving this landmark event.