UAW 4811 Statement on Kent Wong’s Passing

UAW 4811 members mourn the passing of Kent Wong, who dedicated his life to advancing the rights of working people in Los Angeles and beyond.

Kent Wong, the director of the UCLA Labor Center for over 30 years and the founding president of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, passed away yesterday afternoon. Wong was a champion of labor and immigrant justice throughout his career, and taught and inspired tens of thousands of workers and students, including UAW members who took and taught in his classes and worked with him as researchers at the UCLA Labor Center.

As a professor of labor studies at UCLA, he empowered students not just to learn about the history of the labor movement, but to be an active part of it. His introduction to labor studies course had students volunteer directly with unions and other social justice organizations in Los Angeles to learn about the power of collective action firsthand.

Kent Wong speaking during a rally at UCLA.

Wong was also deeply committed to advancing justice for undocumented youth in California and beyond. He was critical in founding the first Dream Resource Center for undocumented immigrant youth in California, as well as Dream Summer, the first national fellowship program for undocumented youth. One of his final fights was the movement to expand access to campus jobs to undocumented students through the Opportunity for All campaign.

Wong’s decades of progressive activism and education made an indelible impact on the labor movement in Los Angeles, in California and across the country. Even as UAW 4811 workers mourn this extraordinary loss, we are comforted in the knowledge that he leaves a legacy that will carry his passion and dedication to social and economic justice for generations to come. May he rest in power.