ELENA HERRADA
What has inspired you to fight for the working people?;
Elena Herrada: I come from working people; my father, my grandfather, both of them retired from Chrysler and the UAW, where my daughter Elisa now works. We’re intelligent. We’re working people. We’re Chicanos. My grandfather inspired me with his stories from the Mexican Revolution, his stories in Ford, where he also worked, until he lost his job in 1922.
I am proud to be among the descendants of repatriados, who were kicked out for no other reasons than being Mexican, returned, started over without a word, and made a good life for us, their grandchildren.
Detroit, for us, has been the Promised Land.
MICAELA CASTRO
What do you think about women’s rights?;
Micaela Castro: We all have them, as well as the opportunity to move forward. We all have the capacity, education, or talent to advance and improve. But, we need the courage to move onward. Sometimes, we ourselves block our own progress. We put up our own barriers.
I have been in my union for two years and for the last five months, I have been the secretary on the executive board. Because of the training I have gotten and the advantage I have taken of it, I feel well prepared to meet this task. In fact, in Mexico, when I was in school, I studied labor law.
I know that as a leader, you have to be compassionate and give the very best of yourself. I am also a Cub Scout leader. As such, I promise to be the best I can be, before God and society, and this helps establish strong human ties and relationship with union sisters and brothers.
I work for free (for the union), but I do everything I can to fight for human rights. I fight for social justice for my fellow man. I have always fought for labor rights.
We need people, volunteers. I ask them, “Who else can be a leader?;” Someone needs to be a leader, and I show the women how to defend themselves against the bosses.
