Rudy Lozano

By Nicole Ramirez

Mexican American activist Rudy Lozano left his studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago to work with several Latinx organizations in the city.^[1] Initially, he worked at Legal Aid, and then joined the Centro de Acción Social Autónoma, Hermanedad General de Trabajadores  [Center for Autonomous Social Action, General Brotherhood of Workers] (CASA-HGT) organization in the 1970s.^[2] CASA-HGT’s Chicago Chapter was led by Chicago’s Latinx community members from all walks of life, including local residents, students, and lawyers.^[3] CASA worked to unionize noncitizen workers, provided them with welfare services, and pushed education for undocumented workers to better know their rights as employees.^[4] In 1982, Lozano became vice president of  the Independent Political Organization of The Near West, which was formed by CASA members.^[5] The organization aimed to promote CASA members and other community leaders in political campaigns.^[6]

Lozano showed dedication to the cause of labor organizing through his activism. At one point Lozano became the Midwest director of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU).^[7] The ILGWU, formed in 1900 and dissolved in 1995, aimed to improve working conditions and wages for workers in the garment industry, which employed a large number of Latinx migrant women in the United States and worked closely with CASA.^[8] In 1979, Lozano hoped to unionize the workers of Pilsen’s Tortillería Del Rey, a tortilla-making factory that employed more than one hundred of Pilsen’s noncitizen residents.^[9] Lozano urged people to stop buying Del Rey’s products and hoped to organize Tortillería Del Rey’s employees, because they were subject to harmful working and living conditions, as some employees lived in quarters on the factory’s main floor.^[10] Lozano faced challenges in forming a union of Tortillería Del Rey workers because of pushback from the company. Shortly before employees were to vote on whether or not they wanted to unionize, the Del Rey company called Immigration and Naturalization Services, resulting in the arrest of several noncitizen Tortillería Del Rey employees.^[11] Nonetheless, Lozano continued his efforts to organize the Del Rey employees until he began his run for political office in 1982.^[12]

Lozano was inspired by the motivation of CASA members to further their activism through political involvement.^[13] In 1983, Lozano ran for Alderman of Chicago’s 22^nd ward, where his home city of Little Village was located and where the majority of Mexican Americans in Chicago lived.^[14] Although Lozano lost the election to opponent Frank Stemberk, he continued his involvement in politics by campaigning for Mayoral candidate Harold Washington.^[15] Lozano played a central role in forming a partnership between Chicago’s African American and Latinx communities by working for Washington, who won the election and became Chicago’s first black mayor in 1983.^[16] Both communities recognized the need for political figures and organizations that would represent them.^[17] The alliance of these communities led to the creation of organizations like the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs during Washington’s administration, which aimed to address local concerns as well as international concerns within the Latinx community.^[18] The Committee on Latino Affairs would host hearings throughout the city concerning issues such as housing, arts, and health within the broader Latinx community and is still in operation today at the Latino Policy Forum.^[19]