Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

After thousands of academic student employees (ASEs) at the University of Washington (UW) went on strike Tuesday, the bargaining team of International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) Local 4121 announced later that night that they had reached a tentative agreement.

The union has been working diligently in bargaining sessions with university administrators since February, securing deals on all provisions except wages. UW academic student employees—including teaching assistants, researchers, tutors and others—voted nearly unanimously in April to authorize a strike and hit the picket lines early Tuesday morning to pressure administration to give them the fair pay they deserve. By 9 p.m. of the same day, they had reached a deal. Wins include the largest raises the bargaining unit has ever won in a contract, $0 health care premiums maintained, paid leave time for immigration appointments and hearings, grievance timeline improvements and more.

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Today's profile is Trung Le of AFSCME.

Trung Le's story is one of resilience, strength and compassion. After escaping Vietnam at the age of 16 as a Vietnam War refugee, Le found a foster family in the U.S. and became a social worker, striving to protect children from the same abuse that he once endured. In 2017, after 23 years on the job with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, Le and his fellow program supervisors organized and voted decisively to form AFSCME Local 3419, of which he now serves as vice president.