Meet Karla Salazar – Business Representative
By Kelly Hartog
Business Representative Karla Salazar is like the Energizer Bunny: passionate, committed to labor and social justice, and a powerful community organizer. She’s been working for AFSCME District Council 36 since August 2023 and represents City of LA members under the AFSCME Local 3090 bargaining unit on disciplinary hearings. Before joining DC 36, she worked for AFSCME’s International Union.
Salazar says she was excited to come on board as a business rep because she saw it as a challenge. “I always seek more knowledge in anything that I do,” she shares, “and this is wonderful because this is where we hold labor at the forefront. If we weren’t able to collectively bargain and negotiate contracts, there would be no labor unions.”
Salazar’s activism stems from her upbringing. “I’m a first generation Salvadorian American,” she states. “I grew up in South LA and saw a lot of the negative treatment against immigrant low-income families.” She witnessed the 1992 LA riots when she was 12, and at nine, she survived a drive-by shooting. She feels that all these factors “have pushed me to really fight for the rights of others and to fight for justice overall.”
Quoting Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman to be elected to Congress, Salazar says, “You’ve got to have a seat at the table,” adding that American history is rooted in pitting the haves against the have-nots. “It’s always been about workers fighting for respect and their working conditions and better pay in the long run. If we don’t help workers have a prosperous life, that trickles down to our entire community.”
She’s also a huge proponent of ensuring access to education for lower-income families. Salazar is the first in her family to get both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. She’s also concerned that there is very little focus on labor history. “It was only when I was older that I learned about Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The labor movement has always gone hand in hand with the history of fighting for economic justice.”
Salazar says this year she is focused on what is coming down the line with the new Trump administration. “I want to be ready, but I also want to activate people to be more involved in their union. I’ll definitely be there to make sure that people stand up and preserve their rights against the Trump administration or anybody that’s trying to take away labor rights.”
As a proud Latina woman, a mother, and a bilingual Salvadoran immigrant, Salazar says, “It’s really important for people to be engaged and involved. You want to have a seat at the table — not be the dinner.”
