WOODBURN, Ore. — Working tirelessly, day after day, no matter the weather. That's often the job of a farm worker, one that Reyna Lopez has seen firsthand.
“We started off in the strawberry fields in California in the 80s," Lopez said, adding that she was just a baby at the time.
Her Mexican parents had traveled to the United State looking for work. After living in California for a time, their search eventually brought them to Oregon.
“They had heard that there were more jobs in Oregon specifically in the famous Christmas tree industry," Lopez said. "That’s what brought my dad and a bunch of my uncles to make the trek up north with me and my mom as well and eventually we ended up settling in Salem, Oregon."
Her family undertook the move around the time of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, signed into law by President Reagan. The Library of Congress describes this act as a way to impose "civil and criminal penalties" on employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants. But the act also provided a way toward legalization, which Lopez's parents took advantage of.
Her parents got their green cards and eventually became U.S. citizens.
"That changed the trajectory of everything for us," Lopez said. "It really opened up our world to be able to buy a home, to just have peace of mind and have economic stability."
The working-class community Lopez grew up in heavily influenced the way she chooses to spend her time now, as an activist, an advocate and an executive director for Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN).
“We are Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, it translates to the "tree planters and the farm workers of the northwest,'" Lopez said.
PCUN is located in Woodburn and began as a union for farm workers nearly 40 years ago. Lopez said her father joined around that time. Now, 9,000 people are registered members, and the union has grown to include community education and political action. Lopez said through PCUN's Political and Electoral Action Program, their policy efforts are focused on immigration reform by way of FIRM, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement.
The political arm of PCUN is "dedicated to building Latino political power," according to their website and lists the election of several Oregon democrats as an achievement.
But Lopez said PCUN is still focused on the basics when it comes to supporting their members through labor attorneys, translation services and the Oregon Worker Relief Fund.
“Also working very closely with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, Oregon OSHA to try and make sure those rights are actually real for workers on the ground," she said, "Including paid sick days, making sure people are getting paid their minimum wage and their overtime pay."
As a Mexican-American woman leading PCUN, Lopez sees herself as a voice for those who feel they don’t have one.
“I take it very, very seriously and I see myself as a steward of this organization and another way to amplify and be a megaphone for the community," Lopez said.
KGW's Breaking Barriers series features Oregonians making a difference in the world of sports, arts, government, business and more. You'll see stories for Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15-October 15.