Myint, Ma Aye, 1983- interviewee. McKerley, John W., interviewer. Occupational Folklife Project, sponsor. sound recording Sound recordings. lcgft Digital photographs Color 2010-2020. gmgpc Interviews. lcgft Oral histories. lcgft Personal narratives. lcgft eng Ma Aye Myint was born in the Rakhine state in Burma/Myanmar. She lived in a small village by the sea. Her family grew rice that they sold in a nearby city. She attended government schools and studied history. She hoped to gain a position in the government, but was left waiting for several years (a situation that she attributed to discrimination based on her ethnicity and lack of political connections). Facing poverty at home, she fled across Thailand to Malaysia, where she worked in a restaurant while awaiting refugee status and resettlement. She was eventually able to follow a cousin, who had previously come to live in Marshalltown, Iowa. Myint first found work in a restaurant in Tama, Iowa, but in search of better pay and greater opportunity, she later took a position in the JBS meatpacking plant in Marshalltown. She worked with other people from Burma on a fat trimming line, eventually stepping up to become a steward to address her coworkers' grievances as part of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1149. Thomas Lian served as an interpreter. Recorded in Marshalltown, Iowa, January 20, 2017. Recent immigrant workers in Iowa's meatpacking industry Archie Green Fellows Project, 2015-2016 (AFC 2015/026: 03383) Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. To honor the memory of Archie Green (1917-2009), a fellowship program was established at the American Folklife Center in 2010. Archie Green Fellowships support new research in the contemporary culture and traditions of American workers. Myint, Ma Aye, 1983---Interviews. Refugees--Burma--Interviews. Slaughtering and slaughter-houses. Civil service. Wages. Employee rights. Collective bargaining. Education. Employees--Training of. Factories. Labor unions. Blue collar workers. Meat industry and trade--Iowa. Packing-house workers--Iowa--Interviews. Marshalltown (Iowa), Recent immigrant workers in Iowa's meatpacking industry Archie Green Fellows Project, 2015-2016 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afc2015026.afc2015026_03383_sr01 Collection is open for research. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at Duplication of collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.