LHM: Edgar

There are some folks that are just born with IT — the leadership, the charisma, and the grit to fight injustices. Edgar Perez is a fighter through and through and across border lines. He’s a UCSF Sr. Surgical Tech and has worked there for the past twenty-three years, but before he took on UCSF Management, Edgar was fighting the El Salvador Government.

When he was a teenager, Edgar was the leader of the Movimiento Estudiantil de Secundaria, a group of student organizers that focused on reducing student tuition fees, access to education, and provided affordable books and supplies for disadvantaged communities. The students, Edgar included, fought hard and pushed back against the injustices and always won. The government did not like that, and at the age of eighteen Edgar was prosecuted by the government. Edgar was faced with no other choice than to seek refuge in the United States. 

Upon his arrival to California, Edgar found the community support necessary to begin building his new life here. He found a job, went to school, graduated, and eventually found his way to UCSF where he hoped to advance his career. It didn’t take long for Edgar to quickly see the unfairness and struggles in the workplace, he quickly got involved in his union and began organizing just like he would in El Salvador. As a result, Edgar has organized and mobilized his coworkers to many victories, including, additional breaks, additional uniform changing time, and additional compensation for on-call shifts, among other great victories! 

Edgar is a powerful leader. His bravery and feistiness is well known around UCSF and will be truly missed as he hangs his hat early next year and retires. Edgar plans to retire in El Salvador to continue to fight for better living conditions for his community. Edgar has always pushed against the status quo and fought against injustices and will continue to do so because when we fight, we win!