National Radio Project

MAKING CONTACT

Transcript: #01-98 Rising from the Ranks: Women in the Labor Movement
January 7, 1998

Program description at http://www.radioproject.org/archive/1998/9801.html

Phillip Babich: Welcome to Making Contact, an international radio program seeking to create connections between people, vital ideas and important information. This week on Making Contact:

Linda Chavez-Thompson: What we hope to do is to mount a campaign for 1998 about working women making decisions of the direction of this country.

Brenda Moon: As oppressed peoples, very often we start to internalize the message and actually question what we’re doing and how we‘re portrayed in the media. And so we have to do everything we can not only to show ourselves in a positive light, but to bring forward that information that will reinforce what we are doing positively.

Phillip Babich: According to the AFL-CIO, nearly two thirds of working women say that they provide at least half of their household income, and over 40 percent are the primary breadwinners. Undoubtedly women are a growing force in the American Labor Movement. On this program we’ll hear from labor leaders and union activists about the gains women have made in the workplace, and the challenges that still lay ahead. I’m Phillip Babich, your host this week on Making Contact.

Last year the AFL-CIO conducted a comprehensive study called the, "Ask a Working Woman Survey." The goal of the study was to document the views of America’s 61 million working women. Those responding to the survey decided that gender discrimination in pay and promotions as pressing concerns. Correspondent Brian Tremblay, of WMUA Radio in Amherst, Mass., spoke with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Linda Chavez-Thompson about the significance of the study.

Linda Chavez-Thompson: What we’ve done is we went to 20 cities to do, "Ask a Working Woman Hearings," a campaign stop, so to speak, because we want to draw attention to the fact that working women, in face, have the power in their hands not just to make changes politically, but also to begin to make changes within the American labor movement. We now represent about 43 percent of the work force, as far as women in the work force. And yet we do not see women in all kinds of roles in the workplace, and we want to make sure that happens. The main gist of the campaign is to primarily bring the issues of women into the workplace. How do we begin to address the needs of working women in the workforce, whether it’s childcare, whether it’s pension moneys, whether it’s flexible hours which don’t violate the standard 40 hour week. Whatever the case might be, working women have not made their voices heard. And we sent out a survey to a million working women, and did 20 cities, to get answers back about what working women want to see addressed as far as the labor movement, as far as the Congress, as far as states and legislatures, the city councils or whatever. About how working women could be addressed as far as their problems.

Brian Tremblay: And what will you do with the results of the survey?

Linda Chavez-Thompson: What we hope to do is to mount a campaign for 1998 about working women making a decision of the direction of this country, in the people that we elect to office, in the people that we push for making changes, in laws that by proportionate numbers are a disadvantage for working women. How do we begin to address more dollars into health care for women? How do we begin to address insurance policies that are given to companies and corporations and public entities that don’t address the needs of health care for women? Child care, affordable and yet instead of just people working there taking care of children, in fact, developing the minds of children and paying adequate wages for child care workers. Addressing the issue of home health care positions that, for instance, that are held by a predominance of women. We still have women that are categorized in women’s jobs, and they, for the most part, are the lowest paying jobs. We have to address the economic...the kitchen table economics, for instance, and women need to play a very important part in all those conversations.

Brian Tremblay: As part of the Union City campaign, one aspect is to make leadership of unions look more like the membership.

Linda Chavez-Thompson: The AFL-CIO is working and has worked very hard to make diversity and inclusion, an everyday occurrence within the American labor movement. We, of course, are looking to hire, and have hired, more women that ever in the history of the AFL-CIO staff. We are pushing for the recognition that as slates are put together for elections, as international unions look for the direction of the future in their leadership positions, that they look to include more women...that they push themselves to bring in more women. At the AFL-CIO we used to have 19 departments, three were headed by women. We now have 20 departments, 10 of them are headed by women. And we need every single day to have some sort of recognition that if the American labor movement does not begin to make the sorts of changes within themselves, then how to we expect others to recognize that changes need to be made. My election to the Executive Vice President position of the AFL-CIO, while it was a newly created position, the slate that was run decided that to make a statement, to really make a statement, was to create a position, but to put a person of color, to put a woman to run for that position. To make a statement that it was time to look for change, that it was time for the American labor movement put change at the top of their agenda. So by that we’ve done the "Working Women Vote" campaign, which was to generate discussion and participation by women union members in our unions and working women all across the country, to go and vote on their issues. Issues that have to do with working families in this country.

We want to put on a campaign in 1998 that working woman can make a decision as to how this Congress that is coming up, or to any elected body, must address issues of working women. But we also need to make changes within our own international unions, within our own national programs, that more women should be hired as organizers. And of course diversity also includes that we look at people of color...women of color. As well, if we’re going to be organizing, for instance, in the Latino communities, we have to look for Latino women to be looked at as organizers as leadership..in leadership positions. It’s a great change, and some people may say "...well, wait a minute, you’re saying that only women...you’re saying that only people of color...?" No. We need to build a strong base for all union members in this country. To have such a strong base that whoever you’re negotiating for, whatever the color of the skin, and the gender of your union members, if you bring more people in who’ve never been asked to join unions. What a better support base for you and your union to have good negotiations and to have good representation as far a what you’re trying to get for your own membership.

Brian Tremblay: As the first woman and the first person of color elected to a top position, do you find yourself becoming a spokesperson for that inclusion model?

Linda Chavez-Thompson: Very definitely, and it’s an awesome responsibility, believe me. It’s a little scary sometimes, because I recognize that my position...having been elected to my position, women see me as the role model, to make things happen for women. People of color see me as the first, and as I often say, not the last person, or the last woman, of color to be elected to an executive position of the AFL-CIO. So yes, it is a little, an awesome responsibility. And we’re trying, we really are. Because the AFL-CIO often times has not had women at the table to discuss what’s in it for woman, as far as the American labor movement. We need to bring all of the factors in to discussion about the changes that we need to make. If it’s more women, we need to talk about why we’ve not had them involved. If it’s to talk about public sector workers or private sector workers, we need to learn about each other so that we can be involved with each other. We need to begin to know each other, and oftentimes we haven’t spent the time. As a woman of color, it is an awesome responsibility to feel that the changes that we’re making in the American labor movement are all on my shoulders, and that’s really not, because John Sweeney believes this. Mr. Krumpka believes this. So I’m not fighting this battle all by myself. It is joint effort to make sure that the American Labor Movement begins to look at all levels of our movement. Like the people that we’re trying to represent.

Phillip Babich: Linda Chavez-Thompson, speaking with Brian Tremblay.

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Phillip Babich: At the community level, motivating people to get active for social justice can be an arduous and thankless job. To hear how some union women are energizing their mobilization efforts, Correspondent Martha Baskin recently attended a back to basics workshop titled, literally, "Grass Roots Organizing 101."

Martha Baskin: Like the growth of neighborhood social welfare organizations in the 1890s, late twentieth century organizing has its roots in addressing the unequal distribution of wealth and power. How you start the process was explored in a grass roots organizing workshop held at a recent convention of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, or CLUW. This was Grass Roots Organizing 101, the what, why, and how to, one step at a time.

Brenda Moon: I’m sure all of us have heard, over and over again, about taking on an organizing mentality, about suggesting that we have a responsibility not just to ourselves, but also a responsibility to our children and our grandchildren to make this movement grow.

Martha Baskin: Brenda Moon, a trainer with the Communication Workers of America, in the field mobilization department of the AFL-CIO, explains how the imperatives of grass roots organizing fit within the overall picture, of promoting what she terms a common agenda for change.

Brenda Moon: We see over and over again what’s happening in our day to day activities, and how this assault from Congress, assault from our State Houses, assault from our local governments, basically say that the labor movement as a whole has no power. So we have free reign to do whatever we want against working folks. And so then it behooves us to get on the bullet train. The problem with that is we don’t know very often what train we’re gettin’ on.

Martha Baskin: In light of the urgency for grass roots organizing in the current political climate, the bullet train metaphor was appropriate. As for identifying the train, that would soon be clarified by co-workshop facilitator Pam Lessinger, with United Auto Workers. Lessinger began by handing out a crib sheet to the workshop participants.

Pam Lessinger: See, this is like classic, folks. You know, you can’t solve a problem until you know what it is. Have you ever noticed that sometimes you think you’ve got, you take care of the problem, and you put everything into action, and by God, you turn around and look and the problem’s still there. That’s because the solution was the wrong solution, because the problem was the wrong problem.

Martha Baskin: Linda Ramen, a participant from a CLUW chapter in Pittsburgh, had some ideas.

Linda Ramen: ...grass roots in a community rather than from a national organization to something like that. Their are some people who are my next door neighbor, who sees that there’s a problem there, and he brings it to his next door neighbor, and these people share information and start looking at, "How can we make a difference?"

Martha Baskin: Again, Pam Lessinger.

Pam Lessinger: We’re also kind of hitting at coalition building, right? And if you want to organize a union, or whatever, you know, or start working on the environment, you know, or if I want to go over here and picket the incinerator that they just put up, I look for people who care about that. Believe it or not, not everybody does. So you’ve got to look for an issue that’s going to like, pull people together. First you identify the problem, then you set the goal...okay, are we together here? Number three is, now we’ve got to analyze the situation. We’ve got to look at it a little bit closer.

Martha Baskin: One by one, the elementary steps essential to hit the ground running with grass roots organizing are analyzed sequentially: Identify the problem; set a goal; analyze the situation; develop an action plan; delegate responsibility; generate support from peers in the community. Sherry Olsen, shop steward with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 44 in Skagit County, Washington, reflected upon organizing in her union.

Sherry Olsen: When talking about organizing or unions in general, it comes across as a negative, trying to find a way of making it feel like a positive rather than a negative. So often as a shop steward I’m asked, "What does my union do for me?" My answer has always been, "What are you willing to do for yourself?" And then go from there, rather than having them saying, "You’re not doing enough for me." We have to take responsibility, but I want people to understand there are some real positives that come from being in an organization and having the power to speak up.

Brenda Moon: And certainly this is something, in terms of, making sure there is a positive message, we have to be very mindful of who controls the media, who controls the press. And so very often, we, as I call ourselves, oppressed peoples, as oppressed peoples, very often we start to internalize the message and actually question what we’re doing and the way we’re portrayed in the media. And so we have to do everything we can not only to show ourselves in a positive light, but to bring forward that information that will reinforce what we are doing positively.

Martha Baskin: Pam Lessinger guides the workshop participants back to the crib sheet for Grass Roots Organizing 101.

Pam Lessinger: And here it says: start by asking for a small commitment and gradually escalate...isn’t that sneaky? What are we looking for?

(voices) ..like causes.

Pam Lessinger: Likes, that’s right. And sometimes, sometimes people who can go with you on an issue, and you know, from other things that you know about them, they may be..are they 100 percent on you side all the time?

(voices) ...no.

Pam Lessinger: No, No. Sometimes they may have very different views. You know, we could actually, on occasion, find ourselves on the same side as the Christian Coalition. Don’t cross anybody off your list until you at least thing about it. Fact of the matter is, there’s one way to get people to do something. And you know what it is. Right? Ask ‘em. Face to face, one on one. Ask ‘em. Some people will lie to you. Don’t get discouraged. Because they also know, that you know, that they lied. So next time, you’ve got ‘em.

Martha Baskin: Grass Roots Organizing 101 is wrapping up. Finding common ground and mobilizing people around an issue appears to be as simple as listening into a neighbor or a colleague, face to face, one on one. All you need do, is convince them that their issue, their problem, could very well be resolved in community, as a ‘we’ rather than as an individual on their own. Pam Lessinger sums things up.

Pam Lessinger: Final evaluation and recognition, that’s the last step. Now what’s this mean...final evaluation. It means: The party’s over. Let’s take a look at it. Were we successful?

(voice) Did we accomplish anything?

Pam Lessinger: Did we accomplish anything? That’s right. Because you want to know what you accomplished. Because that other part, that recognition, that other part up there, about settin’ goals. Another thing you can do is, you know, throw a party. Do something. You’ve got to recognize the people that got you to that goal. Got to. I don’t care how. I don’t care how simple. I don’t care if you just go around and shake everybody’s hand. You’ve got to recognize the people and say, "Thank you. Couldn’t have done it without you." ‘Cause that’s the truth, folks.

Martha Baskin: For Making Contact, this is Martha Baskin in Seattle.

Phillip Babich: Women around the world have been fighting for fair labor practices in the garment industry. One of the key organizations involved with this struggle is the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees, or UNITE, established in 1995 when the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union merged. UNITE’s mission is to protect low wage workers, and establish international alliances. Labor journalist David Bacon spoke with Katie Quan of UNITE’s Pacific Northwest District Council about the union’s organizing efforts, and about her own rise within labor ranks.

Katie Quan: Well, I started by going to get a job in garment factories. My thinking was, at the time, was that it’s really only when the people who are oppressed, the workers themselves, get organized, that long-lasting change can come about. And so I thought that I would start by going to work in a garment factory. In the eight years that I worked in garment factories, I worked in about 10 or 11 different garment factories. And in some of the factories just the chemistry was not right, and it was impossible to really bring people together to fight over a common issue. But in some cases, it was easy to get people to stop working over things like getting a higher piece rate, or, you know, we even stopped working if our paychecks came to us late, in those days. And so it varied. Over the years, though, even though I was the chief steward in the largest shop in New York Chinatown, which had about 200 people, I began to feel that I could really only effect the situation in my own shop. It wasn’t as if I could, okay, branch out from there to the shop upstairs and the shop downstairs, and so on. And after the strike that happened in the ILGWU’s local 2325 in 1982, I began to think there were people in the union who felt like I did, who thought that garment workers really needed to be organized, both externally and internally. And so I decided that there was an opportunity to enhance the empowerment of garment workers by going to work for the union.

David Bacon: The picture that you’re painting of activism in the shops, it sort of defines what a common stereotype is of Asian women, garment workers, it sort of defines the stereotype of people being kind of submissive and unwilling to speak up.

Katie Quan: Absolutely. I would say that the stereotype of Asian women being submissive and passive and not willing to speak up is just that, a stereotype, and has almost no truth in reality. The strike that I mentioned, the strike in 1982, occurred when our employer’s association refused to sign renewal agreements with the union. And at that time most people in Chinatown, and there were about 15 or 20 thousand of us who worked in Chinatown, and you know, we weren’t active union members, in that sense, yeah, we went to union meetings, but we really hadn’t had the experience of striking all the time or anything like that. But when that happened, when the bosses wanted to take away three of our holidays, when the bosses wanted to cut our medical benefits, and then finally when they said they wouldn’t renew our contract whatsoever, all hell broke loose. And the union called for a rally in Chinatown. 15 thousand people showed up in the streets. And the bosses were scared. They had no idea that the workers really felt that strongly about their benefits and about the union. And they had no idea that people would come out...actually a lot of people in the union had no idea either. But it happened. And the second time... about a week to ten days later, when the bosses still didn’t respond, and it was the strike deadline, same thing, 15, 20 thousand people out in the streets, ready to strike. So this really taught a lot of people a lesson. It taught them not to mess with the Chinese ladies. Because when they get mad, then they are really a force to be reckoned with.

David Bacon: Do you feel that you’ve face discrimination as an Asian woman in the labor movement?

Katie Quan: Well, I think that there are a lot of people who initially look at an Asian woman and think that she’s not capable, she doesn’t have experience, she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Especially if you’re younger. I think too that the culture of the labor movement is still largely male dominated. And it’s more maybe in the social settings. You know, a lot of people relate to each other on male terms. That’s been difficult too. Although you know, I’ve been known to drink and smoke as much as the next guy.

David Bacon: Are there, you know, there’s a lot of talk in the AFL-CIO about diversifying the leadership of the labor movement. Are there things that the labor movement and the unions need to do in order to make it possible for more women to assume leadership in unions?

Katie Quan: I think so. I think that if you’re going to go beyond lip service, you’re going to have to really have a program. Any union who really wants to promote diversity actually has to have a program to promote people. Has to, you know, just like you have in an organizing campaign, you have to identify people who are your targets, you have to figure out how to bring them along, how to educate them. You have to figure out how to do this in a, you know, in a way that will make them ready for responsibilities that they should take on. I don’t know of too many unions which actually have this kind of program. You know, I think it’s really needed, because I think that for women, especially women of color, especially young women, I think that without that kind of mentoring, and without that kind of active program in place, that the whole union agrees with and supports, that it’ll just be, you know, the same people bringing up their friends.

David Bacon: What would you say to young women who want to become union leaders who are looking for jobs as organizers, who want to lead unions?

Katie Quan: Well what I’d say is it’s well worth it, so do it. I would say that it’s a difficult job, so take your time and learn your trade. I don’t think it helps anybody to have people who are considered tokens, people who got the job just because they’re women, or just because they’re women of color, or people of color. I think it’s very important to number one, be skilled at what you do, and number two, to really have a base among the rank and file.

Phillip Babich: Katie Quan of UNITE, speaking with David Bacon .

That’s it for this edition of Making Contact- a look at women in the labor movement. Thanks for listening. And special thanks this week to WMUA in Amherst, Mass. for production assistance. Our theme music is by the Charlie Hunter Trio.

If you want more information about the subject of this week’s program, call the National Radio Project at 800-529-5736. Call that same number for tapes and transcripts, or if you’d like to make a comment about what you’re just heard. That’s 800-529-5736.

Making Contact is an independent production funded by individual contributors. We’re committed to providing a forum for voices and opinion not often heard in the mass media. Our producers are David Barsamian, Denise Graab, and myself. Our senior advisor is Norman Solomon, and our executive director is Peggy Law. For Making Contact, I’m Phillip Babich.