The Stepping Up, Stepping Back report, from the Berger-Marks Foundation – established to help recruit and train female union organizers – was discussed at the foundation’s recent two-day conference in New Orleans. Written by Linda Foley, the former Newspaper Guild president who is the foundation’s president, the report says that without changes, unions will lose these activists to other causes.
Needed changes include:
• Opening up opportunities for advancement of younger workers, especially women, within unions. That includes such changes as increased workplace flexibility within unions themselves and aid to help women balance the demands of their union jobs and their families. The latter is especially important for women aged 35-50.
• An end to sexual harassment within unions. Though women make up half the U.S. workforce and more than 43% of all union members, women are still a minority in leadership positions in the union movement. But while leaders campaign against sexual harassment, the problem actually occurs at the level of worksites and union halls.
• Using modern communications channels – Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, etc.
– is important, but what’s more important is the content being communicated. And nothing substitutes for face-to-face contact. “What matters to younger workers are the issues that unions tackle, not whether their leaders have a large following on Facebook,” one recommendation noted.
• Empowerment matters. The union women, especially those under 35, said union structures shut young union men and women out of leadership roles and “union political structures reward incumbents regardless of results.” A particular turn-off: The willingness of older, male, union leaders to agree to two-tier wage contracts that penalize young workers.
• Formal leadership and mentoring for young activists, especially female activists, along with increased education and training. “The lack of formal mentoring has also helped perpetuate the ‘old boys club’” at the top of the labor movement, the report says.
“What emerged from two full days of frank, open and honest dialogue was an urgent call for inter-generational understanding and change,” the Berger-Marks Foundation said. Other recommendations included creating “safe spaces” for younger workers to raise issues and ideas, inclusion of younger workers in real decision-making, and creating “meaningful and fun” union events. That’s something more than just the bowling alley, the golf tournament and the bar, the activists said.
The conference "made me feel a lot braver. The similarities I saw across generations are so validating of my own experience," Lauree Hayden of SEIU, who is under 35, told the foundation. "It makes me feel like: One, I\'m not crazy; and two, this is worth fighting over, and risking a lot of things. There\'s a community out there that we can use to support each other."
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
For more information
View the report at the Berger-Marks website
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The Stepping Up, Stepping Back report, from the Berger-Marks Foundation – established to help recruit and train female union organizers – was discussed at the foundation’s recent two-day conference in New Orleans. Written by Linda Foley, the former Newspaper Guild president who is the foundation’s president, the report says that without changes, unions will lose these activists to other causes.
Needed changes include:
• Opening up opportunities for advancement of younger workers, especially women, within unions. That includes such changes as increased workplace flexibility within unions themselves and aid to help women balance the demands of their union jobs and their families. The latter is especially important for women aged 35-50.
• An end to sexual harassment within unions. Though women make up half the U.S. workforce and more than 43% of all union members, women are still a minority in leadership positions in the union movement. But while leaders campaign against sexual harassment, the problem actually occurs at the level of worksites and union halls.
• Using modern communications channels – Twitter, YouTube, FaceBook, etc.
– is important, but what’s more important is the content being communicated. And nothing substitutes for face-to-face contact. “What matters to younger workers are the issues that unions tackle, not whether their leaders have a large following on Facebook,” one recommendation noted.
• Empowerment matters. The union women, especially those under 35, said union structures shut young union men and women out of leadership roles and “union political structures reward incumbents regardless of results.” A particular turn-off: The willingness of older, male, union leaders to agree to two-tier wage contracts that penalize young workers.
• Formal leadership and mentoring for young activists, especially female activists, along with increased education and training. “The lack of formal mentoring has also helped perpetuate the ‘old boys club’” at the top of the labor movement, the report says.
“What emerged from two full days of frank, open and honest dialogue was an urgent call for inter-generational understanding and change,” the Berger-Marks Foundation said. Other recommendations included creating “safe spaces” for younger workers to raise issues and ideas, inclusion of younger workers in real decision-making, and creating “meaningful and fun” union events. That’s something more than just the bowling alley, the golf tournament and the bar, the activists said.
The conference "made me feel a lot braver. The similarities I saw across generations are so validating of my own experience," Lauree Hayden of SEIU, who is under 35, told the foundation. "It makes me feel like: One, I\’m not crazy; and two, this is worth fighting over, and risking a lot of things. There\’s a community out there that we can use to support each other."
Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
For more information
View the report at the Berger-Marks website