"What is it going to take to make sure the leadership of the labor movement looks like the membership of the labor movement?"
That was the question posed Saturday to several hundred labor activists attending the National Summit on Labor and Diversity. The summit launched a two-day weekend conference here preceding the national AFL-CIO convention, which begins Monday.
"We had this conversation 10 years ago," lamented Edgar Romney, executive vice president of UNITE HERE! "We have not done a very good job in the issue of diversity."
Women and people of color now represent 60 percent of the total AFL-CIO membership, according to "Diversity Matters," a report by the Labor Coalition for Community Action, which coordinates the activities of AFL-CIO constituency groups who represent women, people of color, and gays and lesbians.
Yet those groups are under-represented in the leadership of unions at all levels.
"Unless we actively recruit people, we're not going to have diverse leadership," said one participant in the summit, speaking during an open microphone discussion. Unions must have both an elected leadership and a staff that reflects the diversity of the membership, she said.
"It's going to take more than education, it's going to take more than organizing, it's going to require us to raise hell," said Elise Bryant, a senior staff associate at the National Labor College. Her remarks drew resounding applause.
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| AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy says the labor movement's diverse membership needs to be seated at the table when decisions are made. Labor Review photo |
Amisah Patel, community coordinator for SEIU Local 73, Chicago, suggested that one avenue to developing a more diverse union leadership lies in strengthening local unions' connections to local communities.
"We have to build long-term relationships," she said. "We've got to actually build those relationships with our own members in our own neighborhoods." That requires an investment of resources, she added, asking "how many unions have at least one full-time person dedicated to building relationships with the community?"
The Diversity Summit took place against the backdrop of a looming split in the AFL-CIO between unions seeking sweeping reforms through the Change to Win Coalition and the unions backing the administration of current AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, who is seeking re-election.
"We will not be cannon fodder for the fight between the two groups," insisted Bill Lucy, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and secretary-treasuer of AFSCME.
Whichever faction wins, he said, both have expressed commitments to addressing diversity. He challenged both sides of the dispute to make good on those professed commitments. "There is no substitute for being in the room when policy is made," he said. "Do not put us out of the room."
For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor's Future
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“What is it going to take to make sure the leadership of the labor movement looks like the membership of the labor movement?”
That was the question posed Saturday to several hundred labor activists attending the National Summit on Labor and Diversity. The summit launched a two-day weekend conference here preceding the national AFL-CIO convention, which begins Monday.
“We had this conversation 10 years ago,” lamented Edgar Romney, executive vice president of UNITE HERE! “We have not done a very good job in the issue of diversity.”
Women and people of color now represent 60 percent of the total AFL-CIO membership, according to “Diversity Matters,” a report by the Labor Coalition for Community Action, which coordinates the activities of AFL-CIO constituency groups who represent women, people of color, and gays and lesbians.
Yet those groups are under-represented in the leadership of unions at all levels.
“Unless we actively recruit people, we’re not going to have diverse leadership,” said one participant in the summit, speaking during an open microphone discussion. Unions must have both an elected leadership and a staff that reflects the diversity of the membership, she said.
“It’s going to take more than education, it’s going to take more than organizing, it’s going to require us to raise hell,” said Elise Bryant, a senior staff associate at the National Labor College. Her remarks drew resounding applause.
|
| AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Bill Lucy says the labor movement’s diverse membership needs to be seated at the table when decisions are made.
Labor Review photo |
Amisah Patel, community coordinator for SEIU Local 73, Chicago, suggested that one avenue to developing a more diverse union leadership lies in strengthening local unions’ connections to local communities.
“We have to build long-term relationships,” she said. “We’ve got to actually build those relationships with our own members in our own neighborhoods.” That requires an investment of resources, she added, asking “how many unions have at least one full-time person dedicated to building relationships with the community?”
The Diversity Summit took place against the backdrop of a looming split in the AFL-CIO between unions seeking sweeping reforms through the Change to Win Coalition and the unions backing the administration of current AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, who is seeking re-election.
“We will not be cannon fodder for the fight between the two groups,” insisted Bill Lucy, president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and secretary-treasuer of AFSCME.
Whichever faction wins, he said, both have expressed commitments to addressing diversity. He challenged both sides of the dispute to make good on those professed commitments. “There is no substitute for being in the room when policy is made,” he said. “Do not put us out of the room.”
For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Labor’s Future