Report: Unions Must Open Up Opportunities for Women, Young Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/07/23/report-unions-must-open-up-opportunities-for-women-young-workers/

by James Parks, Jul 23, 2010

All the growth in union membership since 2000 has been among women, Latinos and part-time employees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. So how can the union movement attract the next generation of working women and younger workers? A new report says unions must become more diverse and open up more opportunities for young workers and women in leadership or they will move on to other social justice organizations.

The report, “Stepping Up, Stepping Back: Women Talk Union Across Generations,” details frank discussions in March among 30 women invited to a two-day women’s summit in New Orleans and sponsored by the Berger-Marks Foundation.

While acknowledging the significant gains for women in the workplace made possible by unions and the growing diversity in the union movement, the report urges unions to do even more to become more open.

The AFL-CIO is committed to increasing diversity in the union movement. At the federation’s 2009 convention, 43 percent of the delegates were women or people of color. The convention also passed two resolutions, “A Diverse and Democratic Labor Movement” and “Unions Should Give People with Disabilities a Voice and a Face,” that, among other things, require every state federation and central local bodies to establish concrete goals for expanding diversity in their leadership.

At the national level, several unions, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA), increased the membership of their executive boards to increase diversity. At AFT, for the first time, all three top officers are women.

FULL story at link.