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Overcoming Barriers to Women in Organizing and Leadership Report to the AFL-CIO Executive Council March 2004

Overcoming Barriers to Women in Organizing and Leadership Report to the AFL-CIO Executive Council March 2004. Where Are We Now?. Study commissioned by EC Working Women’s Committee in August 2002  Are we taking advantage of the o pportunity to organize women?

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Overcoming Barriers to Women in Organizing and Leadership Report to the AFL-CIO Executive Council March 2004

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  1. Overcoming Barriers to Women in Organizing and LeadershipReport to the AFL-CIO Executive CouncilMarch 2004

  2. Where Are We Now? • Study commissioned by EC Working Women’s Committee in August 2002  Are we taking advantage of the opportunity to organize women?  Are we making enough progress with women leaders?

  3. Women’s Participation in the Workforce and in Unions is Growing • Women make up nearly half the workforce. • 43% of union members, 55% of newly organized workers. • Between 1990 and 2000, women union members grew by half a million. Increase greatest among African American women.

  4. We Win More Union Elections with Women Workers and Women Organizers • 62% wins women majority • 35% wins  women minority • 82% wins 75% or more women of color • 55% wins women organizers • 42% wins male organizers • 89% wins majority women of color and woman of color as lead or staff organizer Source: 2003 study by Kate Bronfenbrenner.

  5. Women’s Positive Feelings Toward Unions are Declining Source: AFL-CIO opinion polling data.

  6. Are We Taking Advantage of the Opportunity to Organize Women?

  7. Perceptions of Unions • Unions fight for members, provide job security and help secure raises. • There is corruption in unions.

  8. Perceptions of Unions • Equal pay, work & family issues and control over work hoursare strongest reasons for joining a union.

  9. Perceptions of Unions • Women want proof the union can deliver on promises.

  10. Perceptions of Unions • Self-reliance and individualism resonate among working women.

  11. Perceptions of Unions • Unions are mainly for men. • Don’t believe that unions have white collar members.

  12. Recommendations:Focus on Issues of Priority to Working Women • Equal pay, control over work hours and work & family issues like paid family leave and child care. • Highlight work and family issues in bargaining fights. • Actions about people, not about power and influence.

  13. Recommendations:Show Women Have a Place in Unions

  14. Recommendations:Show Women Have a Place in Unions • Use “unions” or the “union movement,” not “labor.” • Appoint, recruit and elect more women to leadership positions at all levels. • Recruit and retain more women organizers.

  15. Recommendations:Address Fears and Doubts about Unions • Use examples of worker strength. • Unions back up women without reducing their independence. • About workers, not institutions.

  16. Are We Making Enough Progress with Women Leaders?

  17. Barriers Inhibiting Women from Entering Leadership Positions • Commitment from unions • Work and family programs • Women’s structures and programs • Mentoring

  18. Recommendations:Commitment from Unions and Top Leaders • Establish mandates and policies. • Ensure women participate in all union events. • Appoint women to positions with core responsibilities, not as tokens. • Expand union executive boards to include more women.

  19. Recommendations:Develop Work & Family Programs and Policies • Child care at union events. • Hold meetings at times when women can attend. • Develop family-friendly policies for women leaders. • Make structural changes.

  20. Recommendations:Develop Structures & Programs for Women • Create women’s departments and committees. • Build women’s priority issues into organizing, politics and bargaining. • Hold smaller, advanced leadership trainings for women.

  21. Recommendations:Help Women Rise as Leaders • Identify women and “bring them along” by providing mentoring and individual leadership development at all levels.

  22. Next Steps • Where do we go from here?

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