Unions: Training the Next Gen

The UAW Women’s Department sends us the following from the UAW Solidarity magazine.

Lisa Young jokes that her son, Eric, was born a union activist because after finishing maternity leave in 1992, she headed straight for her bargaining unit’s negotiations. By the time he was in fourth grade, his hero was [former UAW President] Walter Reuther.

So a couple of years ago, Young jumped at the chance to speak to Eric’s class about labor union history.

“I want my children to know what the worker goes through,” said Young, mother to Eric, 13, and Ashley, 17. “Too many of our kids are used to asking for what they want and getting it. That’s how they think real life works too.”

“If I didn’t take the time to teach my kids about the sacrifices and struggles of union members before me, they would just naturally assume that my employer just gives me all these great wages and benefits without them really understanding that these are negotiated, hard-fought benefits. Nobody gave us anything,” she added.

A UAW Local 1588 member at PPG Industries Inc. in Delaware, Ohio, Young is a local union discussion leader doing her part to spread the word about labor history and continue the fight for social and economic justice.

The goal: to ensure that labor’s hard-fought battles are not forgotten and the union’s monumental gains aren’t taken for granted.

“If we teach them when they are young, then they will have the knowledge to do something about it when they are adults,” said Young, also vice president and chair of her unit at the amalgamated local. “I have to teach them because I don’t ever want anyone to walk all over my kids.”

The union movement represents a little more than 12.5 percent of today’s labor force. With the anti-worker policies of the current administration, understanding workplace rights is more important than ever.

“Some parents dream about their children becoming president of the United States. I dream about my son being educated and wise enough to lead the labor movement into the next generation, and I dream about my daughter being a strong advocate for workers and children,” Young said.

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