Taking the Next Steps to Build Strength Through Diversity

by James Parks, Sep 16, 2009

UMWA President Cecil Roberts said the resolution on diversity is ‘about the labor movement. When we open doors, we build for the future.’

The diversity of the union movement is its strength. Building on the success of the historic Resolution 2 passed in 2005, the AFL-CIO Convention adopted a far-ranging policy to create more inclusive unions and a more diverse leadership.

The resolutions, “A Diverse and Democratic Labor Movement” and “Unions Should Give People with Disabilities a Voice and a Face,” call on unions to reach out at every level to build diversity.

The resolutions require every state federation and central local bodies to establish concrete goals for expanding diversity in their leadership. We also will increase our commitment to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers and workers with disabilities at all levels. And to secure the future of the union movement, we will actively recruit, train and include young workers in all activities and programs and provide opportunities for leadership.

AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy said the union movement stands on the threshold of a crusade to rebuild the middle class. The progress made in including new workers in union leadership has chipped away at one more source of divisiveness in our movement. He praised the unions for successfully carrying out the mandate of Resolution 2 to make convention delegations more inclusive—43 percent of delegates are women or people of color.

Speaking on the need to reach out to workers with disabilities, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) President Greg Junemann, who is legally blind, said the union movement provides opportunities for people with disabilities.

I’m lucky to be in a union that doesn’t care about your eyesight but your clarity of vision.   

Actor Robert David Hall also spoke out, saying unions are the one place where disabled workers will find champions that will fight for their rights.

Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Wohlforth and AFT Vice President Laura Rico pointed out that in 32 states workers can be fired for their sexual preferences. As Wohlforth says:

A person should not be discriminated against because of who they love.

In an emotional statement, Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts said the resolutions are not about people of color or women or lesbians and gays:

This is about the labor movement. When we open doors, we build for the future. There are workers who are not in this movement who will tell us they never met us, but they know us. The question is what will they know about us? What I want them to know about us is that the door is wide open. We celebrate diversity. We are not afraid of diversity.     

Another key element of building a diverse union movement and creating a new economic agenda is immigration reform. Yesterday, the union movement recommitted to immigration reform that fully protects U.S. workers, reduces exploitation of immigrant workers and reduces employer incentives to hire undocumented workers rather than U.S. workers.

United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard said the most effective way to do that is for all workers—both native born and immigrant—to be protected by labor, health and safety and other laws—and especially to have freedom to form unions and bargain.

The resolution passed by the convention calls on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides for shared prosperity. The framework for reform is based on an approach developed by former Labor Secretary Ray Marshall and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) that calls for a practical pathway to citizenship and protection of immigrant workers’ rights.

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