The Revolution Will Be Twittered
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How appropriate Michael Moore premiered “Capitalism: A Love Story” in Pittsburgh this week, to coincide with our 26th AFL-CIO Convention. Moore, in an action spearheaded by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), marched with AFL-CIO delegates to the movie theater, and afterward, encouraged all of us to sponsor it in theaters throughout the country, because, as he says at the end of the film, he needs help to spark the populist revolution.
He’ll have a great partner with the new leadership of the AFL-CIO. Late yesterday, delegates elected Richard Trumka president, Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer, and re-elected Arlene Holt Baker executive vice president. The team is a mini-revolution in itself: It’s the first time the top leadership of the AFL-CIO includes two women, and Shuler, 39, is the youngest-ever unionist ever to hold so high a position in the labor movement.
Taking the Next Steps to Build Strength Through Diversity
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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.
Trumka: AFL-CIO Strongly Committed to Diversity
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| At the AFL-CIO Diversity Conference today, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka pledged the AFL-CIO will recommit to embracing diversity at every level. |
The union movement is becoming more diverse and the new leadership of the AFL-CIO is committed to working harder to reach out to young workers, people of color, women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said today at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Diversity. Trumka told the more than 500 participants the federation’s commitment to diversity is on its way to becoming a reality:
I’m here to tell you that we must change. That is why we’re seeking out and encouraging young people, people of color, people of all backgrounds and beliefs and sexual orientation. These are the labor leaders of tomorrow.
Holt Baker, Shuler: Diversity Critical to Future of Workers and Unions
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| AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker says it’s the responsibility of everyone in the union movement to help advance new leaders and get the voices of women and minorities involved in making decisions. |
To build a strong, fairly treated workforce and a sustainable union movement, we need to reach out and focus on diversity. That was the message of AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer candidate Liz Shuler to the hundreds of participants at today’s Diversity Summit.
Holt Baker said she was inspired by the people in the room who were making substantive, positive changes at the local level, the national level and in their communities to help lift up those who had been too often left behind in our nation’s history. But although the AFL-CIO and its unions have made gains in diversity and equal opportunity, there is still a long way to go, she said.
Recognize that while our early building blocks established a firm foundation, and that bricks and mortar are going into place regularly and with some scope, we still have a long way to go.
Diversity Summit: Future of Unions Depends on Including All Workers
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| UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn (center), Nat LaCour, recently retired AFT secretary-treasurer, and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney were among speakers at the AFL-CIO Diversity Conference today. |
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| More than 500 participants took part in the standing-room only AFL-CIO Diversity Conference. |
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The future of the union movement depends upon our ability to recruit and promote people of color and women, the fastest growing groups of union members. Today, at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Diversity, more than 500 union activists celebrated the progress made since passage of the historic adoption of Resolution #2 at the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention, which set goals to make the movement more diverse. They also mapped strategy to increase diversity at every level in the future.
In a strong and emotional speech, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the priority on diversity in his leadership may well become the biggest legacy of his 14 years leading the federation.
“If we are to have equal educational opportunity, and equal job opportunity, and equal economic opportunity in America, then we must also have equal union opportunity in America.
“We are motivated by our moral imperatives but we also are moved toward our goals by practical persuasions. Simply put, we cannot expect more from our younger and women and minority members unless they can expect more leadership opportunity from our federation.
“Brothers and sisters, we don’t have one dues rate for African American, or Hispanic, or Asian Pacific-American members, and another rate for the rest of our members. Our women members don’ t pay lower dues than our male members. We don’t have lower dues for our gay and lesbian and transgender members or for members with disabilities. So why should they get fewer opportunities to lead and to learn?”
Sweeney’s message resonated with the audience, which interrupted his speech about a dozen times with applause and gave him six standing ovations.
UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn and former AFT Secretary-Treasurer Nat LaCour, co-chairs of the Executive Council Committee on Diversity, praised Sweeney for his leadership and determination to bring diversity to the union movement.
Four Honored for Promoting Diversity in Entertainment Industry
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Committees of Actors’ Equity, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and Screen Actors (SAG) will honor four performing artists who have made important contributions to increasing diversity in their professions. The 2009 Ivy Bethune Tri-Union Diversity Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on June 29.
The awards celebrate individuals and organizations that take an active stand for diversity within the industry. This year’s theme, “Storytellers,” commends individuals who, by sharing their own stories, have encouraged cross-cultural understanding and enabled others to express their dreams and creativity.
The 2009 honorees are:
- Actor George Takei for his long-standing history of activism for artists of every race and creed, including his work with the Arts in Transit program that creates opportunity for artists within the public sector;
- Victoria Ann Lewis, writer, actor and teacher who established the Other Voices Project, which cultivates and produces writers and performers with disabilities;
- Cheryl Burke, a dancer who encourages children of all ethnicities to express themselves through movement;
- Charlie Hill, a Native American stand-up comedian and storyteller who uses humor to share elements unique to Native American culture and those we all share.
