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Conference Builds on Women's History
CWA women, and a few of their union brothers, came together in Seattle last week for the National Women's Conference where speakers urged them to continue to build on the strong tradition of women's activism in the labor movement.
"I've always known that women are the backbone of our union - particularly on a picket line," CWA President Morton Bahr said, recalling the union's first women's conference 27 years ago in Minneapolis. "It was the first time such a gathering took place in all of American labor history. Those CWA members, 350 of them, were truly pioneers."
That event was chaired by Dina Beaumont, Bahr's executive assistant who will retire with Bahr at the CWA Convention in August. The women's conference honored Beaumont with a resolution that recognized her trailblazing work in CWA and the union movement and named her "chairperson emeritus" of all future CWA women's conferences.
"I have a favorite saying, 'There is joy in the struggle,"' Beaumont told her audience. "In this struggle our union - your union - is in your hands. You can't walk away from that responsibility."
Another pioneering CWA woman, Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling said giving voice to the aspirations of fellow union women "is one of my most cherished responsibilities."
"You are the women who make CWA the most democratic union in the world, the women who make it possible for a telephone operator like me to have a position of leadership in the labor movement."
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said that while times are tough for both the labor movement and working families, CWA members have what it takes to fight back.
"Our ability to come together in critical times and still enjoy ourselves is very important," Cohen said. "The friendship, the solidarity, and our ability to have fun are the reasons we will, ultimately, win."
Nearly 200 women came from across the country for the event, hearing speakers in the mornings and attending skill-building workshops in the afternoons that dealt with everything from organizing to political action to talking to the media.
In addition to CWA leaders, members of Washington state locals who have been elected to local and state offices spoke and encouraged more members to consider running for office.
"I want to push this idea that you can change the world," said Washington State Representative Zach Hudgins, a member of WashTech-CWA. "We have to get involved. We have to look around at our friends and neighbors and decide which one of us is going to run."
"I've always known that women are the backbone of our union - particularly on a picket line," CWA President Morton Bahr said, recalling the union's first women's conference 27 years ago in Minneapolis. "It was the first time such a gathering took place in all of American labor history. Those CWA members, 350 of them, were truly pioneers."
That event was chaired by Dina Beaumont, Bahr's executive assistant who will retire with Bahr at the CWA Convention in August. The women's conference honored Beaumont with a resolution that recognized her trailblazing work in CWA and the union movement and named her "chairperson emeritus" of all future CWA women's conferences.
"I have a favorite saying, 'There is joy in the struggle,"' Beaumont told her audience. "In this struggle our union - your union - is in your hands. You can't walk away from that responsibility."
Another pioneering CWA woman, Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling said giving voice to the aspirations of fellow union women "is one of my most cherished responsibilities."
"You are the women who make CWA the most democratic union in the world, the women who make it possible for a telephone operator like me to have a position of leadership in the labor movement."
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said that while times are tough for both the labor movement and working families, CWA members have what it takes to fight back.
"Our ability to come together in critical times and still enjoy ourselves is very important," Cohen said. "The friendship, the solidarity, and our ability to have fun are the reasons we will, ultimately, win."
Nearly 200 women came from across the country for the event, hearing speakers in the mornings and attending skill-building workshops in the afternoons that dealt with everything from organizing to political action to talking to the media.
In addition to CWA leaders, members of Washington state locals who have been elected to local and state offices spoke and encouraged more members to consider running for office.
"I want to push this idea that you can change the world," said Washington State Representative Zach Hudgins, a member of WashTech-CWA. "We have to get involved. We have to look around at our friends and neighbors and decide which one of us is going to run."