Easterling to Retire in 2008

Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, whose trailblazing work has inspired women in the labor movement around the world, announced this week that she will retire at the 2008 CWA Convention.

"It has been an incredible 56 years as a CWA member -- an unbelievable ride for a coal miner's daughter," said Easterling, an Ohio native who rose from a telephone operator to be the first woman to serve as CWA's secretary-treasurer.

CWA President Larry Cohen praised Easterling as a tireless advocate who has served the union with integrity, compassion and boundless enthusiasm.

"Barbara has made innumerable contributions to building CWA during her remarkable career, including most recently chairing the Committee on Executive Board Diversity, resulting in adding the voices of local leaders to our Board for the first time," Cohen said. "When Barbara steps down, her talents, wisdom and activism will be missed not only throughout CWA, but also by the labor, women's and human rights movements around the world."

Easterling's efforts include passionate advocacy for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which has been officially designated CWA's "charity of choice." Among many boards and other charities, she is an executive committee member of the Democratic National Committee, a member of the board of governors for the United Way of America and vice chair of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Following Easterling's announcement, CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach announced that he will seek the secretary-treasurer post at the 2008 convention, and District 7 Vice President Annie Hill announced that she will run for executive vice president.  The two will join President Larry Cohen as a unity slate for the three top leadership positions.

Easterling's "unbelievable ride" took her from her Akron, Ohio, local to District 4 staff, to the CWA president's office as an assistant, then the office of executive vice president and finally to secretary-treasurer in 1992. Along the way, taking a leave of absence, she served in 1995 as secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, becoming the first woman in history to serve in that position for the 13-million member federation.

Her many functions as secretary-treasurer have included managing the finances and physical facilities of CWA and organizing annual conventions as well as overseeing the CWA government affairs operation and the union's retiree program.

Well known for her outreach to women in the United States and worldwide, Easterling serves as president of the World Women's Committee for Union Network International, which has 17 million members globally. In an International Women's Day message last year, she said, "By standing together in solidarity, we have the power to build women into the greatest organizing force in the world. And we have the responsibility to do exactly that."

At the union's 2007 Convention in Toronto, she touched on her own life experience to champion the proposal to add seats to the CWA Executive Board with the goal of bringing more women and people of color to leadership roles.

"When I went to work for Ohio Bell Telephone and then joined the union, it changed my life forever," she said. "I could never have imagined what that union card would mean to a kid from Akron, Ohio. And the doors it would open and the opportunities it would present.

"But even with everything that I have been blessed to experience by virtue of CWA and the labor movement, there were times when doors weren't always open to me, when those glass ceilings came into clear view. And try as hard as you might, you never quite forget those times when the door was shut or not fully open because of the color of your skin or because of your gender or because of your religion or because of your socio-economic status."

Easterling grew up in Akron in a Polish family of coal miners and rubber workers who instilled in her strong trade union principles. She brought those with her when she began her career as a telephone operator at Ohio Bell and joined CWA Local 4302, serving as steward, secretary and vice president.

Her reputation led Ohio Governor John Gilligan to ask her to serve as chief of the Ohio Labor Division in early 1970. In that role, she drafted strong laws to protect women on the job and strengthen the enforcement of child labor laws. In 1973 she left state government to become a full-time CWA staff representative and later was promoted to administrative assistant to the vice president of District 4.  Her career with the national union in Washington, D.C., began in 1980 when then-President Glenn Watts tapped her as his assistant.

Easterling's many honors and awards during her union career include being inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1985. She has also received the International Women's Democracy Center Global Democracy award, the Ellis Island American Legend award and the March of Dimes Salute to Labor award.