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Report: Women Organizing Women Key to Union Growth
Women today make up nearly half the U.S. labor force and they're significantly more likely to join unions than men - especially if the person doing the organizing is another woman.
That's why the Berger-Marks Foundation says it's critical to increase the number of women organizers and get more women in key leadership positions. Toward that end, the foundation is offering resources and support, including grants, to help women help unions grow.
"The union movement has too few women organizers and women leaders who can act as mentors, trainers and advisors to women who want to become organizers," according to the foundation's new report, "Women Organizing Women: How Do We Rock the Boat Without Getting Thrown Overboard?"
The report suggests that women can be especially successful organizers because of their "broader view of workplace issues, emphasizing quality of life issues such as childcare or scheduling, rather than just focusing on wages. Women learn early on in their lives to build relationships and social networks. These attributes can be invaluable to an organizer."
The Berger-Marks Foundation was first created as a scholarship fund to honor Edna Berger, a dynamic leader and the first woman organizer for The Newspaper Guild. Later, the foundation added the name of her husband, songwriter Gerald Marks. Royalties from his catalog of music, including his most famous song, "All of Me," help fund the foundation's work supporting women as labor organizers and union leaders.
Last November, 19 union women - including TNG-CWA President Linda Foley, the foundation president - met to discuss the challenges women face as organizers and how more women could be recruited.
The women brought a wide variety of experiences to the meeting. CWAer Marge Krueger, administrative assistant to District 13 Vice President Jim Short, said she was drawn to organizing by the difficulties of other mothers working as telephone operators and how the company treated them.
"I went to work before daycare. I had no babysitter," Krueger said, quoted in the report. "If you wanted to work, being an operator was the job because you could work at night. When I'd go into the ladies' room, someone was always crying because they were late two minutes (and were disciplined). At first I thought I was there to talk about the union, but then I realized I was touching people's lives. You do make a difference."
Realizing how much time, energy and even, at times, their own money that women put in as organizers, the foundation is offering grants. Women working on active campaigns can apply for the grants to help cover such things as lost-time wages and expenses related to their project.
More information about the grants and applications are available online at www.bergermarks.org. The full "Women Organizing Women" report also is available on the website.
That's why the Berger-Marks Foundation says it's critical to increase the number of women organizers and get more women in key leadership positions. Toward that end, the foundation is offering resources and support, including grants, to help women help unions grow.
"The union movement has too few women organizers and women leaders who can act as mentors, trainers and advisors to women who want to become organizers," according to the foundation's new report, "Women Organizing Women: How Do We Rock the Boat Without Getting Thrown Overboard?"
The report suggests that women can be especially successful organizers because of their "broader view of workplace issues, emphasizing quality of life issues such as childcare or scheduling, rather than just focusing on wages. Women learn early on in their lives to build relationships and social networks. These attributes can be invaluable to an organizer."
The Berger-Marks Foundation was first created as a scholarship fund to honor Edna Berger, a dynamic leader and the first woman organizer for The Newspaper Guild. Later, the foundation added the name of her husband, songwriter Gerald Marks. Royalties from his catalog of music, including his most famous song, "All of Me," help fund the foundation's work supporting women as labor organizers and union leaders.
Last November, 19 union women - including TNG-CWA President Linda Foley, the foundation president - met to discuss the challenges women face as organizers and how more women could be recruited.
The women brought a wide variety of experiences to the meeting. CWAer Marge Krueger, administrative assistant to District 13 Vice President Jim Short, said she was drawn to organizing by the difficulties of other mothers working as telephone operators and how the company treated them.
"I went to work before daycare. I had no babysitter," Krueger said, quoted in the report. "If you wanted to work, being an operator was the job because you could work at night. When I'd go into the ladies' room, someone was always crying because they were late two minutes (and were disciplined). At first I thought I was there to talk about the union, but then I realized I was touching people's lives. You do make a difference."
Realizing how much time, energy and even, at times, their own money that women put in as organizers, the foundation is offering grants. Women working on active campaigns can apply for the grants to help cover such things as lost-time wages and expenses related to their project.
More information about the grants and applications are available online at www.bergermarks.org. The full "Women Organizing Women" report also is available on the website.