Laura Unger hired on as a communications technician with AT&T in 1978 in New York City, five years after AT&T signed a consent decree with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) to hire more women into “male” technician jobs. Unger came to her union activism as a feminist after years of organizing against the Vietnam war and for racial justice. Unger’s union activism began in a rank and file group, the Bell Busters, writing for their newsletter and later for her local’s award-winning newsletter, Local Spirit. In the mid-1980s, Unger was elected secretary-treasurer and then president of Local 1150, where she mobilized members against AT&T lay-offs and in support of good contracts. She joined CWA staff in 2007. Unger served on multiple AT&T bargaining committees as an elected member (1992-2007) and then as a CWA staff member.
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