ARRIVAL PACKET WITH MORE EXCITING
INFORMATION TO READ!
Raising Our Voices: Union
Women Leading Democracy
in Our Work, Our Country, and
Our World
Sisters,
Welcome to the 2013 Summer School.
We are delighted to host the 38th annual
UALE NE Regional Summer School for
Union Women at Cornell University in
Ithaca, NY. It’s going to be a productive,
inspiring and empowering week, one that
helps us build the skills and confidence to raise our voices in our workplaces, our country and our world.
This year’s school takes place in New York State, the home of some of the most important thinkers,
writers, and advocates for women’s suffrage. In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and 300
women and men gathered in Seneca Falls, NY for the first women’s right convention. They issued the first
formal demand authored by U.S. women for a fundamental piece of our democracy – women’s right to
vote. Three years later, in 1851, Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist and ex-slave, challenged them to expand
their demand for the right to vote beyond just white, educated men and women in her “Ain’t I a Woman”
speech. Finally, after 72 years of struggle for women’s right to vote and a more truly democratic society,
the U.S. would adopt the 19th Amendment, which prohibits any U.S. citizen from being denied the right to
vote on the basis of sex. And it was only through further struggle, supported by some U.S. unions, that
voting rights were restored and enforced for people of color in the 1960s.
Today we build on these struggles by continuing to raise our voices and fight for democracy in our work,
our country, and our world. We struggle as mothers, daughters, and leaders and activists in our unions
and communities because we know that democracy is essential to creating a society where the needs and
desires of all people are recognized and addressed. Unions are the main voice for workers in this country
and represent 16 million members nationwide. This means that unions have a critical role to play in our
democracy to ensure that the needs and desires of all workers are addressed. Moreover, the labor
movement has a tremendous responsibility to use its power to ensure we have a vibrant, muscular
democracy where everyone’s voices – women, immigrants, union members, LGBTQ people, and people of
color – can be heard. It is only with true democracy that we can build a socially-just society.
Over the last year, our sisters in the labor movement raised their voices and fought for democracy in so
many ways. On the next page, we highlight some of the women union and worker leaders who inspired us
and acted courageously on behalf of workers and democracy. In this packet you will also find information
about the theme and philosophy of the school, general information on the logistics of the week, room
locations for your Leadership Skills and your skills workshops, the detailed schedule for the week, the
leadership group heroine biographies, and important contact numbers.
We look forward to having a wonderful week together!
In Sisterhood and Solidarity,
Your summer school coordinators, Julie, Lara, Yolanda, KC
2
38th 2013 UALE Summer School Dedication to Gloria Tapscott Johnson
Gloria Johnson was a lifetime women’s, labor and civil rights leader. She joined the
International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers in 1954
as a bookkeeper. Her talents and dedication to women’s issues were recognized when she
was elected chair of the IUE Women’s Council, and appointed Director of the Social Action
Department and a member of the Executive Board. Before her retirement from the IUE-CWA
in 2004 she was the Women’s Activities Coordinator.
An early activist in the Coalition of Labor Women she was elected Treasurer in 1976 and
President in 2004.
In 1993, Ms. Johnson was elected a Vice President of the AFL-CIO. As Vice President she
served on the Women’s Committee of the International Conference of Free Trade Unions and
was Chair of the Standing Committee on Women’s Issues. She was also elected President of
the Labor Coalition for Community Action, an organization composed of the six constituency
groups of the AFL-CIO.
During her years with CLUW, Gloria Johnson worked tirelessly for advancing equality for
women and minorities in the workplace and in society, as well as for equal access to
economic opportunities. Under her tenure, CLUW focused on issues such as women’s and
children’s health care, family and medical leave, labor law reform, sweatshops, workers’ and
human rights, voter education and participation, organizing and political education and equal
pay. Under her leadership CLUW was a vocal advocate for women’s health education,
HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive rights, domestic violence education, contraceptive equity
and cervical cancer prevention.
She was a recognized world labor leader and traveled across the globe to help improve
wages, working conditions and the dignity to women and workers. Her international travels
included study tours and conferences where she spoke on issues of concerns to working
women in Israel, Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Europe.
Among the many awards recognizing her exceptional contribution to the labor movement and
civil and women’s rights are the Operation PUSH Award for Outstanding Women in the Labor
Movement, the 1981 Economic Equity Award from Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL)
for outstanding achievement in the Labor Movement, the 1985 award from the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference for her work for human rights, the A. Philip Randolph
Institute 1994 Achievement Award, 1995 Wise Women Award presented by the Center for
Women’s Policy Studies and in 1995, the NAACP first Annual Pathway to Excellence Award
“Women of Labor.” In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the President’s
Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History. In 1999 she received the
Eugene V. Debs Award in Labor. In 2000, she received the National Black Caucus of State
Legislators Labor Leader “Nation Builders” Award and the National Committee on Pay Equity
Winn Newman Award. Gloria Johnson was born in Washington, DC, graduated from Howard
University and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the National Labor College.
3
Union Women Raising Their Voices
Highlights from 2012-2013
Over the last year, many women leaders of unions and workers’ organizations raised their voices to fight for
democracy and build power for all workers and their families. They fought for democracy in our work, our
communities, our country, and globally, knowing that the voice and power of workers and unions is essential to a
healthy, vibrant democracy and a socially just society. We exercise democracy, and fight for our unions, all
workers, women, our communities and all people by raising our voices and building support for our vision of an
equitable society. Below we highlight several women leaders who inspired us and acted courageously on behalf of
workers and democracy in the last year.
“I am in Vermont today as thousands of home care providers in the Green Mountain
State file for the largest union election in the state's history. I know first-hand the
struggle home care providers face. I also know the power and possibilities that are
created when providers come together and form a union that cares about home care
workers and the people we serve. I know it because I am a home care provider and have
walked in the shoes of Vermont providers… So I know what it is like to decide that you
can achieve more for your family and loved ones together than you can alone. I decided
to get active with AFSCME nearly two decades ago...We've made progress across the
country. Home care workers in Maryland joined AFSCME and won their first pay raise
Laura Reyes
in 18 years. Home care workers in Iowa joined and won their first pay raise in the
history of the program. Iowa created a new referral registry to connect providers and
clients. And in my home state of California, we've won health benefits, annual cost of living raises, worker's
compensation coverage and more paid hours for the care we provide. Together, we are working to change our culture
and policies to provide real dignity and respect -- dignity and respect for those who receive home care services and
those who provide them.
Laura Reyes is Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME) which represents 1.6 million workers. Laura is the keynote speaker at the 2013 UALE NE Summer School
for Union Women. This is an excerpt from an article Laura wrote for the Huffington Post on May 29, 2013.
Ai-jen Poo
“A recent study on domestic work in the United States found that approximately
two-thirds of nannies, housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly are foreign born,
and about half of them are undocumented. The study also found that 85 percent of
undocumented domestic workers working in substandard conditions do not
complain because they fear their immigration status will be used against them. As
workers, they provide critical support to millions of families, and yet they cannot
support their own families under such conditions. Without a roadmap to
citizenship, they are trapped in vulnerability and poverty, creating a downward
gravitational pull for our entire economy. A roadmap to citizenship for all is the
cornerstone of a healthy, 21st century American democracy. We are fundamentally
a multiracial society. No one responsible for caring for the most precious elements
of our lives – our homes and our families – should be at risk of being torn apart as a
result of our immigration policies. We need immigration policies that reject “us
versus them” approaches and instead support integration and connection between
all Americans, including aspiring Americans. What’s at stake is the future of all of
our families, and the future of the economy.”
Ai-jen Poo is Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), representing 10,000 nannies,
house-keepers, and caregivers for the elderly. Over the past year she has consistently raised her voice for
comprehensive immigration reform.
4
Karen Louis
“The people of this city can no longer sit back and allow this mayor, his school
board and his corporate cronies to run roughshod over democracy. They’ve
turned their backs on affordable housing; turned their backs on job creation; and,
now they’re turning their backs on our students, their families and our
schools…Closing 50 of our neighborhood schools is outrageous and no society
that claims to care anything about its children can sit back and allow this to
happen to them. There is no way people of conscience will stand by and allow
these people to shut down nearly a third of our school district without putting up
a fight. Most of these campuses are in the Black community. Since 2001 88% of
students impacted by CPS School Actions are African- American. And this is by
design… This is why we intend to rally, united and strong, to send a signal that we
are sick and tired of being bullied and betrayed. Some of us are going to put our
bodies on the line—because a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.”
Karen Louis is President of the Chicago Teachers Union, representing 30,000 school district employees.
She led a successful strike against Rahm Emanuel’s school budget cuts. It was the first teachers’ strike in
Chicago in 25 years.
“I came to Istanbul to take part in the biggest May Day rally in
Europe, to join the celebration and to support the determination of
Turkish unions to fight for legislative implementation of labour rights.
Workers planned to gather in Taksim Square, the ceremonial site of the
struggle since 1977, a place people celebrate and remember the people who
were shot and killed in this very square in 1977 as they celebrated May Day.
But this year the Turkish Government showed that democracy is not
Sharan Burrow
genuine as they were determined to blockade workers from gathering in
Taksim Square. Thousands of riot police, army and special forces lined the streets. Tear gas, pepper spray and water
cannons have been used to break up groups as small as 3 or 4 people. Jammers are being used to block mobile phones
so people cannot use twitter or text to arrange meeting places. Two of our union headquarters are under siege with
injured workers inside. This is democracy under threat. The legacy of today’s oppression will be long lasting in the
hearts and minds of workers. The Turkish Government has been shamed in the eyes of the world. This brutal crackdown
by the government to stop our brothers and sisters celebrating May Day has unmasked the truth face of the Turkish
Government. There is no place for this behaviour from a country which will be taking on the leadership of the G20
in 2015.”
Sharan Burrow is President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), representing 174
million workers in 156 countries. This is an excerpt of her speaking on May Day in Istanbul, Turkey, 2013.
She is the first women president of the ITUC.
5
SUMMER SCHOOL SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS
UALE
The United Association for Labor Education is an organization of labor educators who advocate
education as an essential tool with which to develop new union leadership and to promote an
understanding of collective bargaining and the right to organize for all workers. UALE sponsors
the four regional Summer Schools for Union Women. The organization also publishes a journal,
Labor Studies Journal, and holds an annual conference for all persons engaged in labor education,
whether affiliated with unions, universities, nonprofits, or independent. Information on joining
UALE can be found on their web site: http://uale.org/join-us/
The Worker Institute at Cornell University
The Worker Institute at Cornell, based at the ILR School, is a broad forum for research and education
on contemporary labor issues. The institute applies innovative thinking and a problem-solving
approach to the workplace, economy and society, bringing together in collaborative projects
researchers, educators and students with practitioners in labor, business, and policymaking. The
Equity at Work initiative examines how the workplace is impacted by the evolving and
changing norms of the social construction of gender roles, identity, and expression. This includes
discussion of current and evolving workers' rights, the workplace contexts in which they
currently exist, and individual, organizational and cultural interventions that promote and
expand employment issues of respect, fairness, equity and justice. We seek to promote
productive approaches to issues of diversity and equity which are fundamental to worker rights
and instrumental for effective collective representation. Lending itself to a broad-based
multidisciplinary framework within the ILR School, across Cornell University and with
stakeholders, the initiative contributes to effective workplace equity models.
www.ilr.cornell.edu/workerinstitute/about
SCHOOL CONTRIBUTORS
We would like to thank the people and organizations below for their contributions and
assistance in making the Northeast Summer School a reality:
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The Berger-Marks Foundation & Carolyn Jacobson, http://www.bergermarks.org/
New York State AFL-CIO, http://nysaflcio.org and Mario Cilento, President and Suzy
Ballantyne, Executive Assistant to the President – Governmental Affairs/COPE
Labor Lines, A Radio Program About Working Men and Women, the Organizations That
Represent Them and the Communities in Which They Live, http://www.laborlines.com/ &
Sara Fusco, producer.
NYSUT (NYS United Teachers), AFT & NEA, AFL-CIO, http://www.nysut.org/
CLUW, the Coalition for Union Women & Karen See, President, http://www.cluw.org/
Karen Oh - Karen is the talented graphic artist, who created the wonderful logo for the 2013
School. She can be reached at Karen@houseofcakes.com
Arnold Press, a union press based in Ithaca, NY and Chris Becker who donated the printing
of the summer school flyers. www.arnoldprintingcorp.com
Cornell ILR Web Master Caroline Hecht for her unwavering commitment to detail!
6
GENERAL INFORMATION
INCLUSIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY:
The Northeast Summer School for Union Women strives to be a safe and inclusive learning
environment for all students and instructors alike. We adhere to the following principles of
unity:
We respect each other's race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender expression and identity,
immigrant status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and language.
We communicate in class and during the summer school with awareness that:
a) Life experiences and perceptions vary; be mindful of what you say and how you say it.
b) What you mean to say, with the best of intentions, may not always be interpreted that
way by others.
c) Giving constructive feedback promotes respectful dialogue.
d) Being open to hearing constructive feedback promotes understanding.
The school coordinators and educators will address issues that undermine the safety,
inclusiveness and unity of the summer school. The school reserves the right to ask students or
staff to leave if it is determined that behavior violates or compromises the safety, inclusiveness
and unity of the school.
SCHEDULE EXPECTATIONS
You are expected to participate in all scheduled activities. Students are given a certificate of
completion based on full school participation. You will be enrolled in a Leadership Skills class plus three
skills workshops based on your selections on the pre-registration form. Other programs include Saturday
Opening Session, daily Morning Plenary, the two Keynote and World Café Sessions (Sunday and Monday),
and evening events including the Saturday night Opening Plenary, Monday Night Picnic, Fun Night, and
Labor History Night.
There is time for talk and relaxation and walking around campus at Summer School, but this is not a
vacation. This is a demanding program, but full participation is what makes the Summer School such a
unique and exciting experience. The summer school reserves the right to remove a student from summer
school for behavior that is disruptive to the learning and living environment. An overview of the weekly
schedule is provided in this packet.
OPENING PROGRAM: Saturday, 7:30 -9 pm
Held at the Robert Purcell Community Center – Auditorium (2nd floor). A welcome reception will
follow in the same location (to be confirmed).
MORNING PLENARY: Sunday-Wednesday, 8:15-8:30am
We begin every day with a short plenary, held at the Robert Purcell Community Center –
Auditorium (2nd floor). This is when we make announcements about the day’s events, any
changes in the schedule, and where we sing.
7
EVENING EVENTS OVERVIEW
Throughout the week, we will be participating in various evening events starting with the Welcome
Plenary on Saturday night. Sunday night is Fun Night! - a talent show with live music, showcasing student
and staff talent. Everyone is invited to participate, so please sign up with Bev. On Monday night, we will
have a picnic at the porch on the lobby level of the Robert Purcell Community Center, followed by a short
interactive program on MAKING POSTERS and getting your message heard as we “take to the street” to
express our VOICE AND DEMOCRACY IN ACTION from 7:30 -8 pm. Tuesday night is a FREE NIGHT with
options (FILMS). Wednesday is Labor History Night, which will honor past and present labor heroines
through slides, dramatic readings and song. The Labor History Night reception afterwards will again be
sponsored by Labor Lines. This year Labor History Night and the school will honor Gloria Johnson, a
leading executive director of the CLUW, the Coalition of Labor Union Women.
CLASSROOMS
All classes are held at the Robert Purcell Community Center (see room assignments as follows)
with the expectation of some classes that will be held at the Africana Center, a short 5 minute
walk from the Robert Purcell Center. Escorts will be directing or transporting you to ensure your
arrival. The Robert Purcell Community Center has an elevator to all floor and the Africana Center
is all on one level.
MEALS
Breakfast, lunch and dinners will be served at the Robert Purcell Dining Hall at the Robert
Purcell Community Center. The cost of these meals is included in your registration fee. There are
vegetarian options at all meals. We will be sharing the RPDH with other summer groups, so it is
important to observe the meal times on the schedule. Morning and afternoon breaks will be
provided between classes.
COMMUTERS
The commuting option is relatively new to the NE Summer School, added to accommodate the needs of
union women who live near the hosting university. We expect you to participate in all scheduled
activities, as articulated above. Saturday Opening Session is mandatory. (We welcome participants
and give an overview of the school. Every student also introduces herself. If you do not attend, you will
not know anybody and no one will know you!)
STUDENT ASSEMBLY
On the first day of classes, your Leadership Skills instructors will explain the role of the Student Assembly
and facilitate the election of the Student Assembly Representatives. Representatives are elected from
each Leadership Skills class and are charged with being a liaison between their fellow students and the
Summer School staff. Members will have a meeting every day during lunch to discuss any issues students
have brought to them.
GROUP PHOTO
Your group photo will be taken Sunday at 5:30, at an outside location to be determined at the Robert
Purcell Community Center (RPCC). In the event of rain we will take the picture inside the Student Union
Building. WEAR YOUR UNION T-SHIRT and bring your water bottle to toast our COLLECTIVE VOICE!!
8
INTERNET ACCESS:
Free wireless internet access is available throughout most of the Cornell campus. However,
within the dorm rooms and Townhouses wireless internet is not available. To access the wireless
internet in common spaces select the "RedRover" network (not "RedRover Secure" or "RedRover
Guest"), then open your web browser, visit any URL, and fill out the simple registration form that
will appear. To connect to the internet within the dorm and townhouses, you will need a data
cord to plug into your laptop and the wall jack. These data cords will be provided by RPCC staff
when you check-in. More assistance will be provided when you are on campus.
Public computers may be found in RPCC Computer Lab. The Computer Lab hours will be
available for our use and more details will be shared upon arrival.
MEALS:
Breakfast, lunch and most dinners will be served at RPCC Marketplace Eatery, a short walk from
both housing options (Mews Dorm and Townhouses) and where all the classes and summer
school activities will be held. With the exception of the Monday night picnic and the
Graduation Luncheon, all meals will be in the RPCC Marketplace Eatery. You will need your
dinning pass to eat in the RPCC Marketplace Eatery. Please note that once you enter the dining
hall for a meal you should not leave the hall until you are done eating. If you leave and enter
again during the same meal period you may be counted twice and affect your meals for the rest
of the week. The cost of these meals are included in your registration fee. There are vegetarian
options at all meals. There are NO refunds for purchases of advance meal tickets or meals not
eaten, or for participants who depart early. Meals are available on a cash basis for participants
who do not have a name badge or swipe card.
We will be sharing RPCC Marketplace Eatery with other summer groups, so it is important to
observe the meal times on the schedule.
Some light refreshments will be provided during morning and afternoon breaks across the street
in the Townhouse Community and water coolers will be available at the Robert Purcell
Community Center. So we encourage you to take advantage of the food (and caffeine) options
available in the Dining Hall during our scheduled meal times.
CELL PHONES: Out of courtesy to our speakers and those seated around you, please remember
to “silence” your cell phones during all sessions and workshops. If you must take an emergency
call, please do so outside the room.
9
UALE SUMMER SCHOOL 2013 SCHEDULE
All meals and most events at Robert Purcell Community Center, some classes at Africana Center, short walk away
Saturday 7/20
Sunday 7/21
Monday 7/22
Tuesday 7/23
Wednesday 7/24
Thursday 7/25
Summer School
Begins!!
Breakfast – DH 3 FL
Breakfast – DH 3
FL
Breakfast DH 3 FL
Breakfast DH 3 FL
Breakfast DH 3 FL
8:15-8:40 am
Plenary - AUD 1 FL
Plenary – AUD 1 FL
Plenary – AUD 1 FL
Plenary –AUD 1 FL
Check-out time
8:45-10:15 am
Keynote
Leadership Skills
Leadership Skills
Leadership Skills
Break
Break
Break
Break
Evaluation and
Leadership Skills
9-10:30 am
Workshop B
Workshop B
Leadership Skills
Meetings by states
Lunch – DH 3 FL
Lunch – DH 3 FL
Lunch – DH 3 FL
Lunch – DH 3 FL
10:45 am - 1:00 pm
101,103, 105 and
patio
Workshop A
Workshop A
Workshop A
Workshop A
Additional checkout opportunity
from 1-2:00pm
Break
Break
Break
Break
Leadership Skills
WORLD CAFÉ
Workshop C
Workshop C
7-8:00 am
Multipurpose 2 FL
10:15-10:30 am
10:30 am -12:00
pm
12:00 pm-1:15
pm
1:15 pm -3:15 pm
3:15 pm-3:30 pm
3:30 pm -5:00 pm
GET SNACKS AT
TOWNHOUSE
COMMUNITY
CENTER
(Across from
Robert Purcell
Community
Center)
Check-in
(2:00 -5:00pm)
Wendy Purcell
Lounge (WPL)
2nd FL
Panel
Multi Rm 2 FL
5:00 pm-7:00
pm
Dinner
Robert Purcell
Dining Hall
(DH – 3rd FL)
Group Photo,
Dinner
Picnic dinner
Dinner
Dinner
7:30 pm -9:00
pm
Opening
Plenary
(AUD – 2rd FL)
FUN NIGHT
CABERET
SOCIAL
PROTEST AND
Labor History
Night
(Multi PR – 2nd FL)
POSTER MAKING
(Multi PR – 2nd FL)
Free night
FILMS(Optional)
TBA
Auditorium –
2rd Floor
Multi-Room & Multi A,
Multi B, Multi Room s– 2 Fl
Dining Hall (DH)
3rd Floor
Brunch and
graduation
Wendy Purcell
Lounge WPL – 2 FL
10
(AUD – 2rd FL)
Reception Multi
PR
Rooms 101, 103, 105
1st Floor
Africana Center
111, B01, B07
Our Philosophy – Residential Schools for Union Women
There is no question that there is a need for residential schools. “Union Leadership is perhaps the only major profession in the United States
for which there is no established and generally recognized sequence of professional training,” wrote Lois Gray, Jean McKelvey/Alice Grant
Professor of Labor Management Relations Emeritus, Cornell ‘s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She believes that “Leadership
training is one of the principal challenges facing the American labor movement.”
Residential schools provide union activists and rank-and-file leaders with a concentrated training experience that encourages a better
understanding of and more effective participation in the labor movement and a willingness to assume increased union responsibility. They
are particularly useful for union women, many of whom are new to the labor movement and inexperienced in its ways, as were mainly men
in the 1930s. Today women seek both information and leadership training that will enable them to return to their locals better prepared to
take their rightful place as equal partners in their labor union organizations. For many women this is their first exposure to union-oriented
education and to programs that center around their concerns as working women.
The schools for union women incorporate the following five purposes:
1. They provide skill training and information on labor union and working women’s issues.
2. They foster a spirit of mutual support and sisterhood among union women and among labor education staff.
3. They bring together a staff of university and union labor educators in a mix of women new to the field and those more experienced in labor
education, to exchange program ideas to learn from each other.
4. They provide a testing ground for ideas on programming for union women that can be transferred to home situations by both staff and
students.
5. They give increased visibility to women in their unions, communities and universities, demonstrating their interest in preparing for increased
participation in their unions, and lending a new status to programming for women workers.
Excerpted from Labor Education for Women Workers, Barbara M. Wertheimer, Ed., Temple University Press. Philadelphia, 1981. P. 85
11
LEADERSHIP SKILLS ROOM ASSIGNMENTS
INSTRUCTORS
HEROINE
ROOMS
ALICE COOK
RPCC – Room 103
DR. DOROTHY
HEIGHT
AC – Room 111
IDA TORRES, RWDSU, Local 3
AMY DEITZ, Penn State
JENELLE BLACKMON, CWA Local 1040
CLARE HAMMOND, UMASS Amherst
PAM WHITEFIELD, PSC
TAMMIE MILLER, Family Home Care Chapter,
UFT
JESSICA GOVEA
THORBOURNE
RPCC – Wendy
Purcell Lounge –
2 FL
ANGELA FERRITTO, AFSCME DC13
MOTHER JONES
AC - Room BO7
ROSE
SCHNEIDERMAN
AC Room BO1
SARAH HUGHES, PSC
ELIZABETH GURLEYFLYNN
RPCC- Room 105
ADRIENNE TAYLOR, CWA Local 1040
ROCHELLE SEMEL, IWW & Cornell ILR
SOJOURNER TRUTH
RPCC – Room 101
LINDA DONAHUE, Cornell ILR
LYNNE TURNER, New Jersey Industrial Union
SUSAN WINNING, UMASS Lowell
SUSAN TINDALL, AFSCME, DC 37
Key: Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC) or Africana Center (AC)
Some room assignments may be subjected to an occasional change based on special activities
12
WORKSHOP ROOM ASSIGNMENTS
Some room assignments may be subjected to an occasional change based on special activities
WORKSHOP A: FOUR DAYS, Sunday-Wednesday
1. ADVANCED GRIEVANCE HANDLING
Debra Bergen, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY AFT, Local 2334
Lisa Quarles, Public Employees Federation (PEF)
2. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Claudia Shacter deChabert, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)
Anneta Argyres, UMASS Boston & Professional Staff Union MTA/NEA
3. GRIPE OR GRIEVANCE: HANDLING THE BASICS
Gail Richardson, CWA Local 1036
4. PUBLIC SPEAKING
Adrienne Taylor, CWA Local 1040
Rochelle Semel, IWW and Cornell ILR
5. UNION BUILDING: TOOLS FOR STRENGTHENING YOUR UNION FROM THE INSIDE
Angela Ferritto, AFSCME, District Council 13
6. WORK SHOULDN'T HURT: SAFETY AND HEALTH ON THE JOB
Wendy Hord, NYSUT
7. YOU’D BETTER KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
Robin Roach, AFSCME DC 37
Susan Tindall, AFSCME DC 37
RPCC – Wendy
Purcell Lounge – 2
FL
RPCC – Room 103
AC – Room 111
RPCC – Room 101
AC – Room BO7
AC Room B01
RPCC – Room 105
WORKSHOP B: TWO DAYS, Sunday-Monday
1. GLOBAL SOLIDARITY: SISTERHOOD AROUND THE WORLD
Gail Richardson, CWA Local 1036
2. INNOVATIVE ORGANIZING STRATEGIES AND CAMPAIGNS
Stephanie Yazgi, Center for Popular Democracy
3. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT: RIGHTS TO UNIONIZE AND COLLECTIVELY
BARGAIN
Risa Lieberwitz, Cornell ILR
4. RADIO WAVES: ADVANCING LABOR’S VOICE
Sara Fusco-Labor Lines, SAG-AFTRA
5. THE RISING OF WOMEN IN UNION LEADERSHIP
Lois Gray, Cornell ILR
Yolanda Medina, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
6. RUNNING AND WINNING
Lillian Clayman, Dowling College & SUNY Old Westbury
7. TAKE ACTION: BUILDING STRONG UNIONS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA
Amy Dietz, Penn State
Judy Hoover, AFSCME, District Council 47
8. THINKING LIKE THE BOSS: STRATEGIC RESEARCH FOR UNION MEMBERS AND
ORGANIZERS
Cassandra Ogren, IBT
Maya Pinto, ALIGN
13
RPCC – Room 103
AC Room 111
AC Room BO1
RPCC – Wendy Purcell
Lounge – 2 FL
RPCC Room 101
RPCC-Room 105
Computer LAB
AC – Room B07
WORKSHOP C: TWO DAYS, Tuesday-Wednesday
1. ASSAULT ON THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Linda Donahue, Cornell ILR
2. BE A BULLY BUSTER
KC Wagner, Cornell ILR
3. ENGAGING YOUNG WORKERS
Angela Ferritto, AFSCME, District Council 13
Jenelle Blackmon, CWA Local 1040
4. POPULAR ECONOMICS
Pam Whitefield, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY AFT
Lynne Turner, New Jersey Industrial Union
5. RETIREMENT FOR ALL
Lillian Clayman, Dowling College & SUNY Old Westbury
6. SHAPING OUR MESSAGE: HOW TO TALK UNION IN CHALLENGING TIMES
Dale Melcher, Professional Staff Union/Mass Teachers Association
Susan Winning, UMASS Lowell
7. TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT: ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW AND EQUALITY
Risa Lieberwitz, Cornell ILR
8. UNION MEMBER/LEADER TO UNION/STAFF: THE CHALLENGES FOR A
SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION
Claudia Shacter deChabert, NYSUT
Laurie Kellogg, Labor Studies Program, Murphy Institute, CUNY
9. WELLNESS FOR WOMEN LEADERS
Kim Guillory, AFA/CWA
RPCC - Multi A
RPCC – Multi B
RPCC- Multi C
AC 111
RPCC –Room 103
RPCC – Room 105
RPCC – Room 101
AC B07
RPCC – Wendy Purcell
Lounge – 2 FL
Key: Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC) or Africana Center (AC)
Some room assignments may be subjected to an occasional change based on special activities
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Leadership Skills Heroines 2013
ALICE COOK Alice Cook was a pioneering labor educator, college professor, and
researcher who never stopped fighting for rights for women, whether the struggle
was in factories or the Cornell faculty club. She was on the teaching staff of the first
Working Women's Summer School at Bryn Mawr, and in the 1930's she was a
Business Agent and Education Director for the Textile Workers Organizing Committee
and the Marine and Shipbuilding Workers. She was appointed to Cornell University's
labor faculty in 1952, where she became a mentor to hundreds of students, labor
educators, and feminist scholars. Cook wrote extensively on women's status within
the labor movement and the work world; she also wrote about maternity leave,
comparable worth, and union democracy. We were honored to hear Alice talk about
her life at the 1993 NE Summer School. Her energy and enthusiasm for life and justice
were legendary.
ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN Elizabeth Gurley Flynn lived up to a promise she
made at the age of 19: “I will devote my life to the wage earner. My sole aim in
life is to do all in my power to right the wrongs and lighten the burdens of the
laboring class.” Born into a radical activist family – her father was a socialist and
her mother was a feminist – in Concord New Hampshire in 1890, she grew up in
industrial New England town before her family settled in the blue-collar Bronx
section of New York City. By the age of 16, Elizabeth was a member of the
International Workers of the World (IWW) and already well known as a
powerful public speaker. As an organizer for the IWW she organized mine
workers in Minnesota, Montana and Spokane until she was called to Lawrence,
Massachusetts, to help with the Bread and Roses Strike of 1912. After the strike,
Elizabeth continued organizing workers throughout the east coast, being repeatedly arrested but never
sentenced to prison. Coming out of her passion for speaking out, she helped found the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU). Throughout her life she advocated for workers, in particular demanding equal
economic opportunities for women. Her outspoken support of communist ideals landed her in prison for
two years during the McCarthy era. After her release, at the age of 71, she was elected as the first woman
to head the Communist Party in the United States.
DR. DOROTHY I. HEIGHT
Dr. Height spent her life fighting to eradicate the oppression of women. As
president of the National Council of Negro Women for over 40 years, a cofounder of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and an advisor to
American political leaders, including Eleanor Roosevelt, she influenced
public policy, playing an instrumental role in integrating the armed forces,
and the YWCA. She brought the exploitation of black women working as
domestic day laborers to the forefront of national debate. A disciple of
civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Height was a top leader in
the civil rights struggles of the 1960’s; she could often be seen in the front of the protest, walking next to
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During Dr. Height's tenure as president of the NCNW she instituted
"Wednesdays in Mississippi," a program that flew interracial teams of Northern women to the state to
meet with black and white women, designed to educate each other and create bridges of understanding.
Until her death, she worked to enhance the lives of women; one of her latest projects was the “equal pay”
of women collaborating with many organizations such as CLUW.
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MOTHER JONES Mary Harris Jones was the daughter of Irish immigrants, born in
Cork, Ireland in 1830. She became an itinerant American labor agitator whose
crusading spirit and deep love of working people inspired struggling strikers and
immigrant workers all over the U.S. The wife of an ironworker, she lost her
husband and four small children in a yellow fever epidemic in Tennessee when she
was 37. After that tragedy, she devoted the rest of her life to labor organizing,
traveling anywhere workers were fighting for a better life. She helped found the
International Workers of the World and fought for international solidarity among
workers of all nations. She worked as a teacher dressmaker, mill hand, and even as
a peddler as she traveled around the country, helping to lead strikes and rally
workers to form unions. She agitated and organized from the coalfields of Colorado to the rail yards of
Pittsburgh, from the mill villages of Alabama to the mining towns of West Virginia. She confronted John D.
Rockefeller over his massacre of miners' families in Ludlow, Colorado, but she also broke with John L.
Lewis when she disagreed with his leadership of the United Mineworkers. Mother Jones was still
agitating and organizing when she died, six months after her hundredth birthday, in Silver Spring,
Maryland. Mother Jones was the name given to Mary Harris Jones by her many union "children" in the
mines, mills, and factories of America.
ROSE SCHNEIDERMAN Rose Schneiderman, was a fiery, red-headed union
organizer, labor orator, feminist socialist, and advisor to Franklin and Eleanor
Roosevelt. Born of a Polish Jewish family in 1882, her career took shape in the
sweatshops of the Lower East side. She organized the first woman’s local for the
United Cloth Hat and Cap Makers’ Union, and then played a key role in the
Uprising of the 20,000, a demonstration of New York’s shirtwaist makers. At a
meeting at the Metropolitan Opera House memorializing the victims of the
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Rose showed the oratory powers for which she became
known: This is not the first time girls have been burned alive in the city. Every
week I must learn of the untimely death of one of my sister workers. Every year
thousands of us are maimed. The life of men and women is so cheap and poverty is
so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it matters little if 146 of us are burned to death. Rose worked
for women’s suffrage, ran for political office, and was president of the National Women’s Trade Union
League. As a member of Roosevelt’s National Labor Advisory Board, she wrote the regulations for every
industry with a predominantly female workforce; as secretary of labor for New York State she
campaigned hard for the extension of social security to domestic workers, for equal pay for women
workers, and for comparable worth.
JESSICA GOVEA THORBOURNE
Jessica began working in the California cotton fields when she was 4 years
old. When she was 19, Jessica joined Cesar Chavez and other union
organizers, becoming a founding member of the United Farm Workers
Union. She led the grape boycott in Toronto, setting the template for
boycotts around the country. Jessica worked for the UFCW for many years,
as an organizer and administrator. In later life, she moved to the east
coast, where at Rutgers, Cornell, and our own NE Summer School she
taught the organizing and political techniques she had learned by hard
experience. In 2005, at 58 years old, Jessica died of breast cancer. She had
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spent her life organizing and empowering immigrants and low-wage workers, teaching labor activists,
and warning people about the dangers of the pesticides in the fields.
SOJOURNER TRUTH
Sojourner was an orator for freedom and a staunch supporter of women's rights,
prison and labor reform, and temperance. One of her most famous speeches, "Ain't
I a Woman," was delivered at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, in
1851. Truth worked in army hospitals and camps for freed slaves. She successfully
won her legal right to reclaim her son from slavery. Originally named Isabella
Baumfree, she took the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 and in 1950 published the
story of her life, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. In the mid-1800’s Truth lived in
Florence, MA, just across the river from Amherst, as part of the Northampton
Association for Arts and Education, an intentional community, and then in a home
of her own. While at the Association and later living in Florence, she met many of
the country’s important abolitionists: William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Frederick Douglass, and
David Ruggles, and became active in the struggle of the rights of women.
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