The first UE Women’s Leadership Program, designed to promote the leadership of women and gender non-conforming members of the union, wrapped up in September. The six-month program launched in April with an in-person meet-up at the Labor Notes conference, and continued with online meetings in May, August and September.
“I got to meet a lot of wonderful women and learn new things about UE,” said Erin Frimpong, Local 1177. Janet Gray, Local 618, noted that participants came from “various different experiences, some just new to UE, some on the GEB [General Executive Board].”
Lindley Hornsby, Local 1498, said “It was nice to be in community with other women” while “having an understanding that we all come from different backgrounds, and that even though we're all women in labor, we work in different shops and those things shape our experience.”
In addition to bringing participants to Labor Notes, the program also provided the UE women with opportunities to take part in other union activities. In May, Gray and Lauren Sims, Local 1077, participated in a worker-to-worker exchange with UE’s Mexican ally the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (FAT), and Frimpong visited UE Local 506 in Erie, Pennsylvania to learn about their Unity Council. (Frimpong wrote about her experience there for the most recent issue of the UE NEWS.)
According to Staff Coordinator Kim Lawson, who helped design and facilitate the program, the sessions aimed to give participants a mixture of “hard skills” but also provide a space to talk about the obstacles and barriers that women face and why they don't become leaders in the union.
Topics covered in the program included how to have an organizing conversation, UE history, time management, running an effective meeting, building networks of support, and UE’s approach to arbitration and organizing around grievances. According to Gray, the sessions were “tailored to all different levels so everybody got something out of it.”
Hornsby said she appreciated the “holistic” approach of the program. “Of course we’re talking about how to organize our shops, how to be leaders regionally and nationally,” she said, but the program was also structured to “acknowledge that we’re a whole person.” Delores Phillips, Local 1118, who helped lead the program, said she put a lot of effort into “trying to make sure everybody was just comfortable being themselves.”
Many participants told the UE NEWS that they were excited to apply what they learned about building women’s leadership in their own locals. “We’re just trying to get more women into leadership” in Local 1177, said Frimpong, while Hornsby noted that the skills she learned were applicable to the challenges like bringing international workers into leadership in her graduate worker local.
“If UE really wants to see more women in leadership, we’re going to have to keep doing this,” said Hornsby, a sentiment echoed by other participants. “I think it’s a great program,” said Gray. “I’m hoping that it can be continued.
Gray told the UE NEWS that while she originally joined the program “wanting to get something personally for myself,” the most valuable part was getting to know other UE women and “having that group of women to rely on” going forward. Frimpong added that “we’ll be there for the next group.”
“We should look forward to doing it again, and maybe even bigger,” said Phillips.
Program participants were Francesca Fazzini, Local 613, Janet Gray, Local 618, Amanda Kozar, Local 896, Lauren Sims, Local 1077, Kayla Anderson, Local 1118, Erin Frimpong, Local 1177, Michele McCoy, Local 1186, Barbara Boeske, Local 1477, and Lindley Hornsby, Local 1498. The program was led by Local 1118 President and General Executive Board member Delores Phillips, Staff Coordinators Kim Lawson and Valentina Luketa, and Field Organizers Heather Hillenbrand and Kass Ottley. UE General Counsel Margot Nikitas presented at the final meeting on arbitration and grievances.