Excelsior!

I have an idea for another post brewing but it’s not quite there yet.   My poor sleep deprived and over-stuffed brain is still catching up and digesting all the great information and ideas we have been discussing this week, particularly one item that was repeated several times today.  It started in Leadership Skills but no matter which class or workshop I was in or who I was speaking with the theme kept popping up:   “Why did you become involved in your union?”

 

Everyone I spoke with talked about feeling frustrated, discouraged, or disappointed with their union in some respect and that’s what got us involved.  We found our voices by not taking “no”, or “I don’t know”  for an answer. When we discovered nothing was going to be handed to us, we reached out to help ourselves.

 It’s a wonderful thing to realize our own power to make something happen.  

Having a Great Time

Hello All, This is my second attempt to post. I attempted to post last night. I am having great time, learning a lot and most importantly, feeling all of this good energy from my sisters. Much Love

Shout it!

This week many strong and beautiful sisters are meeting each other for the first time while others are renewing their connections with each other. Their beauty glows from the inside, as their hearts, minds and actions are full of great passion for improving the lives of working people. SHOUT IT! I’d like to introduce a sister whose passion is aglow! 

Meet Oneshia Shade-Portlette, Chairwoman of The Transport Workers Union of America Local 100 AFL-CIO Transit and Railroad Division.   

Oneshia got involved in the union after she was seriously hurt on the job and ‘fell through the cracks’ with no representation. She has been an advocate for workers for over five years.

This is her first summer school. Her favorite part is ‘meeting new union sisters as we learn to share and empower one another’.  She thanks her union sisters for getting her to summer school and sends a SHOUT OUT to sisters Celeste Kirkland and Crystal Lee Smith – both TWU International Divisional Working Women Committees.

A book that has influenced her work as a zone rep is The Art of War by Lao Tzu

You’ll find Oneshia wherever there is serious discussion about sisters’ rights.

She is pictured here with this blogger.

World Cafe /Panel de Experiencias

Día 2

Entre interesantísimas clases, movernos de un edificio a otro y compartir muchas risas, hoy vivimos la experiencia de escuchar las vivencias de hermosas hermanas empoderadas en sus distintas luchas convencidas de que sus voces tenía que ser escuchadas. Cada una de ellas expusieron sus experiencias de cómo fue que se cansaron de esperar que le fueran resueltas sus situaciones y se involucraron en la búsqueda de la solución. “Enough is Enough” fue la mayor consigna en esta discusión, que les dio el convencimiento de que sus voces podía ser escuchadas. Lograron el sentido de pertenencia, la empatía y el compromiso que necesitaban para poder comenzar en sus luchas sindicales.

El resultado, extraordinarias mujeres que con sus vivencias y con la frente en alto lograron hacerse sentir.

En mi caso personal me siento sumamente orgullosa de Tania Lopez, una diviva hermana de lucha sindical que con su consciencia de justicia se ha convertido en la VOZ de los que han decidido mantenerse en silencio.

Shoulder to Shoulder

Ok.  I admit it.  I was a little late to the poster making class this evening, but for the best of reasons… I was doing my homework for the Union Building workshop and had got caught up in the nonsense intricacies of my local’s constitution and bylaws.    

The cynical voice inside my head was mocking the arts and crafts-iness of the program.  But then  I started looking around at what the other women were creating from some colored paper and markers.  It was looking pretty nifty.  I got into it.  I embraced my inner kindergardener, the one who loved to color and paste.  I made my sign, it wasn’t too bad.  Cool, I thought.  Fun.  What the amazing artists back at my local could do with this!  I thought.  The cynical voice had dulled down to a low whisper and was muttering on about how my sign wasn’t really that great.  I started getting a little down about my sign.The colors were wrong, it should be more creative, it wasn't perfect. Then everyone gathered up in the front of the room for a photograph with their signs and the light bulb went on!

We are, none of us, all that great on our own.  But standing together, shoulder to shoulder, with these signs we had literally just whipped up in an hour, what an impact!  What a beautiful thing, a cohesive whole from many disparate, imperfect parts.  

We are Union!

Solidarity Forever (in Spanish)

Solidarity Forever was led by our Puerto Rico Sisters at morning plenary!

Raising My Voice

This blog post was emailed to me from a sister at Summer School and I am posting it on her behalf:

Welcome to the very first entry of my blog.  I am a university professor, a feminist, and a union activist-- hence my pen name, University Sister.  It’s time for me to put my pen where my mouth is.  A workshop on social media I am taking today has given me the opportunity to start a blog.

When I signed up for the Summer School for Union Women sponsored by the Northeast UALE (United Association for Labor Education) a few weeks ago, I had no idea how intense it would be.  The theme of the summer school this year is “Raising Our Voices: Union Women Leading Democracy in Our Work, Our Country and Our World!”  This is the third day of six and I’m struggling to absorb all of the information coming our way as well as getting to know dozens of women we are meeting in our classes and other sessions.  School starts at 8:15 every morning and goes until after p.m. each night.

I can imagine all kinds of applications of what I am learning and I’m anxious to share these strategies with other leaders in my union, United University Professions, where the statewide Executive Board has just been feminized by the May 2013 elections.  For the first time in its history, the board contains more women than men; twelve of its twenty members are female.  It is incumbent upon the women stepping forward in their unions to use all their considerable skills in support of the mission of higher education unions.  Unions need the power of women more than ever, especially in the public employee unions which are under violent attack. Women’s life experience ideally suits them to understanding the challenges and rewards of democracy.

Of the three “courses” I am taking, the “Union Building: Tools for Strengthening Your Union from the Inside” taught by Angela Ferritto has impressed me most.  Some of Angela’s pointers are shockingly counter-intuitive.   I can see that practices I had assumed made sense, really don’t. There are better ways to engage our members.  I wish every delegate in my union could take this course.  Angela is an Organizer for Council 13 of AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Pennsylvania).  All I can say is, AFSCME is really lucky to have her.

- University Sister (Anonymous)