By Elizabeth Bunn and Nat LaCour
Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn and Secretary-Treasurer Nat LaCour co-chair a special AFL-CIO Executive Council committee to promote diversity in the union movement.
The AFL-CIO's Civil, Human and Women's Rights Department is sponsoring four Power in Diversity dialogues this summer. Local and regional union members, elected leaders and activists, members of AFL-CIO constituency groups and central local body and state federation leaders will gather to discuss the best ways to engage all members in moving forward our goals in the union movement.
James Parks, AFL-CIO senior writer, recently interviewed Bunn and LaCour about diversity in the union movement.
Q: Why should the union movement be concerned about diversity?
Bunn: Diversity is our strength in our country and in our movement. We have to be really vigilant about creating opportunities for all our membership. It's the right thing to do, but more importantly, we lose when we don't tap into the energy and creativity and innovation of all our membership.
LaCour: It is important that people who make up the union movement have meaningful input. As it stands right now, women and people of color don't have sufficient input into the decision making in our movement. And if we truly want to make the union movement stronger, we have to involve everybody.
Q: How can we increase diversity at the local and state levels?
LaCour: At the local and state level, it's actually easier to achieve than at the national level. You can put people on boards or in secondary positions. Take the AFT, for example. Only one individual is going to be elected president. But if you look at our executive board where we have 41 seats, there is an opportunity to elect women and people of color. You just have to be determined that you're going to do it.
Diversity is not just in the elected positions, it's in staff. A union has to make a conscious effort to want to hire women and minorities. If they're determined to do that and they use affirmative action, it can be done. You also have to encourage people to participate, to run for positions or to seek staff positions so you have to have sufficient outreach.
Q: Women make up about half of union members, but they are clearly not half of the leadership. Is that changing?
Bunn: More and more women are holding officer positions in local union. It is important to look not just at current membership but at the groups of people we have been successful in organizing. There is no question that women and people of color are the workers who are coming into our movement at the higher rates.
Q: What lessons have you learned about diversity in any of your recent organizing efforts?
Bunn (who heads UAW's casino organizing in Atlantic City): The Atlantic City workforce is a microcosm of the U.S. workforce. There are a significant number of Asian Americans and Latinos from a variety of countries. Across all of those groups, there are a large number of women. It's been really inspiring to work with these workers. Our organizing committees are awfully diverse. And we've had some language issues. They've taught us a lot about how to frame things.
I hope the same kind of experiences can spread across the union movement because it's sure none of us has all the answers.
Q: What do you hope comes out of the diversity dialogues?
LaCour: If we're successful, we will end up with a greater number of people in elected positions, staff positions, serving on boards and committees and also, simply being actively involved in the activities of the union. And if there's a will, then the way will open up.
