This year, for Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a group of leaders who are currently active making women's history across the labor movement. Check back daily for a new profile and meet some of the people working to improve not only their community, but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. Today's profile is Alana Schaeffer of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA).
In 2020, UA Local 788 member Alana Schaeffer of Kittery, Maine, became the first woman elected president of the Metal Trades Council, an association of a dozen unions representing 3,000 employees across 10 trades at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She and her members are currently working on passing state legislation to allow federal employees to qualify for state-backed, no-interest loans when they are furloughed or forced to work without pay during a federal government shutdown.