Barbara J. Easterling, whose trailblazing career has inspired women in the labor movements here and around the world, has announced that she will retire as secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America at the union’s convention this June.
Among the many “firsts” that Barbara achieved was becoming the first woman to serve as AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1995. She was also the first woman to win election to the secretary-treasurer post within CWA.
Barbara was steeped in trade union principles early on, growing up in Akron, Ohio, in a family of union coal miners and rubber workers. After going to work as a telephone operator at Ohio Bell Telephone Co., she immediately joined CWA Local 4302 serving as a steward, secretary and then vice president of the local.
Then-Ohio Gov. John Gilligan tapped Barbara to serve as chief of the Ohio Labor Division in early 1970, and in that role she drafted laws to protect women on the job and strengthen enforcement of child labor provisions. She left state government in 1973 to become a full-time CWA staff representative.
Her reputation and talents led CWA President Glenn Watts to bring Easterling to Washington, D.C., as his assistant in 1980. She went on to serve as an executive vice president of CWA and won election to her current position in 1992.
Well known for her advocacy for women in the United States and around the world, Easterling serves as president of the World Women’s Committee for the Union Network International, representing 17 million workers globally. Her efforts also include passionate support for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and service for many years on the board of governors of the United Way of America. Easterling has long been active in Democratic politics and currently serves as a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Among many honors and awards she has received, she was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1985, and she also received the International Women’s Democracy Center Global Democracy Award, the Ellis Island American Legends Award and the March of Dimes Salute to Labor Award.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council expresses the deep gratitude of our labor movement to Barbara J. Easterling for a lifetime of devotion to working families and to the causes of women’s rights and human rights all around the world. We wish her good health and many rich and rewarding years as she enters a well-deserved retirement.