Executive Council Statement | Better Pay and Benefits

On the Retirement of Veda Shook

We thank Veda Shook for her contributions to working families everywhere and particularly for her service on the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO. Shook chaired the Ethical Practices committee and served ably on the committees on Finance, Legislation/Policy and Women Workers.

Shook began her career as a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines in 1991 and became an activist in the labor movement at almost exactly the same time. She organized with her fellow flight attendants and soon became the president of the American Flight Attendants council in Portland, Ore.

Shook has never stopped organizing. She coordinated efforts on the organizing campaign for Delta Air Lines flight attendants and also worked on the campaigns at Lynx Air International, USA3000, Ryan International and Compass Airlines. She was elected president of AFA-CWA in 2010.

America’s skies are safer as a result of her lifelong activism, and the AFL-CIO Executive Council benefited from her contributions enormously. We appreciate her service and wish her the best in her future endeavors.