Reports funded by Berger-Marks
'I knew I could do this work'
Seven Strategies to Promote Women's Activism & Leadership in unions
Women Organizing Women
Union Organizing
Among Professional Women Workers
'I knew I could do this work'
Seven Strategies to Promote Women's Activism & Leadership in Unions
NEW! Free Discussion Guide and Handout on strategies for union women, inspired by this report
By Amy Caiazza, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
 “Unions are good for women workers, but they could be
much better at promoting women into leadership
positions,” said Amy Caiazza, IWPR's Director of Democracy
and Society Programs, who authored this hard-hitting
report released December 5, 2007.
Based on interviews with women union activists, the report also analyzes key obstacles that hold women back -- from not seeing enough women visible in leadership to feeling more vulnerable to being fired, seeing the
priorities of women workers neglected, and having jobs that offer little experience seeing what unions do . “The
strategies outlined in this report are designed to help
women claim a voice of authority in an area that is
traditionally dominated by men,” says Caiazza.
Stragegies range from: Addressing Women’s True Priorities and Creating and Supporting Formal Mentoring Programs to Providing Opportunities for Women to Strategize
Together and Providing Flexible Options for Involvement.
Read the report, 'I knew I could do this work'
News release 12/5/07
Women Organizing Women:
How Do We Rock the Boat
Without Getting Thrown Overboard?
Women Organizing Women highlights the experiences and insights of
a group of highly skilled union organizers during a retreat in November
2004. Facilitated by National Labor College President Sue Schurman,
19 participants explored the best ways to increase the ranks of women
organizers and support them in their work. The report includes participants'
recommendations for improving the position of union organizer and sets
a roadmap for the Foundation as it looks ahead.
Read
the report
Note: This report is in Adobe Acrobat
pdf format.
If you don't have a recent version of the Adobe Reader on your computer, click
here.
News release 9/28/05
See
quotes from the report (also highlighted
on the Berger-Marks home page).
Union Organizing
Among Professional Women Workers
A groundbreaking research study commissioned
by the Department for Professional Employees -AFL-CIO
 |
| Dr. Bronfenbrenner of Cornell being introduced
by Paul E. Almeida, DPE |
Presented at the DPE
Conference on Organizing Professionals in the 21st Century, at
Crystal City, Virginia, on March 14-16, 2005, this Berger-Marks-funded
study is the most thorough investigation of union organizing among
professional women ever conducted. Its conclusions emphasize the
importance of professional women to the labor movement's future (see
quote at right).
Dr. Kate Bronfenbrenner, a widely respected Cornell University educator
and researcher, authored the study, after
the Department for Professional Employees -AFL-CIO received $22,000
in funding for it from the Berger- Marks Foundation.
Read more
about the report and its significance.
Read "Union
Organizing among Professional Women Workers"
Note: This report is in Adobe Acrobat pdf
format.
If you don't have a recent
version of the Adobe Reader on your computer, click
here.
See Powerpoint presentation summarizing highlights from
the report.
More about
Berger-Marks funding of academic research
& how to apply for
grants
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“Traditionally in our society, [women have] been at a disadvantage. And the only way to change that is to stand together and have a voice, and make yourselves heard out there…. I think of the union as being for everyone, but it certainly has been a tool for women...
“I knew I could do [union] work, but … if I didn’t have anybody to say, ‘Come on, I know you can do it,’ I probably … wouldn’t be where I am now.”
“Working women are overextended by
responsibility, children, housework, healthcare, communities” and
stress is a common denominator for them, said a third woman. “They
appreciate being heard and understood.
"Women want to know how you [the union] are going to help relieve
some of their stress.”
"Professional/technical and clerical
occupations constitute roughly half of the US workforce. Women workers
dominate both of these occupational groupings.
"While women do not yet represent the majority of the unionized
workforce, they have represented the majority of new workers organized
for more than two decades, and each year the gap between the percentage
of newly organized workers organized in industries dominated by women
versus those dominated by men has been widening -- so much so that in
the near future women will make up the majority of the unionized workforce.
. .
"At a time when the entire US labor movement is grappling with
future directions for organizing, one thing is clear. Women professional,
technical, and clerical workers need to be part of the discussion about
labor’s organizing strategy. . ."
More facts about women workers |
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