Report from the IAMAW Women's Conference on October 10, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The theme was "Machinists Women - Visions and Values in the Pursuit of Victories".  Conference delegates represented all five territories in the IAMAW- Canadian, Eastern, Midwestern, Southern and Transportation.

After receiving welcoming comments from Lea Pearson, GVP of the Western Territory, Cheryl Eastburn, Director of Women's Department, Diane Babineaux, Executive Assistant to the IP and Charlotte Sund, Director of the Human Rights Department addressed the conference delegates.  They stressed the importance of women playing a major role in organizing and inspired the delegates to stay involved in Union activities. 

Larry Washam, Director of the Organizing Department reported that the IAM's 61.5% success rate in organizing drives was the highest in the AFL-CIO in elections held and winning percentages. 

Allison Beck, General Counsel of IAM, presented a perspective on winning campaigns with legal leverage. 

Heather Kelley, GLR and Cheryl's counterpart in Canada presented interesting statistics such as women make up approximately 50% of the American workforce and for the first time, over 50% of the Canadian Union workforce are women.  Heather led our organizing activity and put us to the task of identifying roadblocks in organizing.  In particular, some of the things that keep women from being involved in organizing drives as well as being organized.  We were assigned to groups based on our territory.  It was a great exchange of ideas and interesting to note the similarity of comments from each region.

Hasan Solomon, Assistant Director of Legislative and Political Action reminded us that politics affects every aspect of our life in this country.  He reported that we are making some gains in legislation since labor friendly candidates have taken over the Congress, but there is still much to be done.  Labor needs to continue its momentum and elect more labor friendly candidates in the '08 elections.

IP Tom Buffenbarger, fresh off the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton in Iowa, was enthusiastic and inspiring as ever.  He noted that everywhere Hillary went, people wanted to talk with her, not just shake her hand.  He said you could feel and see momentum building at each stop as she included the conversations from one town to the next.  He had ample opportunity to express the "Machinists" position on such topics as healthcare, worker rights, jobs, NAFTA and CAFTA with her.  He also made a point of saying that all of our lodge meetings, conferences and conventions are open by pledging the flag and wondered if there is any corporate boardroom that does the same.  As you know we were one of the first unions to endorse Hillary Clinton for President.  Afterward, I spoke with Tom about endorsing Republican Mike Huckabee in the primaries.  He stated that 35% of our membership votes Republican and that it was important to acknowledge a candidate that was willing to express his views on labor issues.  We agreed it was a good decision.

Thank you for the opportunity to represent LL 912 at this conference.  It was great to meet members including Elizabeth Brill-Salz, an IAMAW Sister from GE Albuquque (in photo below) and to network again with my sisters and brothers throughout the IAMAW.

Respectfully submitted,

Rainey Rohrmeier
LL 912 Women's Committee Chair

Report from the Coalition of Labor Union Women Convention October 10-13, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada

The theme was "A New Direction for Working Women".  This was the first CLUW convention I have attended.  CLUW President Marsha Zakowski ran a very well organized, energizing and entertaining convention while completing the passage of 16 resolutions and other business.  Nearly 800 sisters and brothers from various unions attended.  The IAMAW had one of the largest and loudest delegations.  CLUW is the one and only National organization for Union women, with more than 37 years of achievements.  We were treated to a wide range of speakers including the recently retired Linda Chavez Thompson, Former Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO.

The greetings from dignitaries were quite informative.  For instance, UNITE HERE Culinary Union Local 226 has 60,000 members working in Las Vegas.  Las Vegas is a proud union town.  The Venetian is the only hotel on the strip not organized.

All delegates were given a lead-test kit complete with instructions given by Marilyn Furer, the Whistle-Blowing Grandma.  She spoke about how she proved there was lead in baby bibs.  The delegation proceeded to pass Resolution#5 to support the "Protect Our Kids - Stop Toxic Imports" campaign by calling on our government officials to fix our nation's unfair trade policies that discourage American manufacturing.

We heard from April Medlin, representing Military Families Speak Out, (MFSO).  3700 military families have joined MFSO.  MFSO will hold peace rallies in 11 cities across the nation on October 27.  She challenged us to end the war by making it a topic of discussion at neighborhood meetings, Union activities, faith and community events and schools.  She also noted the difference of supporting our troops without supporting the policies of this war.   The delegation passed Resolution #6 to End Bush's Iraq Folly and Debacle Now.

Dr. Evelyn Murphy, the author of Getting Even: Why Women Don't Get Paid Like Men and What to do About It, spoke about the gender wage gap.  Her research illustrates women still make $.77 for every dollar earned by men resulting in a lifetime difference in pay of $700,000 for a high school diploma, $1,200,000 for a college degree and $2,000,000 for a MBA.  She noted the comparisons are based on year round full time working men vs. full time working women.  The delegation passed Resolution #2 in support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.

A panel discussion included representatives from the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and Pride at Work.  The discussion focused on the increasingly diverse membership of the American Labor movement and its lack of representation in leadership positions throughout the AFL-CIO.  The delegation passed Resolution #3 to support the aggressive implementation of the AFL-CIO diversity resolutions that were passed at its 2005 National Convention.

We heard from HR John Conyers, (D-14th MI) co-sponsor of House Bill 676 calling for a Universal Health Care Plan.  He noted that Medicare has a 2-3% overhead compared to 25-30% overhead for private health plans and he believes that healthcare is not a privilege, but a human right.  The delegation passed resolution #4 supporting his plan.

CLUW's commitment to women's health includes cervical cancer prevention and the contraceptive equality law.  The sister's project, where women whose sisters have succumbed to breast cancer are involved in the largest research project to be undertaken, spanning the next 10 years, in hopes of eliminating breast cancer.  

Resolutions were passed to address these health care issues of cervical cancer and breast cancer early detection, screening and cure, along with expanding the FMLA to include paid parental leave, reducing the risk of HIV/AIDS and ending discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.

Presidential candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton addressed the delegation via video.  Both are strong supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act and Universal Health Care.

The organizing and economic resolutions dealing with the Employee Free Choice Act, Made in the USA, Stop Sweatshops, and Make International Trade Fair were overwhelmingly passed.

The delegation discussed and passed controversial resolutions such as supporting civil marriage and opposing healthcare discrimination based on gender identity or expression.

And finally, we passed a resolution endorsing the "Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historic Park" as a tribute to the 6 million women who were the manufacturing backbone of WWII.  The park is at the site of the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA.

There was a common theme throughout the convention that encouraged our participation in political action, organizing and spreading the word of union benefits.   

Please contact me for additional information and materials on the above mentioned topics.

Respectfully submitted,

Rainey Rohrmeier
IAMAW LL912 Women's Committee Chair
513-366-7406 (pager)