Berger-Marks Awards Grants to Three CLUW Chapters:
Congratulations Philly, Detroit and Denver (Milehigh) Chapters
The Berger-Marks Foundation has announced the winners of the first Coalition of Labor Union Women Chapter Grants. They are the Philadelphia, Detroit and Denver (Milehigh) Chapters, each of which will receive monetary awards “to fund projects and expenses that promote and/or mentor young women activists and trade unionists.”
The Call for Proposals was announced in early 2011 – with the purpose of helping to facilitate specific CLUW programs inspired by the findings and recommendations of its 2010 Stepping Up, Stepping Back Report.
In the announcement of awardees, Berger-Marks President Linda Foley noted, “There were many excellent projects proposed by CLUW chapters from around the country. Unfortunately, we could not fund all of them.”
Below is an overview of the three proposals that were chosen:
Philadelphia:
Since 2008 this chapter has had a Young Women's Committee (YWC), which targets the specific needs of younger women workers. It is made up of approximately 10 active members and reports to the Philadelphia CLUW Executive Board.
Its mission is to educate young women about unions, while creating networking opportunities and support for working women. It also aims to empower, train, and prepare the next generation of feminist union and CLUW leaders
The YWC holds monthly membership meetings, along with quarterly workshops which are open to the public.
This grant will allow the committee “to continue funding its quarterly workshops (which up until this point members have been financing out of pocket, with some help from Philadelphia CLUW). In addition, the grant money will enable the YWC to obtain resources to create a well-researched, comprehensive presentation about the labor movement and feminism. We will then begin visiting local unions and women's organizations and educating them about why organized labor is so important to working women, thus growing our membership.”
Detroit
This chapter, one of CLUW most active, has a membership of 150 and a mailing list of over 300. They hold six to eight meetings a year, which “regularly feature a guest speakers, information booths and other presentations that coincide with specific topics of women's health, continuing union education, youth and aging issues and advocacy to many pertinent local, state, and federal issues that are important to the active union women.”
The grant will help fund “a one-day conference promoting understanding and awareness for younger women workers about their unions. (It) will use speakers, info booths, films, and panel discussions making sure that the program encourages how to be a more active participant in the union. We would also invite non-union women to educate them about organized labor.”
The money will also “ensure that the cost per young worker is affordable. We also may need to provide child care.”
The conference will take place in November 2011 “so that the attendees will be ready for active union involvement in the beginning of 2012.”
The proposal noted, “We are a chapter that is very engaged in our community. Many of the community organizations will also be a big part of the conference…Our projected attendance is 100 young women.”
Milehigh (Denver)
The Milehigh CLUW Chapter, which was chartered in 2010, is one of the newest ones. It has 28 members and represents eight different unions, including government, private, public sector and a few Building Construction trades unions. Meetings are hosted by IBEW 68 in Denver, CO. The chapter’s initial activities have been focused on outreach to women unionists and creating a network within the Denver area.
The Foundation will fund two parts of this chapter’s proposal: First, a sum will assist with various chapter programs – with a particular focus on younger union members – and one special educational training to build women’s leadership and networking skills. (The Chapter President has been an on-the-job mentor with her union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, and has run numerous trainings for the State Association of Letter Carriers, as well as local trainings for stewards on such topics as time management, public speaking and effective grievance writing). Several other chapter officers – who also have experience in training — will volunteer their time for programs.
If the chapter meets certain goals and timetables, the Foundation will provide additional funding in the second year.
The Foundation will also assist the chapter to send two delegates to the 2011 AFL-CIO “Next Up” (Younger Workers) Conference in Minneapolis at the end of September. |
