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NEB: SAVE THE DATE

Next CLUW National Executive Board Meeting
March 7-10, 2012
Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
National Harbor, MD 

Highlights:
Lobby Day on Capitol Hill
Voter Education Conference/Workshops
CLUW 2012 Working Women's Award Celebration

Tentative agenda, registration information, hotel reservation instructions and more at www.cluw.org/NEB.html

CLUW CONVENTION

CLUW's 16th Biennial Convention
September 7-10, 2011
Orlando, Florida

Equal Pay rally Thanks for visiting the Coalition of Labor Union Women. CLUW is the national women's organization within the labor movement. Our members are on the frontline, empowering working women to become leaders in their unions and encouraging them to make a difference on the job and, most importantly, in their own lives. Our values are simple: Solidarity, involvement, dignity and justice. DOWNLOAD BROCHURE.

CLUW wants YOU !
More Members, More Power, More Progress

Amplify the voice of women in the workforce by strengthening CLUW, the only national organization for union women. Both nationally and through our chapters, CLUW has been busy lobbying the government, educating the public and rallying our sisters and brothers in the workforce over such issues as equal pay, Social Security protection and the Employee Free Choice Act. We have built partnerships with other constituency and community groups through town hall meetings held throughout the country. We have participated in GOTV activities. We have rallied for a peaceful solution to the war in Iraq. We have worked to protect women's health through our Cervical Cancer Prevention Works project and have educated our union brothers and sisters about the need for contraceptive equity.

We continue to fight for the original goals we established back in 1974: promoting affirmative action in the workplace; strengthening the role of women in unions; organizing unorganized women; and increasing the involvement of women in the political and legislative process.

Help us make a difference for working women. Sign up today or renew your CLUW membership online.

>> CHAPTER NEWS <<

Berger-Marks Awards Grants to Three CLUW Chapters: Congratulations Philly, Detroit and Denver (Milehigh) Chapters
READ MORE CHAPTER NEWS

FIND A CLUW CHAPTER NEAR YOU

PowerPoint on grant writing
CLUW chapters: Learn how to write successful proposals

Congratulations to CLUW sisters for their election victories:

  • Judy Morgan (AFT) of Greater Kansas City CLUW won the 39th District Missouri House seat on Nov. 8 by a landslide. 
  • Brenda K. Davis (UAW) was elected to the Elyria, Ohio City Council. The Lorain County Chapter member is a delegate to CLUW's National Executive Board.

CLUW's Kate Mullany Chapter (Albany, NY) was one of the organizations to create Trojan HerStories -- an audio/video oral history project about women's work in their community:
Look at Me by Leia Hlustick
We Can Spread The Message by Holly Clark

Women's Health Corner logo Check it out! The Women's Health Corner is a valuable resource that explores different women's health topics each month.

Find out about CLUW's program to prevent cervical cancer, Cervical Cancer Prevention Works

Download article for magazines, web:
Preventing Cervical Cancer: Two Union Women Take Action

Pearl of Wisdom

CLUW is a proud partner
in the
Pearl of Wisdom campaign
to prevent cervical cancer

CLUW's Contraceptive Equity Project


Information from the CLUW Health and Wellness Committee:
Support for nursing mothers in the workplace (pdf)

The Berger-Marks Foundation's mission is to bring the benefits of unionism to working women and provide resources, training, and financial assistance to women organizers. Its website offers the latest news – updated regularly – including tips, tactics, legal issues, events, a multitude of resources, and effective strategies women organizers use. Grants are available to support organizing efforts and related activities.

 

HOT  TOPICS:
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Help restore power to the 99% -- sign the petition

Working people are sick and tired of seeing a political system and an economy that only works for the very wealthiest. For too long, our leaders have worked on behalf of the top 1%, leaving everyone else behind. Sign on to the 9 Demands of the 99% and add your voice to this important call.

Read eight ideas to make our country stronger and fairer—and add what you think America needs to restore power to the 99%.

CLUW is a Conference Convener of the
2012 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Regional Conferences

Building a green economy will create good jobs, reduce global warming and other environmental problems, and help secure America’s economic and environmental future.  

Registration for the Southern and Western Conferences is now open; registration for the Eastern and Midwestern starts soon.

RESOURCE GUIDE

 

 

 

The wage gender gap has remained unchanged for the past decade. Women's earnings were 77.4 percent of men's in 2010, compared to 77.0 percent in 2009, according to Census statistics for full-time, year-round workers.

That's why we need the Paycheck Fairness Act!
CLUW convention resolution on the Paycheck Fairness Act


CLUW is a member of the
National Committee on Pay Equity

April 17 is Equal Pay Day

 

In Gender Pay Differences: Progress Made, but Women Remain Overrepresented among Low-Wage Workers, the GAO found that women made up an estimated 49 percent of the overall workforce in 2010, but constituted 59 percent of the low-wage workforce.
The AFL-CIO's Dept. for Professional Employees' fact sheet, Professional Women: A Gendered Look at Occupational Obstacles and Opportunities, notes that union women earned 28 percent more than non-union and were more likely to have health and pension benefits, paid holidays and vacations.
The updated Gender Wage Gap fact sheet from the Institute for Women's Policy Research illustrates the decline in progress on the gender wage gap: it narrowed by over 10 percentage points 1981-90, by close to 4 percentage points 1991-2000, and by less than one percentage point in this last decade.
Living Below the Line: Economic Insecurity and America’s Families from Wider Opportunities for Women reports that many families are living without economic security even when household breadwinners are working.
The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap from the AAUW provides key facts about the gender pay gap in the US, with explanations and resources to help advocate for pay equity.
The National Committee on Pay Equity has updated its table, The Wage Gap Over Time: In Real Dollars, Women See a Continuing Gap.
The American Association of University Women's Gender Wage Gap State-by-State Map shows education improves women's earnings, but it does not ensure fair wages.

Access to Preventive Health Care for Women

The Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2010, prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to any woman because of a pre-existing condition; excluding coverage of certain conditions; or discriminating because of her gender. The law also gives women and their families the affordable health choices they need and access to critical preventive services. Download information (pdf):
Access to Preventive Care for Women in the New Health Care Law: Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t Cut Social Security

CLUW and its Mature Women Workers Committee are part of the Strengthen Social Security coalition.

From the Institute for Women's Policy Research: Click here to read the NWLC paper on the effect of the chained CPI on women's Social Security benefits. Click here to read Politico article about discussions to include changes to Social Security a deficit reduction plan.

IWPR Report: Retirement on the Edge: Women, Men, and Economic Insecurity After the Great Recession

Download Ten Reasons the Social Security Proposal of the Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Should be DOA (Dead on Arrival)

Day of Solidarity with embattled public employees

CLUW joined in solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states fighting for middle class jobs and the basic right to bargain collectively for a better life. April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was standing in solidarity with Memphis sanitation workers when he was killed, was designated a Day of Solidarity.
>> Download the Statement of Women’s Organizations and Allies in Support of Workers’ Rights outlining the consequences for women.

CLUW chapters and members have been active in joining in solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states fighting for middle class jobs and the basic right to bargain collectively for a better life.

CLUW supports workers' rights

View the video!

State union-busting disproportionately hurts women

National Organization for Women stands in solidarity

The attempt to dismantle unions in Wisconsin by way of dubious legislative tricks was more than an assault on workers' rights: It was an attack on human dignity and women in particular. It will not stand because we as a nation will not stand for it.
Read the full story on NOW's website

 

From "Women bear brunt of union-busting"
by Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Heidi Hartmann

Cutting deficits has become the main budgetary priority in Washington and state capitals, which means pay freezes or layoffs for hundreds of thousands of these middle-class workers. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and other states, governors are using the real problem of budget deficits as a justification to pursue a long-term goal: union busting. Whether by design or default, this two-pronged assault on the public sector disproportionately hurts women...
Read the full story on POLITICO

From "The dirty secret of public-sector union busting," by Alyssa Battistoni:

Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to do away with collective bargaining rights for public sector unions in Wisconsin would be most detrimental to women and African-Americans, who make up a disproportionate share of the public sector workforce. Much has been made of Walker's decision to exempt from his plan firefighter, police and state trooper unions, but over 70 percent of law enforcement personnel are male, as are over 96 percent of firefighters. On the other hand, many of the non-exempt unions represent professions that are disproportionately female -- approximately 80 percent of teachers are women, for example, as are 95 percent of nurses.

Quick Facts on Women and Men in the Public Sector

Download Women and Men in the Public Sector 

The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR)reports that 22 percent of women employed at the local government level worked as elementary and middle school teachers. Among the top jobs for men at the local level are law enforcement, teaching, and firefighting.

Public sector employment has mostly shrunk since 2008, particularly among women. The only growth in public sector employment is at the federal level--and only among men.  

She Should RunTell a union woman:
Run for political office!

CLUW is partnering with the Women's Campaign Forum toencourage union women to run for political office. Its She Should Run website provides an online tool for talented women leaders to be asked to run for public office, and follows up with resources and assistance.

AFL-CIO Blog about Working Women
National Labor College makes it easy and affordable for hard-working adults to complete their college degrees.

Union-made products and services
compiled by the AFL-CIO's Union Label and Service Trades Department

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