Lifestyle
More and more black and Latina women are leading unions and changing the way they work
Women make up about half of U.S. union membership, but their representation in top union leadership positions is low, even in female-dominated industries and especially for women of color.
But black and Latina women are starting to realize ground, taking top positions in a few of the largest unions in the US. This has translated into victories at the negotiating table, with greater deal with family-friendly advantages comparable to parental leave and health care, in addition to protection against sexual harassment.
Often, when people consider unions, “they think of a white guy in a hard hat. But in fact, research shows that approx two thirds of working people covered by a union contract are women and/or people of color,” said Lane Windham, a labor historian at Georgetown University.
Indeed, the UNITE Here hospitality union is overwhelmingly made up of women and people of color. And last month there have been more than 12,000 in six states began a strike push for pay increases, fair workloads and cheaper health care under the leadership of Gwen Mills, who in June became the first woman elected president of the union in its 130-year history.
Data from the U.S. Department of Labor show that Black and Latina women are particularly hard hit large gender pay gaps. They also encounter intersections a headwind to each racism and sexism of their careers, making them even more sensitive to inequalities in the workplace and motivating them to step up their fight as trade union leaders.
Black and Latina women are driving the growth of unions in the U.S. in the face of: a decades-long decline in membership. In 2023, Black women’s union membership rate increased barely from 10.3% to 10.5%, while Latina women increased from 8.5% to eight.8%. But that is still more than white men and women and Asian women, whose membership has declined over the same period.
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Over the past five years, the advancement of black and Latino women to leadership positions in trade unions has accelerated. But based on Liz Shuler, who became the first woman in history to steer the AFL-CIO in June 2022, the work began long before that, by “our ancestors who laid that foundation and kicked that door open and pushed it wide open over the decades.” a federation of 60 national and international trade unions.
” The #MeToo movementI think it’s really emboldened women in all cases, including childbirth, to say, you know what? I’m not going to sit on the sidelines,” Shuler said. The pandemic has also put a highlight on essential staff like nurses, service staff and care staffwho are mainly women and minorities.
Today’s examples of diverse union leaders include Becky Pringle, a black woman who heads the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union; Bonnie Castillo, the first Latina to function executive director of National Nurses United; and April Verrett, who in May became the first Black woman to steer the Service Workers International Union, which says about 60% of service staff are people of color and two-thirds are women.
“If we want to build power in those who are perceived to have the least power, we need to create space for our people with that identity to lead,” Verrett told The Associated Press.
But while progress has been made in women-dominated industries when it comes to diversity in union leadership, unions in male-dominated fields like construction and manufacturing “still have a long way to go,” said Emily Twarog, a labor historian at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. Despite some progress through DEI and apprenticeship programs“there wasn’t that kind of cultural change.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, men still have higher rates of union membership than women – 10.5% versus 9.5%, respectively. And sexual harassment and workplace bias are still rampant in lots of places, including in the case of Lisa Lujano of Chicago, an experienced carpenter and member of Local 13 of the Carpenters Union.
She said the situation could improve if more black and Latina women held leadership positions in unions and were more aware of the needs of their membership, including protective equipment tailored to women’s bodies and parental leave, which Lujano doesn’t have.
“I think we would get more respect on the field,” she said.
Here’s the impact women union leaders have had on the negotiating table:
Education
In recent years, teachers unions have begun to make use of their collective power to push for comprehensive advantages to assist the surrounding community, using a way often known as “bargaining for the common good,” which goals to transcend wages and advantages at the bargaining table and address broader issues social problems. For example, the Chicago Teachers Union was included demand for inexpensive housing across the city during the 2019 strike – organized partially by then-Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, now president of CTU.
Some teachers unions are also fighting for racial justice, including United Teachers Los Angeles, which has demanded that the school district stop subjecting students to random metal detector tests and checking lockers for no reason, denouncing the practice as disproportionately targeting black and minority students.
“We must address the inequities built into every social system in this country that determine whether our students come to school ready to learn every day,” Pringle said. “It was our women leaders, especially our women leaders of color, who really bought into this.”
Hospitality
Unionized hotel staff like Maria Mata, have made progress in the fight against rampant sexual harassment of their occupation.
Mata, a Latina housekeeper and UNITE Here union leader in W San Francisco, helped lead a successful campaign at her hotel in 2018 to equip employees with emergency buttons to call security for assist in an emergency. currently implemented by several large hotel chains.
“We needed more protection,” especially during night shifts once we spent cleansing entire floors alone, explained Mata, who herself twice experienced sexual harassment at work. “It’s very dangerous.”
It’s also necessary that women doing this work even have a seat at the negotiating table, “because sometimes as women we need something that men don’t know about,” said Mata, whose hotel is currently negotiating a brand new contract.
Stewardesses
Keturah Johnson in 2022 became the first queer woman of color to function vice chairman of the international flight attendants union AFA-CWA, led by Sara Nelson and representing more than 50,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines.
People often consider a flight attendant as a “white woman with her hair in a bun,” and Black flight attendants often face microaggressions from managers about their appearance, Johnson said. “This has happened to me many times because of my natural hair.”
Johnson said it is vital for female flight attendants who are gender non-conforming to have the option to wear a uniform that reflects their gender identity. That’s why she’s leading the fight to update uniform standards to be gender-inclusive and allow natural hairstyles, which has led to changes at several airlines.
According to AFA, for instance, United Airlines updated its uniform standards to incorporate gender-neutral options in 2021, and Alaska Airlines management adopted gender-neutral uniform and appearance standards in 2022. In 2021, Frontier allowed flight attendants to have natural hairstyles, and this yr introduced uniform pricing on all uniforms no matter size and gender.
“We’re not only there to serve Diet Coke. That’s why it’s our job to be sure that flight attendants are represented and seen for who they are,” Johnson said. “The world has modified now.
Lifestyle
What is GiveTuesday? The annual day of giving is approaching
Since it began as a hashtag in 2012, Giving on Tuesdaythe Tuesday after Thanksgiving, became one of the largest collection days yr for non-profit organizations within the USA
GivingTuesday estimates that the GivingTuesday initiative will raise $3.1 billion for charities in 2022 and 2023.
This yr, GivingTuesday falls on December 3.
How did GivingTuesday start?
The hashtag #GivingTuesday began as a project of the 92nd Street Y in New York City in 2012 and have become an independent organization in 2020. It has grown right into a worldwide network of local organizations that promote giving of their communities, often on various dates which have local significance. like a vacation.
Today, the nonprofit organization GivingTuesday also brings together researchers working on topics related to on a regular basis giving. This too collects data from a big selection of sources comparable to payment processors, crowdfunding sites, worker transfer software and offering institutions donor really helpful fundstype of charity account.
What is the aim of GivingTuesday?
The hashtag has been began promote generosity and this nonprofit organization continues to advertise giving within the fullest sense of the word.
For nonprofits, the goal of GivingTuesday is to boost money and have interaction supporters. Many individuals are aware of the flood of email and mail appeals that coincide on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Essentially all major U.S. nonprofits will host fundraising campaigns, and plenty of smaller, local groups will participate as well.
Nonprofit organizations don’t have to be affiliated with GivingTuesday in any method to run a fundraising campaign. They can just do it, although GivingTuesday provides graphics and advice. In this manner, it stays a grassroots endeavor during which groups and donors participate as they please.
Was GivingTuesday a hit?
It will depend on the way you measure success, but it surely has definitely gone far beyond initial efforts to advertise giving on social media. The day has change into an everlasting and well-known event that focuses on charitable giving, volunteerism and civic participation within the U.S. and all over the world.
For years, GivingTuesday has been a serious fundraising goal for nonprofits, with many looking for to arrange pooled donations from major donors and leverage their network of supporters to contribute. This is the start year-end fundraising peakas nonprofits strive to fulfill their budget goals for next yr.
GivingTuesday giving in 2022 and 2023 totaled $3.1 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2021. While that is loads to boost in a single day, the trend last yr was flat and with fewer donorswhich, in accordance with the organization, is a disturbing signal.
Lifestyle
BlaQue Community Cares is organizing a cash crowd for serious food
QNS reports that Queens, New York-based nonprofit BlaQue Community Cares is making an effort to assist raise awareness of Earnest Foods, an organic food market with the Cash Mob initiative.
The BlaQue Cash Mob program is a community-led event that goals to support local businesses, reminiscent of grocery stores in Jamaica, by encouraging shoppers to go to the shop and spend a certain quantity of cash, roughly $20. BlaQue founder Aleeia Abraham says cash drives are happening across New York City to extend support for local businesses. “I think it’s important to really encourage local shopping habits and strengthen the connections between residents and businesses and Black businesses, especially in Queens,” she said after hosting six events since 2021.
“We’ve been doing this for a while and we’ve found that it really helps the community discover new businesses that they may not have known existed.”
As a result, crowds increase sales and strengthen social bonds for independent businesses.
Earnest Foods opened in 2021 after recognizing the necessity for fresh produce in the world. As residents struggled to seek out fresh food, Abraham defines the shop as “an invaluable part of the southeast Queens community.” “There’s really nowhere to go in Queens, especially Black-owned businesses in Queens, to find something healthier to eat. We need to keep these businesses open,” she said.
“So someone just needs to make everyone aware that these companies exist and how to keep the dollars in our community. Organizing this cash crowd not only encourages people to buy, but also shows where our collective dollars stand, how it helps sustain businesses and directly serves and uplifts our community.”
The event will happen on November 24 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 123-01 Merrick Blvd in St. Albans. According to the shop’s co-owner, Earnest Flowers, he has partnered with several other Black-owned brands in the world to sell his products at the shop. Flowers is comfortable that his neighbors can come to his supermarket to purchase organic food and goods from local vendors like Celeste Sassine, owner of Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats.
At the grand opening three years ago which was visited by over 350 viewersSassine stated that the collaboration was “super, super, super exciting” to the purpose that the majority of the products were off the shelves inside hours.
Lifestyle
Keke Palmer Recalls the Key Advice Will Smith Gave Her as a Child: “It’s Hard to Be First”
Like many young people, actress Keke Palmer went through a phase wherein she clashed along with her parents. Recently in a performance at “Toast” podcast.Palmer revealed that fellow actor Will Smith helped her take care of the situation along with her family.
As a child star who has appeared on Nickelodeon and Disney productions, the “Akeelah and the Bee” actress explained how juggling fame has affected her and her family relationships — a lot in order that she admits she once considered emancipating herself from her parents.
Although her lawyer tried to get her into counseling, Palmer said it was Smith’s words that ultimately modified her mind.
“A couple of weeks go by, I’m on the set of ‘True Jackson, Vice President’ and I get a call from a very, very unknown number. And I said, “What? If it was strange, I would not answer,” she said, mentioning that she simply went back to work. Later, while retrieving her phone, Palmer received a voicemail from the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star.
“Hey Keke. This is Will. We’re here filming ‘The Karate Kid’ with (my son) Jaden and I just want to let you understand that I’ve talked (to your lawyer),’ Palmer continued, impersonating Smith. “He let me know every little thing you are going through and I need you to know that sometimes it’s hard to be the first, but you may do it. Just stay focused, love your loved ones and every little thing shall be high-quality.
Palmer remembers struggling as a child with the attention and fame that got here with climbing the ladder in the entertainment industry. While trying to adjust to the demands of her burgeoning profession, the actress recalls feeling that fame meant she would have to “throw (her) family away.”
“It’s something that happens when you leave and you can become a child artist, you can be the first person in your family to go to college, or you can be the first person in your family to get married,” Palmer said: explaining her feelings at that moment. “There are so many firsts that can happen as the generations of your family grow and evolve.”
Ultimately deciding not to undergo the emancipation process, Palmer emphasized the importance of getting a healthy community when navigating the entertainment industry.
“I think I’ve always felt like a lot of people, whether they’re big names or whether they’re my lawyers, have been a good community,” she added. “Also, my parents made sure I was around (people) who would encourage community rather than discord and separation.”
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