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Women Labor Leaders
Urged to Be a Force for Change

(This article first appeared in the January/February
2008 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Women in the labor movement must be a force for change, APWU President William Burrus told delegates to the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) convention in Las Vegas. “You must lead that change. It will not occur by itself. It won’t happen because it is time. It won’t happen because it needs to happen. It will happen because individuals will lend their back to the effort and make it happen. And you — members of CLUW — must lead that change.”

As the only international-union president to address the organization’s national convention in October, Burrus cautioned that without fresh leadership, “We in the labor movement are on the verge of becoming irrelevant in the economy of this country and as the voice of working people.”

The APWU leader told the representatives of dozens of unions that differences over the direction that unions should take had “splintered” the labor movement. “Our biggest difference is over the issue of what is most important: politics or organizing.” He made it clear that he believes politics is more important, because political action offers more opportunity for change.

At the APWU, Burrus said, he has tried to impress upon the membership the importance of change. “We need to be in a position to make fundamental changes to law. Without political change in this country, the labor movement is doomed in the foreseeable future as an effective force.”

“Anything that does not change, dies. And we in the labor movement cannot draw lines in the sand, put our backs up and say ‘no’ to change. We must find a way to change — to change to continue to be relevant to those individuals who depend upon us to represent their interests.”

“This is a transition that must occur,” he said. “Women must rise to positions of leadership in labor. People in the workplace must see that the individuals who represent their interests look like them, have the same aspirations that they have, face the same struggles they face.”

“The old axiom that ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it,’ does not apply in the year 2007,” Burrus said. “The question is: ‘Does it fit today?’ It’s not whether it’s broken, but whether it fits.”

Burrus and other speakers echoed many of the themes of the CLUW convention, at which delegates developed strategies designed to make a difference in the union movement and in the 2008 elections. Along with the time-honored focus of being active in get-out-the-vote campaigns, the CLUW membership will work to mobilize women so that they have a stronger presence among political-convention delegations this year.

Burrus said that there is “no greater force” in the labor movement than the emerging female leadership. They know what needs to be done “to make us relevant again to working people,” he said. “We represent individuals. It is our job as their leaders to mold them into effective forces to demand equal pay, equal rights, equal pay no matter the gender.”

The APWU president pointed with pride to the union’s delegation to the CLUW gathering. “We have had women who have emerged in our union with the leadership skills, the tools, the ingenuity and the energy to be elected in their own right,” he said. “We have never had to resort to appointments. Every one of these female representatives of the APWU has been elected in her own right.”

“Our causes are basic causes: Improved conditions for human beings. To make sure that they receive an opportunity from their employment to advance themselves. To be treated with dignity and respect.

“Women must assume their rightful place and join with their brothers in leadership positions at every level of the labor movement,” Burrus concluded. “We need your energy; we need your special touch. Sisters, we need you.”

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