Panel Discussions at SIUW
Just before I left for California I was introduced to the term “manel.” And I laughed. Then I was irritated because I realized then and there that I had been conditioned to hearing from all-male panels all the time - without a thought. It’s just the way things are. Argh. I remember thinking it was weird at the Canadian Library Association conference in June that the last panel, the main event, was all male speaking to a predominantly woman crowd at a conference where library work is mostly done by women. At union conventions and conferences the speakers are mostly men - at the CUPE BC convention earlier this year - the opening night was all men and convention chaired by men until late on the second day, in a convention hall that was full of mostly women delegates where our membership is close to 70% women.
I have never seen truer diversity than at this conference this week. The panels have been stacked with sisters from different races, sectors, unions, nationalities, languages, class, gender identities, sexual orientations, ages - all of these perspectives have made for richer learning. And they are all experts in their subjects! The women on our panels have been articulate, passionate, authentic, and true experts in their fields - there hasn’t been one panelist who has spoken just to hear the sound of their own voice. Each presenter had something to say and we listened.
Wednesday night’s plenary on negotiating women’s issues in the workplace took on issues like gender wage gaps, discrimination, sexual harassment, trans women survival and the rights of garment workers in LA. It featured the following femtors:
We started with the simple question of why it’s important for women to be in the labour movement. The general theme was pretty clear - our issues will never be at the table if we are not there to bring them forward. In order to ensure that this happens, we have to recognize that we are going to be role models for other women to come forward because they need to see themselves up there.
Irene told us something I didn’t know - when she was elected the first woman president of the BC Fed, in all her media interviews - no one asked WHY it took so long for that to happen.We are still hitting these milestones in our movement - it was only 3 years ago that Sister Stephanie Smith was elected the first woman president of the BCGEU and there are some affiliates where they still haven’t elected a woman as the senior ranking officer of their unions.
When we heard from Esperanza Fonseca, she spoke fiercely about how the trans community is slowly organizing into a class of their own. When we speak of workplace statistics of any type, there is no research on trans trends or data. Part of that is that they are merely struggling to survive - trans murders and suicides are underreported and big steps are still needed for society to consider the trans community as full persons.
One of the most interesting differences between Canada and the United States is the proliferation of workers centres in the USA. These centres are places where workers who are usually not in a union can go for employment advocacy, advice and even for legal services. These centres can be organized for ethnic communities (like the Black Workers Centre in LA) as well by profession.
Marissa Nuncio - the director of the Garment Workers Centre and labor lawyer has worked on this issue for about 15 years. She said something clear and simple - women belong in the labour movement because “we are here and we are working.” Sometimes the obvious needs to be said aloud. Another lawyer, Jennifer Reisch took it the next step and said quite bluntly - that women are important to the labour movement because we keep it honest and we need to assert ourselves at all tables - bargaining, legislative and electoral politics.
There are moments in my job where I know that I deal with certain issues because I am a woman. Members feel comfortable coming to me to express concerns about childcare, abuse in their relationships with men, issues about complications related to pregnancy, menopause, women’s health and in speaking with women all week, it was glad to know that I am not alone. Our members would not approach a male president in the same way (if at all) and that’s the practical impact of what having a woman involved in the union can have.
Yesterday afternoon’s plenary on racism across borders was a session I will take with me for the rest of my life. The speakers were:
Mexico - whew. While Mexican people have the right to organize, there really aren’t very many unions to choose from and most follow a CLAC type model where employers call the shots. Women in Mexico are subsidizing their paltry wages by crossing the border into the USA to sell their blood. Multinational corporations are barring workers from bargaining and organizing - making on average $35/week. Harassment and working conditions are extremely unsafe for women - the conditions so bad that I simply cannot imagine what it must be like. It renders me speechless.
And then the conversation around Black Lives Matter happened. For respect of the room and the women who were so generous to share their experiences, stories and questions that I won't go into great detail. It's important to acknowledge that there were tense moments and difficult emotions throughout the whole discussion.
The sisterhood can be a safe place for women to be and say what they need to say - love and compassion will always win. ALWAYS.
Sometimes it’s really hard to be an ally.
Sometimes it’s hard to not know what to do.
Sometimes it’s hard to sit back and listen.
But it will never be as hard as it is to experience the oppression the oppressed face every single day.
Listening is an act of solidarity. Giving space to the ones we are allies for is an act of solidarity even when we want people to know we are there for them.
It became very clear for me, that sometimes sitting back is the best form of solidarity I can show.
#SIUW2016
I have never seen truer diversity than at this conference this week. The panels have been stacked with sisters from different races, sectors, unions, nationalities, languages, class, gender identities, sexual orientations, ages - all of these perspectives have made for richer learning. And they are all experts in their subjects! The women on our panels have been articulate, passionate, authentic, and true experts in their fields - there hasn’t been one panelist who has spoken just to hear the sound of their own voice. Each presenter had something to say and we listened.
Wednesday night’s plenary on negotiating women’s issues in the workplace took on issues like gender wage gaps, discrimination, sexual harassment, trans women survival and the rights of garment workers in LA. It featured the following femtors:
- Esperanza Fonseca - Trans Worker Centre and Fight for $15
- Ryuko Kurita - Action Centre for Working Women (Japan)
- Irene Lanzinger - President, BC Federation of Labour
- Shawn McCloud - IBEW 18
- Marissa Nuncio - Garment Worker Centre
- Jennifer Reisch - Equal Rights Advocates
We started with the simple question of why it’s important for women to be in the labour movement. The general theme was pretty clear - our issues will never be at the table if we are not there to bring them forward. In order to ensure that this happens, we have to recognize that we are going to be role models for other women to come forward because they need to see themselves up there.
When we heard from Esperanza Fonseca, she spoke fiercely about how the trans community is slowly organizing into a class of their own. When we speak of workplace statistics of any type, there is no research on trans trends or data. Part of that is that they are merely struggling to survive - trans murders and suicides are underreported and big steps are still needed for society to consider the trans community as full persons.
One of the most interesting differences between Canada and the United States is the proliferation of workers centres in the USA. These centres are places where workers who are usually not in a union can go for employment advocacy, advice and even for legal services. These centres can be organized for ethnic communities (like the Black Workers Centre in LA) as well by profession.
Marissa Nuncio - the director of the Garment Workers Centre and labor lawyer has worked on this issue for about 15 years. She said something clear and simple - women belong in the labour movement because “we are here and we are working.” Sometimes the obvious needs to be said aloud. Another lawyer, Jennifer Reisch took it the next step and said quite bluntly - that women are important to the labour movement because we keep it honest and we need to assert ourselves at all tables - bargaining, legislative and electoral politics.
There are moments in my job where I know that I deal with certain issues because I am a woman. Members feel comfortable coming to me to express concerns about childcare, abuse in their relationships with men, issues about complications related to pregnancy, menopause, women’s health and in speaking with women all week, it was glad to know that I am not alone. Our members would not approach a male president in the same way (if at all) and that’s the practical impact of what having a woman involved in the union can have.
Yesterday afternoon’s plenary on racism across borders was a session I will take with me for the rest of my life. The speakers were:
- Marcelle - SAG-AFTRA
- Christine Griffin - Black Lives Matter and UNITE HERE
- Natasha Tony - IATSE 891 (and my friend and femtor)
- Deogracia Cornelio - UCLA, IRLE
- Julia Quinonez - Comite Fronterizo de Oberos/as
The sister from SAG-AFTRA spoke about the organizing campaign for the Telemundo workers who came under the NBC umbrella in 2002. Spanish media in the United States is the fastest growing media - and NBC is blocking those workers from their right to unionize. It’s important to note that the regular NBC workers are Union. These people are often here illegally or on temporary visas and that institutional racism is keeping these workers from being able to stay working under a union contract even when they are the ones making the profit for the company they are still precarious.
Mexico - whew. While Mexican people have the right to organize, there really aren’t very many unions to choose from and most follow a CLAC type model where employers call the shots. Women in Mexico are subsidizing their paltry wages by crossing the border into the USA to sell their blood. Multinational corporations are barring workers from bargaining and organizing - making on average $35/week. Harassment and working conditions are extremely unsafe for women - the conditions so bad that I simply cannot imagine what it must be like. It renders me speechless.
And then the conversation around Black Lives Matter happened. For respect of the room and the women who were so generous to share their experiences, stories and questions that I won't go into great detail. It's important to acknowledge that there were tense moments and difficult emotions throughout the whole discussion.
The sisterhood can be a safe place for women to be and say what they need to say - love and compassion will always win. ALWAYS.
Sometimes it’s really hard to be an ally.
Sometimes it’s hard to not know what to do.
Sometimes it’s hard to sit back and listen.
But it will never be as hard as it is to experience the oppression the oppressed face every single day.
Listening is an act of solidarity. Giving space to the ones we are allies for is an act of solidarity even when we want people to know we are there for them.
It became very clear for me, that sometimes sitting back is the best form of solidarity I can show.
#SIUW2016
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