October 2007
Workers Minority Caucus
Executive Committee. Please join us in welcoming both Brother Gary
Parker and Sister Charlotte White
to the Electrical Gary Parker is a journey level electrician and has worked in the
electrical industry for 8 years. He
is a member of IBEW LU 11. He is a
member of A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) and President of the local
chapter of EWMC. In February 2007,
he joined the staff of IBEW LU 11 as an Organizer. Charlotte White started in the labor movement 25 years ago as a
member of IBEW LU 15. She has served as Chief Steward for over
15 years. In 2000, she was hired as
a Temporary Organizer for the Sixth District. In 2002, she joined the staff of IBEW LU 15 as a Business
Representative / Organizer.
Charlotte is also an active member with APRI and the Coalition of
Black Trade Unionist (CBTU).
New Executive
Committee Members
Page 3
The idea behind the stewards army is
simple, but powerful: Create a movement-wide network of stewards—the union
official closest to the members, who works alongside the rank-and-file
members—to educate, organize and mobilize members around key issues. Unions
such as the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Electrical Workers
(IBEW), United Steelworkers (USW) and the International Federation of
Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) already have put the process
into motion with revamped steward training and mobilization. The stewards army includes both active union members
and retirees. Its action program will be directed sometimes at an employer
or workplace and other times will be focused more broadly on an industry
goal or even a national issue such as health care. Actions can range from sending
an e-mail message to participating in rallies, meeting with elected
officials and mobilizing thousands for mass action. Speaking
to the AFL-CIO last December, CWA President Larry Cohen, who chairs the
AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Organizing, laid out the case for
the stewards army:
APRI: An Effective Voice in Labor and the Community
By Charlotte White
AFL/CIO mobilizes
Steward Army
EWMC Officers and Members held an
IBEW Caucus at the conference where the topics of discussion were “EWMC’s
Mission Statement, Objectives, New
Strategies and Tactics, Resolution, and Voters Registration”.
`
The APRI 38th Annual
Conference was held on August 1st thru August 5th in
Oakland, California. A gracious and
warm welcome was given to all members by APRI President, Clayola Brown
along with an overview of the conference program. The schedule of events included a special screening of the
movie “Sicko” by Michael Moore and the HBO acclaimed movie “Life Support”
highlighting the impact of HIV/Aids in our communities. Informative
discussions on training track topics included “Obesity”, “Heart Disease”
and “Diabetes”. Workshops were held
on “Sickle Cell Anemia”, “HPV/Cervical Cancer”, “Grief Management: Mental
Health”, “Media Messaging”, “Making the Most of Your Health Plan”, and the
“Importance of Supplemental Benefits”.
EWMC Officers and Members held an IBEW Caucus at the conference
where the topics of discussion were “EWMC’s Mission Statement, Objectives,
New Strategies and Tactics, Resolution, and Voters Registration”. The Caucus also discussed IBEW President
Ed Hill’s Report on the April 2nd, 2007 Meeting with the EWMC
Board Members, which was given by Carolyn Williams, Director of Human
Services for the IBEW. All APRI
Members enjoyed a very gratifying and informative conference and returned
to their locals with a wealth of knowledge to share. “Being a
steward can no longer mean, as
important as it is, that I know the contract, that I’ll protect the
rights of my fellow workers, that I’ll handle a grievance, that I’ll help
lead a contract fight. We need a stewards’ army in every union…so we’re
there for each other’s fights…so we can talk to each other quickly and turn
out hundreds of thousands of people. So that corporate management knows at
every company in this country, in every organizing fight, in every strike,
in every bargaining fight, the stewards’ army will be there”. Page 4
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