Every year, the United Association for Labor Education (UALE) sponsors a Northeast Regional Summer School for Union Women Leaders. This year, the UALE summer school/conference took place at Cornell from July 20th through July 25th. Cortland UUP Delegate Michelle Kelly sent information about the school to the statewide UUP officers, suggesting that a UUP delegation would be appropriate. (Photo, left to right: Michelle Kelly, Jen Drake, Anne Wiegard and Colleen Kattau)
As it turned out, three of the four members of UUP’s delegation were from Cortland: Michelle Kelly, Jen Drake, and Anne Wiegard. The fourth UUP representative was Lori Nash from the Oswego chapter. Another UUP member from Cortland, Colleen Kattau, participated during the final two days of the five-day session, playing her guitar and singing with Bev Grant, a longtime activist and songwriter. Music was an integral part of the entire program. Howard Botwinick, also from Cortland, attended the multi-media labor history presentation on the final night of the summer school, at which Jen Drake and Anne Wiegard performed speaking parts.
The UALE Summer School attracted women from many different unions across the region, from K-12 and higher education to transit workers, day care providers, auto workers, food service employees, county, city and municipal employees, etc.. Each student had pre-selected the “courses” (workshops) she wished to attend: one that lasted four days and two workshops that lasted two days. Everyone was enrolled in a “Leadership Skills” workshop that spanned five days. There were several plenary sessions during which all the students had the opportunity to interact.
The UUP participants noted that being able to network directly with women in leadership positions in other unions was perhaps the most valuable aspect of the experience. Any woman who is interested in exploring her potential as a union leader would definitely benefit from attending next year. UALE also functions as a clearinghouse for information about all sorts of continuing educational opportunities in the field of labor, from one-day workshops to full-blown graduate programs.
To learn more about the summer school offerings from UALE, visit this website: http://uale.org/womens-schools/upcomingcurrent-classes
