The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is a nonpartisan organization within the union movement that can boast three decades dedicated to improving the participation and influence of women in labor unions and society.

That’s why longtime UUP activist and Executive Board member Lorna Arrington is encouraging members to sign up for this politically influential and ambitious organization, which represents members from 60 international and national unions across the U.S. and Canada.

“United together, women are more empowered to address their issues,” said Arrington, an associate professor of math at the University of Buffalo’s Educational Opportunity Center. “CLUW provides the means to make inroads and to take the lead in effecting change.”

Arrington said CLUW tackles the issues that affect working women — pay equity, balancing work and family needs, affirmative action and job discrimination — and finds a way for women to have a stronger voice in leading the labor movement.

“Women receive 77 cents for every dollar a man earns,” noted Arrington, a decade-long member of CLUW’s National Executive Board and an elected delegate through UUP’s national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). “CLUW is a good vehicle for addressing this inequity.” She also notes that CLUW provides a “forum for encouraging women to become union leaders” and to try their hands at political offices within their communities.

Reaching out

“It’s easy to support an organization that focuses on issues concerning women and families,” Arrington added.

And support it she has. Over the years, Arrington has recruited dozens of union colleagues into CLUW’s ranks, but few as devoted as Tina Maria Manning and Lydia Johnson, both of Stony Brook HSC. The trio — all UUP delegates — often set up shop at UUP’s Delegate Assemblies, hoping to recruit and educate their peers about the benefits of CLUW membership.

“I want UUPers to know that CLUW is part of the labor movement and, because of tireless efforts, the coalition is making a mark on the bigger picture,” said Manning, UUP’s liaison to CLUW and a member of the coalition’s national Women’s Health Issues and Affirmative Action committees.

As co-chair of CLUW’s Convention Rules Committee, Arrington knows next month’s biennial convention in Las Vegas will include deliberations on important current issues that affect the lives of working women and all workers.

“There are no easy solutions to the issues facing women and working families, but by coming together, sharing ideas and networking with others throughout the trade union movement, we keep the conversation alive and make progress possible,” said CLUW Corresponding Secretary Cheryl Eastburn.

How to join

UUPers interested in becoming CLUW members should fill out an application form at http://www.cluw.org/ and mail it along with their checks, payable to CLUW, to Connie Cordovilla, American Federation of Teachers, 555 New Jersey Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001. The AFT will forward the applications to the national CLUW office.

Members of the coalition receive CLUW News, a quarterly newsletter providing information on workplace trends and legislative alerts on issues critical to women.

For more information, contact CLUW by phone at (202) 508-6969, by e-mail at getinfo@cluw.org, online at http://www.cluw.org/ or by mail at 815 16th Street NW, Second Floor South, Washington, DC 20006.

— Karen L. Mattison