Diversity Forum Sparks Talk About Change at the AFL-CIO Convention
Sunday, September 8, 2013
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Building a labor movement
that is inclusive to young workers, people of color and the LGBT community is
more than just holding a meeting or attending a conference, said Tahir Duckett,
national young worker coordinator at the AFL-CIO, at a pre-conference diversity
summit Sunday morning at the AFL-CIO 2013 Convention. "We're organizers," said
Duckett. "We have to ask young workers to get more involved...it was someone
investing time and taking interest in (young worker leaders) that encouraged
more involvement in their union." More than 1,200 participants buzzed with
earnest conversations on the topic of diversity in the labor movement at this
packed conference. The table-top discussions from participants after leadership
speeches and a panel discussion focused on figuring out why the labor movement
has not become more diverse and involved at the community level, and then it
shifted to a discussion about how to change. “It’s about power,” said a
young labor leader from New York. “The same people who struggled and fought to
break down the door are blocking the door!” A table near the back of the room
had everybody laughing, and another table of mostly young Latinos and Latinas
talked about the problem of boring procedural rules for union meetings and how
it’s important for every meeting to have something to draw in new people and
to make them feel welcome. Excerpted from a longer
report on the
AFL-CIO Now blog. For more updates from the diversity conference follow the
hashtag #1uDiversity on Twitter.
- Robert
Struckman; AFL-CIO Now blog