LABOR EDUCATION FOR WOMEN WORKERS

Labor Education for Women Workers

EDITED BY

Barbara Mayer Wertheimer

Temple University Press

PHILADELPHIA

Temple University Press

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania   19122

www.temple.edu/tempress

Copyright © 1981 by Temple University—Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education

First published 1981. Reissued 2018.

All material in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 United States License unless otherwise noted. A copy of this license is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

ISBN 9781439918036 (paperback); ISBN 9781439918043 (ebook)

The publication of this volume in a freely accessible digital format has been made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through their Humanities Open Book Program.

Cover image based on “Clock mechanism gears and cogs close up.” Copyright © Andreykuzmin | Dreamstime.com

Foreword to the Reissued Edition

By Sheri Davis-Faulkner

Labor Education for Women Workers was published in 1981, a year that marked a significant shift in labor-movement history. When Barbara Wertheimer, working with a team of leading labor educators, published this essential text, it raised awareness of the importance of creating space for women workers to have solid labor education. They also identified a major gap in the literature on labor education and filled it with an accessible yet scholarly guide. This happened to be the first year of Ronald Reagan’s first term as president. His administration broke the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike and signaled the beginnings of an ensuing backlash against progressive social movements and a shift towards regressive policies. These included deregulation of the financial sector, the war on drugs and rise in mass incarceration, and attacks on the social safety net. At a moment when worker education efforts were growing, becoming institutionalized, and turning towards inclusion, the labor movement was essentially forced to go on the defensive.

Similar to 1981, Labor Education’s reissue comes during yet another a tumultuous shift in the nation’s landscape. Barack Obama, the first African American president in U.S. history, completed his second term in office in 2016 and the nation seemed to be on course to elect Hillary Clinton, the first viable woman candidate in the nation’s history. In a shocking turn of events an openly anti-woman, anti-Black, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-intellectual corporate boss now occupies the Oval Office. On Inauguration Day, women of color called for and led the largest global women’s march in history. Just before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Janus v. American Federation of State, Municipal, and County Employees case, women workers and trade unionists took to the streets for the National Working People’s Day of Action to protest a ruling that would severely restrict the ability of public-sector unions to collect dues from union members. Needless to say, when more than half of states now have right to work laws, the labor movement is still in a defensive position. But some argue the best defense is a good offense—a blueprint.

In preparation for a post-Janus era, many public-sector unions are focusing on internal organizing, and worker education is key for effective organizing strategies. Unions are also broadening their scope of bargaining to include community and racial justice demands, essentially bargaining for the common good of communities. Over the years, labor educators have published numerous manuals, journal articles, and reports, but Labor Education is unique in that Wertheimer compiles a collection of essays and organizes them into a blueprint for thoughtful programming design. Each chapter attends to a key step in planning and implementing programs that are designed with women workers as the target audience. From recruitment and funding strategies, to selecting relevant materials, to determining the length of your gathering—this text offers research and experiential anecdotes on the opportunities and challenges of each step, grounded in deep knowledge of the structure and culture of labor institutions.

Due to shrinkage in overall union density and the simultaneous increase of women, especially women of color, organizing to join unions, women now make up nearly half of union membership. More women have been elected to leadership positions in national unions and associations in the public and private sectors. There has also been an emergence of women of color leading new forms of worker justice and economic justice networks, such as the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Jobs with Justice, and The National Black Worker Center Project. Four of the five leaders of the United Association of Labor Educators (UALE), as well as the International Federation of Workers’ Education Association (IFWEA), are women.

There have been efforts to institutionalize and broaden women’s labor education and leadership development. The Union Women’s Summer School and the Coalition of Labor Union Women are in their 42nd and 43rd year, respectively. The AFL-CIO hosts the Women’s Global Leadership program in conjunction with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. AFSCME convenes a Women’s Leadership Academy for their members and USWA maintains a national network of Women of Steel chapters that support women in the building trades. However, women’s programs are often underfunded and understaffed and have to rely on grant funding to sustain themselves.

In an effort to bring attention to women’s leadership in labor, the Berger-Marks Foundation offered support for women unionists and leaders through training, mentoring programs, and guides designed for younger women unionists. Created to honor the life and legacy of trade unionist Edna Berger, the foundation sought to recognize and amplify women’s contributions to labor. As a co-director of WILL Empower (Women Innovating Labor Leadership), a women’s leadership initiative funded by the Berger-Marks Foundation, I am a beneficiary of this investment in women’s labor education, but much more is required to make the transformations needed for gender-inclusive and race-conscious worker justice movements.

The number of women labor leaders and labor educators is growing, and this is a critical moment for rethinking the possibilities of labor education for women workers. There are new means of doing labor education using technical platforms for webinars and videoconferencing tools that reach beyond classrooms. There are advances in popular and adult education that focus on developing whole, healthy worker leaders by incorporating healing practices and building self-confidence, in addition to focusing on skills building. Given the injustices women, particularly women of color, face in their everyday lives, labor educators must constantly revamp their curricula to speak to the needs of formerly incarcerated, immigrant/undocumented, monolingual/multilingual, disabled, and generally undereducated current and aspiring women workers.

New media and changes within traditional media industries are also changing the way that we organize, mobilize, and message our campaigns. There are new movements emerging in the streets, the public sphere, and through social media, for example, the Twitterverse. Women are taking on age-old fights such as sexual harassment, sexual assault in the workplace, and gender-based state violence through hashtag campaigns like #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #SayHerName.

New generations bring about new forms of resistance and organizing, but there is no substitute for coming together in women-only spaces to share expertise and challenges with one another and to strategize targeted methods for improving worker-justice organizations and the world of work for women. Barbara Wertheimer provided us with a foundational text that should be read widely to further the resistance in this moment. As labor educators continue working to build a more inclusive and progressive labor movement, we must not lose sight of the work, like that captured in Labor Education, that has been done and done well. At the same time, it is imperative that we continue to expand this body of literature.

SHERI DAVIS-FAULKNER is the WILL Empower Co-Director, Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, at the School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University.

Contributors

MIMI ABRAMOVITZ, M.S.W., is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, and a doctoral candidate at Columbia University School of Social Work. During 1976–1977 she conducted the research for Cornell’s Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work that examined barriers to the use of tuition assistance programs, leading to the book-length report published by the Institute, Where Are the Women?

WILLIAM ADELMAN is Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, Chicago Labor Education Program of the University of Illinois. As a faculty member of the university since 1966, he has written and produced several films and slide presentations dealing with labor history and current problems in the work place. He is author of Touring Pullman, Haymarket Revisited, and Pilsen and the West Side. These books, which are walking tours of historic labor sites, have been used widely by labor unions and women’s organizations.

SUSAN VAIL BERRESFORD is Program Officer in charge of the Ford Foundation’s Expanded Women’s Program. As former Program Officer in the Foundation’s National Affairs Division, she was responsible for program development, management, and evaluation of grants totaling three million dollars per year, made to organizations concerned with women’s employment and training, child care, abortion rights, sex education, teenage pregnancy, and sex-discrimination legislation. Her prior experience in the Human Resources Administration of New York City was in youth and adult employment programs.

JANET BERTINUSON is Associate Director of the University of California-Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program. This provides educational and technical assistance on occupational health and safety to workers and their organizations. Before joining LOHP in 1975, she was Health and Safety Associate with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union. She has co-authored manuals and slide shows for apprentice workers and the documentary film on women’s occupational health, Working for Your Life. She has an M.S. degree in Environmental Health.

GLORIA BUSMAN is Coordinator, Center for Labor Research and Education, Institute of Industrial Relations, UCLA. Prior to joining the Labor Center she was for thirteen years a staff representative of the National AFL-CIO’s Los Angeles/Orange Counties Organizing Committee. Active in the Coalition of Labor Union Women since its inception, she is Regional Vice President, and chairs the CLUW organizing task force. Her publications include Union Representatives’ Guide to the NLRB, and co-authorship of Understanding Unions in the Public Sector, both published by the UCLA Institute of Industrial Relations.

ALICE H. COOK, Professor Emerita of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, was for many years a teacher, administrator, and author in the field of labor education. She has written extensively on the labor movements of Sweden, Germany, Austria, Japan, and the United States, and has taught trade union history, structure, and function at Cornell. She has just completed, with Val R. Lorwin and Roberta Till-Retz, a book on women and trade unions in four European countries.

WALTER G. DAVIS, Director of the Department of Community Service Activities, AFL-CIO, was until 1980 Director of its Department of Education. A former Executive Vice President of the United Transport Service Employees of America, he has served as Deputy Executive Director of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and as Assistant Director of the Civil Rights Department of the AFL-CIO. He has a B.S. degree from Columbia University and a degree from Brooklyn Law School.

LYN GOLDFARB is Director, Labor and Public Policy Program, Virginia State AFL-CIO. A filmmaker, she co-produced With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade. Formerly associated with the Program on Women and Work, Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan, she also is co-editor of the Autobiography of Hilda Worthington Smith, long-time Director of the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers.

LOIS S. GRAY, Associate Dean and Director of Extension and Public Service, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, is the former National President of the University Labor Education Association. Author of numerous articles and monographs on labor education, she serves as consultant to many unions and universities in this field.

ALICE M. HOFFMAN, Associate Professor, Department of Labor Studies, Pennsylvania State University, has been interested in using oral history as a teaching tool with worker students for many years. She became involved with oral history first as an important supplement to the written record in preserving the history of the United Steelworkers of America, whose archives were deposited at Perm State in 1966. An active member of the Oral History Association since its inception, she served as President of the Association in 1976.

ANDREA M. HRICKO, a consultant and speaker on occupational health problems, lives in Washington, D.C. While associated with the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California-Berkeley, she co-authored a handbook entitled Working for Your Life: A Woman’s Guide to Job Health Problems, and co-produced and directed the documentary film Working for Your Life.

GLORIA T. JOHNSON is Director of Education and Women’s Activities for the International Union of Electrical Workers, a post she has held since 1972. She has worked for the IUE in a variety of positions over the past twenty-five years, in the accounting, collective bargaining, and research departments. She is National Treasurer of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and much in demand as a speaker with labor and community groups across the country.

ODESSA KOMER, Vice President of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), came up through the ranks, starting with her job at Ford Motor Company in 1953. A member of Local 228, she was the first woman elected to each position she held in the local. Her first staff appointment came as Education Director, Region 1, in 1967. She was elected International Vice President in 1974.

CONNIE KOPELOV, labor educator, most recently headed the national education department of District 1199, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees. For many years prior to that she served as associate Education Director of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. She teaches and writes on women in labor history, and has been active with the Coalition of Labor Union Women since its founding.

HY KORNBLUH has co-directed the Labor Studies Center of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, the University of Michigan-Wayne State University, for twenty years. Prior to that he served on the education staffs of two international unions, and of the CIO and later the AFL-CIO. He is the author of numerous articles on labor education for blue-collar workers. Currently he chairs the Task Force on Employee Participation in decision-Making of the University and College Labor Education Association (UCLEA).

JOYCE L. KORNBLUH, since 1973 Director of the Program on Women and Work at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, the University of Michigan-Wayne State University, also heads a national oral history project on older women leaders in the U.S. labor movement. She is editor of Rebel Voices: An IWW Anthology, and co-editor of Poverty in America and Negroes and Jobs. Currently she is working on a history of education programs for working women in this country.

DONNA MOBLEY is Executive Director of Common Cause of Texas. While associated with Trade Union Women’s Studies, a program of the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, Cornell University, she developed courses in political training for union women. She has served as a national education representative of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and as an organizer for the Office and Professional Employees International Union.

ANNE H. NELSON is co-director of the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, and directs Education for Equal Opportunity, the institute’s statewide program focused on the career mobility of public and corporate white-collar workers. Among her books and articles are The One World of Working Women (U.S. Department of Labor, 1979) and Trade Union Women: A Study of Their Participation in New York City Locals (with Barbara M. Wertheimer, Praeger, 1975). She is President of the University and College Labor Education Association.

MARJORIE B. RACHLIN, Senior Staff Associate at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, has been a labor educator all her working life and a feminist for the last decade. She has worked on the education staffs of the Textile Workers Union of America and of the International Association of Machinists. Active on the University and College Labor Education Association’s Committee on Programs for Union Women, she works to develop and expand labor education activities and opportunities for trade union women.

LAWRENCE ROGIN, Adjunct Senior Staff Associate, George Meany Center for Labor Studies, has been in union education for almost half a century. He has held education posts with the Reading, Pennsylvania, Federated Trades Council, the American Federation of Hosiery Workers, the Textile Workers Union of America, and, as Director of Education, with the AFL-CIO. He has served on the faculty of Brookwood, a resident labor school, and is former Director of Labor Programs of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan-Wayne State University.

STANLEY ROSEN, Coordinator, Chicago Labor Education Program, and Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois, has worked for the last twenty-five years in labor education. He has served at Rutgers University and with the Textile Workers Union of America, as well as at the University of Illinois. One of his special interests is the evaluation process, in which he has most recently been involved as administrator of a CETA Hispanic Training Grant.

FRIEDA SHOENBERG ROZEN, Instructor in Labor Studies, Pennsylvania State University, teaches undergraduates as well as working adults and coordinates Penn State’s conferences and field services for labor unions in the state. She began program recruiting, about which she writes, as a group worker in community centers more than thirty years ago. Her research interests center on the role of women and minorities in unions.

MARIA-LUZ D. SAMPER, Assistant Professor at the Labor Education Center, University of Connecticut, is both labor educator and researcher at the Center. She chairs the Committee on Programs for Union Women of the University and College Labor Education Association, and has developed the evaluation used at the Northeastern Summer Schools for Union Women over the past five years.

KATHERINE SCHRIER has been Associate Administrator of the District Council 37 Education Fund (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) since 1978. Prior to this appointment she worked in DC 37’s education department and for the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, as a labor extension specialist.

ROCHELLE SEMEL, coordinator of Trade Union Women’s Studies for the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, Cornell University, for the past three years, has been an instructor in the program from its inception in 1974. In 1979 she developed a Writing Center for the Metropolitan District’s labor studies students and trained workers as peer tutors for the program. Most recently she has developed a college credit course for working adults in labor journalism for the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

ROBERTA TILL-RETZ, Program Consultant, Labor Center, University of Iowa, is an historian who has written on turn-of-the-century Austrian trade unions and women. The research project on which her chapter is based, particularly her friendship with Alice H. Cook, led her to retrain in mid-life for work in labor education.

IDA TORRES, Vice President of the United Storeworkers, Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, heads the local that negotiates for and solves the grievances of workers in Bloomingdale’s, New York. She rose from the ranks, starting as a bookkeeper, and recently has earned her B.A. degree in labor studies. She is a member of the adjunct faculty of the Extension Division, Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, teaching union organization and administration and grievance handling.

JAMES WALLIHAN, Coordinator and Associate Professor of Labor Studies, Division of Labor Studies, Indiana University, has developed and taught labor education programs since joining the Indiana University staff in 1974. He began his work experience as a supermarket boxboy, joining the California Retail Clerks union in 1957. As a paperhandler in Chicago he served in several local posts with the former pressmen’s union. His publications include manuals on grievance representation, collective bargaining, and labor politics, journal articles, and a forthcoming book on union structures and government, to be published by the George Meany Center for Labor Studies.

BARBARA M. WERTHEIMER, Associate Professor, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, directs the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work. She has a lifetime of experience in labor education, starting in 1946 with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Author of books and articles, among them We Were There: The Story of Working Women in America (Pantheon, 1977), she serves on numerous advisory boards and committees, is a Commissioner of the National Commission on Working Women, is a member of the editorial board of Labor History, and was a founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women.

Preface

By WALTER G. DAVIS

Women workers in unions are a growing force in society. The leadership potential of union women can make the difference not only in the maintenance of a strong labor movement and the protection of the interests of all workers, but in determining how much and how fast the labor movement will grow. Already there are more than 44 million women workers, but only some 7 million belong to labor unions or associations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, the rate of women entering the labor force has already exceeded that of men.

Recognizing that increased participation of workers, particularly women workers, in their trade unions and in organizing efforts, is key to building the labor movement, unions have put new priority on strengthening their ranks and supporting the development of education programs that will facilitate this effort. Moreover, there is a heightened awareness that, until recently, women workers have not been represented in proportion to their numbers as union members among those taking part in labor education programs.

The AFL-CIO’s Department of Education, for example, provides films on labor and women’s issues, and educational materials that we supply on such subjects as the Equal Rights Amendment, women and the work force, child care, and pregnancy disability, to name a few, for use in university extension programs and in education conferences at the state, regional, and national levels. The department also extends its cooperation to the summer schools for union women, sponsored by the University and College Labor Education Association’s Committee on Programs for Union Women.

Labor education is expanding to meet the challenges and new demands of workers in a complex society. New problems face men and women in their unions, on the job, and as citizens involved in the political fabric of their communities.

Increasingly, unions are demonstrating through their education programs that they are concerned with issues that affect the quality of life of members and their families. It is also reflected in their legislative and collective bargaining activities. For example, these may be the impact of stress, of environmental and job-related hazards, or the need for child care. It is important to us to sensitize all stewards to the nature of grievances rooted in job discrimination.

Unions understand the need for coping skills to facilitate adaptation to rapid change. Equally important, the labor movement seeks to strengthen the abilities of men and women to take part in decision making at all levels of society.

For a long time, university labor extension programs have been partners in our efforts. It is no surprise that, together, we have developed innovative programs in the education of union and other working women. Labor Education for Women Workers pulls together a rich sample of these programs, illustrating not only subjects that lend themselves to such efforts, but methods that have been successful and materials that are useful. In addition, we keep abreast of the sources of funding experimental efforts, because neither unions nor universities always have the resources in this era of tightened budgets and rising costs.

I am therefore pleased that educators interested in adults as workers as well as students will have this useful resource to draw on.

Foreword

By LOIS S. GRAY

The long and illustrious history of workers’ education in the United States is missing from the voluminous body of literature associated with the field of education. Education for working adults, including working women, is not new, dating back at least one hundred years and having had a significant impact on American labor history in general as well as adult education methodology in particular. For example, education programs for working women played a decisive role in the evolution of protective labor laws early in this century, while a high proportion of students at one of the early labor schools became organizers and leaders of the new Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Throughout its history, workers’ education has been closely linked to social action. Nonetheless, neither written records nor analyses nor evaluations are readily available. Worker educators tend to be doers rather than writers—too busy organizing, planning, and teaching to communicate the what, how, and why of their profession. Labor Education for Women Workers, written by leading labor educators who are all current activists in the education of working women, is one of the rare exceptions. In its examination of an evolving body of knowledge and blueprinting of ideas and techniques this volume meets an important need.

Workers’ education, generally defined as education for working adults in relation to their organizations, encompasses a wide variety of functions reflecting both individual and organizational goals. Individual enrichment has been achieved both through remedial programs designed to help adults “catch up” on what they missed in the formal educational system, and cultural courses that contribute to life enjoyment and understanding. The dominant organizational goal of workers’ education has been union building through orientation, indoctrination, heightened ideological commitment, or, more generally, leadership training. Programming for working women, the focus of this book, brings all of these together, combining individual fulfillment (for example, confidence building) with organizational participation in labor and women’s organizations.

Particularly with its outreach to women, workers’ education has registered major growth in recent years. Its future is promising. In the early years, workers’ education was provided mostly by “friends of labor,” social, religious, or political organizations committed to improving the life of working people through building a better society. Currently, unions and universities are the major labor education suppliers. Union-sponsored education, for many years a tertiary activity, took a major leap forward with the establishment of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, a year-round leadership training program sponsored by the AFL-CIO for its affiliated unions. Many national unions have increased their budgets for education. A notable example is the United Automobile Workers, whose Family Education Center involves union members and their families in a residential program of union and political education. University and college-sponsored programs for workers also are on the rise, reflecting the general upward trend in adult education. While universities have been involved in workers’ education for more than fifty years, the growth has been notable since World War II. The latest arrivals on the scene are community colleges, which have recently discovered labor unions as a new constituency congenial to the natural interest of these schools in occupational and community education. Under the leadership of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, their outreach has been through initiatives to new groups of worker students that link apprenticeship training and associate degree credits.

Most programs of workers’ education have been and continue to be non-credit, dealing with subjects closely related to work and union interests and conducted on an informal basis. Participatory teaching methods and action orientation are the key characteristics. Credit and degree programs in the field of labor studies are a new but growing trend and are currently offered by seventy-five colleges and universities.

What influences this demand for college credit programs in labor studies? First, technological changes have transformed this country’s labor force from blue collar to predominately white collar; second, rising levels of education and income make credit and degree work possible; and, third, new constituencies of union membership, particularly in the public sector, find job advancement as well as union leadership skills linked to college credit course work.

On the supply side, credit and degree programs for working adults have been encouraged by, first, the availability of financing from union-negotiated educational benefit plans, and, second, the pressure on higher education to offset the demographically projected decline in traditional college-age enrollments.

Working women, long underrepresented in workers’ education activities, recently have been increasing their share. As they enter the work force in growing numbers and aspire to leadership roles in the union and the community, women seek educational opportunities that reinforce their struggle for equality.

This growth in activity in the labor education field has resulted in a shortage of experienced professionals to carry it on. Limited funding forces universities and unions to rely heavily on part-time instructors, many of whom often need “retooling” for adult teaching. A national workers’ education center for curriculum and materials development that would provide an established sequence of instructor training has been a long-time dream of many of us in this field.

Labor Education for Women Workers is an important first step in meeting the needs of a profession enjoying a renaissance today and for which the future is bright.

LABOR EDUCATION FOR WOMEN WORKERS

Introduction

By BARBARA M. WERTHEIMER

Not so very long ago, 90 percent of all Americans went to no school at all. From the opening of the first public high school in 1821, to our highly credentialed society where, in 1975, an estimated 17 million men and women participated in adult education activities,¹ took just under 150 years. This is nothing short of revolutionary. In 1972, for the first time, approximately one half of all students in post-secondary educational institutions were there on a part-time basis. More than 75 percent of these students are in the work force.²

This single fact determines the interests and needs of the student population that adult and worker educators serve. Not suprisingly, most adult students seek education related to jobs, to job advancement, and, where they are union workers, education that will develop their abilities as volunteer leaders or full-time staff.

Today, responding to the growing needs of worker students, some 42 colleges and universities in as many states are members of the University and College Labor Education Association (UCLEA). They have a full-time labor education staff and labor-based advisory committees, and they conduct labor education programs for unions and employee associations. A growing number of universities and colleges have applications pending or are preparing to join this association. In addition, many community colleges now are entering the field, planning to reach working adults with a variety of programs.

As the traditional 18–22 year-old student population continues to shrink, as it is expected to do through the 1980s, efforts to offer courses to the adult student are growing. These programs will supplement the education that many unions and employee associations provide their members, and will offer degree opportunities that the unions themselves cannot supply. The future of workers’ education is bright.

It is timely, then, to share some of the newest developments in the field both with practitioners and with those seeking to serve the working adult. This book should serve as an aid to program planners and also help to ensure that the needs and interests of the workers offered this increasing array of programs are met. It has been many years since a book on methods, techniques, and programming in workers’ education in America has appeared. The last was A. A. Liveright’s Union Leadership Training, in 1951, while Theodore Brameld’s Workers’ Education in the U. S., an account by practitioners of problems and some tested solutions, was published ten years earlier.

The terms workers’ education and labor education are used interchangeably in this volume, according to the definition that we are adopting from the classic survey of programs in the field, Labor Education in the United States (1968), by Lawrence Rogin and Marjorie Rachlin: “That branch of adult education that attempts to meet workers’ education needs and interests as these arise out of participation in unions.” Labor education has evolved, mainly in this century, as education directed toward action, focused on increasing the effectiveness of workers in their unions, on providing a clearer understanding of how society operates and how workers can use their potential power within it. Its further aim is to promote individual development. It is utilitarian and pragmatic.³

The principles that guide workers’ education, however, also apply to adult education, because they are rooted in how adults learn. Students must participate in the learning process and make use (preferably immediate) of the material learned. Cognitive and psychomotor activities—thinking and doing—are joined. The kind of group and the purpose of the program determine the approach to subject matter, the methods and techniques selected. What is most essential to the student? How can it be dramatized, brought into sharpest focus? Whether the teacher chooses to involve the student through speaking, writing, reporting, analyzing, through use of case studies, games, or role plays, it is with the purpose of bringing the student into the learning process.⁴

While workers’ education is more widespread today than ever before, it is also fragmented. There has never been a national or comprehensive rubric under which it has operated, as Rogin and Rachlin point out. This may be a strength. The door is always open to innovation, experimentation, and the flexibility to meet new needs. Thus today we find programs that provide college credits and even degrees in labor studies, a somewhat new development, alongside traditional short courses, conferences, and week-long residential schools on core subjects like shop steward training, as well as on broader issues relating to economics, health and safety, and energy problems. Unions, universities, community colleges, and institutions like libraries and Y’s are joined in providing worker education by new groups: associations of women office workers, apprentice training agencies, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the National Commission on Working Women, to name a few.

One of the most recent developments, a product of the 1970s for the most part, is education for labor union and other working women. That is the focus of this book.

The Need for Programs for Working Women

Women employed outside the home constitute the fastest-growing potential student group for adult and workers’ education. Today they number more than 44 million; three out of every five new jobs are filled by women workers. It is estimated that between 1975 and 1990 women will make up 54 percent of the civilian labor force increase, if Bureau of Labor Statistics projections are correct.⁵ Inflation and economic necessity continue to bring women to the work force.

Not only are women continuing to come into the work force in unprecedented numbers; they are staying longer. The average stay is close to 25 years, but women who support themselves or their families have the same 45-year stay as men. Nor is this longer period unusual: the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor reports that the number of families headed by women has increased by 73 percent since 1960.

However, women still enter the work force at the lowest wage and skill levels, jobs that offer the least upward mobility. This is the job ghetto, the traditional area of “women’s work,” which is in part responsible for the fact that women earn, for year-round full-time work, an average of only 60 percent of what men earn.

The jobs women hold are in the least unionized occupations. Perhaps six and one-half million women are members of labor unions or associations. Within the labor movement, women make up 27 percent of all union members, although only about 7 percent of the top appointed or elected jobs in national unions are held by women—and these are more likely to be appointed rather than elected positions.⁶

The 1980s will continue as a period of increasing women’s participation in the work force, but with a difference. Many of the women there will not be new entrants. They will have been there for a while, and will be pressing for upward mobility on the job and, where they are union members, in the unions as well. For women locked into dull, routine jobs with little chance to move up, the union offers an opportunity for self-expression. Talents and abilities stifled at the work place can be put to work in union activity. Education for effective use of these talents will be increasingly important. In fact, it already is.

During the ’70s, the women’s movement grew as part of the experience of labor union women. One result is the popularity among women of education programs that put them in touch with other working women and help them develop and practice the skills and self-confidence needed to increase their participation in their unions. Their motivation is high.

Labor educators and others who program for working women are aware that the women who come to their classes are there despite great obstacles: they hold full-time jobs plus the traditional second job of most women—home and family. They are active in their unions, and often in other organizations like their churches. One of my favorite anecdotes is of a teacher in Cornell’s Trade Union Women’s Studies who asked her class: “How do you do all the things you do? How do you manage? Something’s got to give—what is it?” And she learned that what “gave” was sleep—the women in her class got between four and six hours of sleep a night.

What women workers need—and are willing to sacrifice to get—is “catch up” education. Their off-work hours, when they were young, were devoted to children and family; men tend to have more time to begin their union involvement. By the time women are more free of home responsibilities, their male peers are well advanced into union leadership roles. Women need the chance, in a secure and supportive atmosphere, among women with similar experiences, to learn and to practice the leadership skills they will need, as well as to discuss and analyze union structures and how they work.

Barriers to Women’s Participation in Education

The barriers that come between women and their desire for education and skill training fall into three main categories.

Personal. Often it is a question of how women view themselves. They lack self-confidence. They know their study skills are rusty, that they haven’t been in the classroom for many years. Sometimes they do not rate themselves as important enough to spend the time or the money on something that they view as just for them. Or they are too tired, or may have to wage a constant battle with disapproving husbands. Perhaps home responsibilities are too heavy. Transportation is a problem for many. Courses may be at inconvenient times or locations.

Economic. The cost, not only of the courses, but also of child care, may be too high. Tuition refunds may not be available where they work, or they may not know of their availability. If it is a labor education program, the union may not be willing to pick up course fees in all cases.

Institutional. Not all educational institutions know how to recruit women workers, where to reach them. Or the program may not provide a supportive atmosphere, and the women will be intimidated and not return. Are there women teachers in the programs? They are important role models. Women should be among the teaching staffs for regular course offerings as well (and they should be better represented on labor advisory committees). Course materials should be not only sex-neutral, but for women’s programs should also build self-confidence and a sense of competency, and pride in what working women and women in unions have accomplished in the past and are doing today. Institutions should examine their procedures to free them of red tape. Student services, including counseling, should be available at convenient times and locations. Courses must be relevant, directed to the concerns of women as workers. Where necessary, teacher-orientation sessions may be necessary to familiarize teachers with the most useful methods and techniques for relating to working women.

For too long, labor education and evening adult programs have held second-class status at most colleges. To change this, program directors and deans must be willing to fight for the budgets that labor education programs deserve.

Why This Book?

Seven years ago there were only occasional, sporadic programs for union and other working women. Today these are an accepted part of workers’ education and a legitimate part of university labor programming. This is in part due to programs initiated by Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, initially with the support of the Ford Foundation, later joined by several other foundations, and to the dedication of a growing number of university and union labor educators around the country, many of whom have written of their programs for this book.

When we began the Cornell program in 1972, there were few materials suitable for labor education for union women. We wrote our own and made them as widely available as we could. Today there are books on working women’s history, pamphlets from the Women’s Bureau and other organizations, and a range of materials developed by union and university educators. This is not enough, but it is a healthy beginning.

It is important to pull together in one volume some of the fine work that has been done recently to develop working women’s education as a viable part of the labor education field, for it is making important and unique contributions in program design and method. To do this, I have invited women and men who have been working in the field and have contributed to the development of education for women workers to share what they have been doing. They represent eleven different universities, six labor union organizations, and one foundation.

The writers underscore what we know about education for adults, particularly workers: that it is a craft and an art that is transferable, from one subject area to another, from one kind of group to another. Labor educators are flexible and ingenious; they take basic forms and they create and innovate. They know how to reach students, grab their interest, find a spark and fan it into a flame of excitement over learning.

It is my hope that readers of this book will visualize not only how the methods, materials, and subject matter have been used by the writers, but also ways that these can be extrapolated, adapted, turned to useful purpose in a wide variety of programs. For they would be equally at home in adult and continuing education, in such organizations as Y’s and community and women’s groups, in church educational activities and political education, and in other areas where adults are involved in combining their leisure and their desire for education.

This book represents an opportunity, too, to share my own philosophy of adult and worker education. The field has absorbed my energy and thought since I was twenty years old. At that time, so very young and wet behind the ears, I went with my husband, Val—we were an organizing team with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America—to the coal hills of Pennsylvania. It was there that we produced our first workers’ education “publication,” a slim brochure cranked out on a hand mimeo machine. It had a blue cover, I remember, on which appeared the words “Welcome to Your Union.” Pants workers whom we had just seen through a six-week strike (our first), a National Labor Relations Board election (our first), and a union contract (our first), were on the receiving end of this homespun informational bulletin . . . and we thought it was beautiful!

It’s not too far from there to here. The years that I have spent directing a union’s education program, then developing community leadership training for the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, confirmed for me the extent to which workers’ education methods and techniques are transferable. Since 1966 I have been a part of Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, designing and testing programs and materials for working adults—and, for the past eight years, primarily for women workers.

I have found that those of us in labor education, always pressed to do more than can be done in a twenty-four-hour day, have learned never to do anything for one reason alone. If we develop a workshop, we try to design it for portability around our state, so it can be run more than once. When we hold conferences, wherever possible we try to prepare summaries, both to share the ideas that emerge and to encourage replication elsewhere. We keep endless files of course materials to whip out and send to colleagues who write us for help. Labor educators visiting from out of town are pressed to observe our classes, give us feedback and suggestions, and serve as resources.

With each new area of programming that I have explored, I have tried to leave a “how to do it” handbook or manual behind to ensure the possibility of replication, before I moved on to another specialty within the field. Other labor educators have done the same.

One of our great needs in this profession is for a resource center and clearinghouse for the materials that are churned out daily in programs across the country. At the moment there is no practical way to share these as fully as we would like. Imagine how creative each of us could be if we didn’t have to re-invent the wheel each time, if we could sometimes just adjust someone else’s wheel to fit our wagon, and benefit from the immense talent out there.

This book is intended to do this in a small measure. The programs, methods and techniques described in the chapters that follow have been tested with the student population—working women—for which they were designed. But with maximum replicability in mind, contributors have taken a “how to do it” approach.

Each contributor is mindful that working women have been absent from or, at best, underrepresented in classrooms in the past. The success of programs for union women seems to indicate that women do want and need the chance to study for a time within a supportive environment and with other women, the major reason for offering programs especially for them.

The authors also know, and state, the importance of integrating information and materials on working women into ongoing labor education. In standard labor history texts, in steward training manuals, wherever the labor educator looks, women’s role usually is missing. It is hoped that this book will serve a special purpose in raising the awareness of educators to the many areas where working women’s needs, concerns, and contributions can be included as a regular, accepted part of course curricula and readings.

In the coming decades, women will comprise close to half the work force. They will make further, major strides toward equality—on the job, in the union, in political and community life, and in their families. Adult and workers’ education can help them, sometimes immeasurably, on their way.

I am aware that this book is merely a beginning in presenting labor education program ideas and designs. There are labor educators whose ideas and programs are not included in this volume, some because, in spite of our best efforts, our network remains incomplete and we do not know of their work, but mainly because of space limitations. Some initial chapters planned for the volume had to be dropped because we sought a sense of unity and they did not quite fit. I regret all the omissions.

Some important, exciting new program areas had to be left for a future book: programs for women facing retirement, for example; or those that help women deal with job stress and family pressures, or with sexual harassment on the job, or with building support groups for women entering non-traditional occupations. There are a growing number of union programs sponsored by women’s departments in major labor organizations that are making notable contributions to the field, and these should be included in any future volume.

In editing this book I have had nothing but cooperation and the warmest understanding from the contributors, for which I am deeply grateful. Others, behind the scenes, are colleagues and friends without whom I could not have managed. I particularly want to thank Erna Dacres, Administrative Aide to the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, who has helped in countless ways and always with encouragement, love, and kindness. Fanny Ninzatti, also an Administrative Aide with the Institute, has been unusually helpful. The staff I work with every day, some of whom have prepared chapters for this volume, have through their warm interest and evidence of caring contributed more to me than they can ever know. My children, Ellen, David, and now Mark, have helped me in ways for which I shall be grateful always.

Michael Ames at Temple University Press has made the production end of this book a pleasant experience.

Dr. Jacob Kaufman, Metropolitan District Director of the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, has been constant with his friendly support. My close associate and friend, Anne H. Nelson, with whom I have worked since 1972 to build programs for women workers, once again has shared with me, as she always does, her wisdom and her patience, two of her many strong suits.

In introducing a book on labor education, I want to take the opportunity to pay special tribute to someone whose understanding and support have gone far beyond the preparation of this volume. Lois S. Gray, Associate Dean and Director of Extension and Public Service, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, is one of the strongest endorsers of innovation in workers’ education. She is a leader in the field who has done more than anyone I know to provide for many of us the freedom to explore new dimensions that makes working in this profession exciting and fulfilling.

Even with the generous help that I have received, errors will appear; they are my responsibility alone. All these notwithstanding, it is my deepest hope that this book will prove useful.

NOTES

1. Education for Employment, Task Force on Education and Employment of the National Academy of Educators, March 1979, p. 125.

2. National Advisory Council on Extension and Continuing Education, Equity of Access, Continuing Education and the Part-Time Student, 9th Annual Report, March 1975, pp. 14, 15.

3. Lawrence Rogin and Marjorie Rachlin, Labor Education in the United States (Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Labor Education, Sept. 1968), p.l.

4. For a more detailed discussion of adult learning, see Barton Morgan, Glen Holmes, and Clarence Bundy, Methods in Adult Education (Danville, 111.: Interstate, 1976), pp. 20–24.

5. As discussed in Task Force, Education for Employment, March 1979, p. 26.

6. U.S. Department of Labor, Directory of National Unions and Employee Associations (Washington, D.C.: Bulletin 1937, 1977), pp. 105–10.

PART I

DESIGNING PROGRAMS

A remarkable group of women educators and reformers laid the foundation for labor education as we know it today. Thus Labor Education for Women Workers opens with an historical review of their contributions, the pilot programs they developed to meet the needs of women wage earners from the early years of the twentieth century to the eve of World War II. Their innovations in curriculum design and methodology, plus their use of labor advisory committees, are still considered basic to labor education program efforts. In an age that seeks to learn about its roots, these are roots that labor and adult educators will recognize as their own.

Yet in spite of these beginnings, women remain underrepresented in most labor education programs, in part because they are underrepresented in leadership and are not always recruited when conferences, workshops, and courses are offered. Reaching them is not always easy, but Chapter 2 suggests some ways program planners can accommodate the scheduling needs of working women and can utilize communications channels to recruit them. The author is sensitive to the fact that even today programs on or for union women may be viewed as threatening, discusses this, and offers constructive suggestions to deal with the problem.

Five kinds of program structures are discussed in as many chapters, constituting a “how to” blueprint for the adult and workers’ education specialist. Each chapter deals with one framework within which to set programs for union women: short courses tailored to particular student interests and needs; day-long conferences that bring together women from a wide geographic area; long-term programs that focus on special training needs, in this instance a case study of flight attendants who sought union administration skills; evening college credit programs for union women that include a progression of paired courses in labor studies and leadership training; and week-long schools for union women that provide a shared residential experience.

Part I concludes with a description of the uses and methodology of program evaluation. This chapter demonstrates how evaluation has evolved from “informal” to “formative” and how it is utilized with increasing effectiveness at the Northeastern Regional Summer Schools for Union Women, held annually since 1976. A strong case is made for labor education in particular, and adult education in general, to develop wider and more effective use of evaluation as a tool in program design.

CHAPTER 1

Labor Education and Women Workers: An Historical Perspective

By JOYCE L. KORNBLUH and LYN GOLDFARB

“When I had to stop school at thirteen to go into the factory, I felt as though a door had been slammed in my face. Now I see that the door is a crack open and I can see through to a beautiful country beyond.”¹ These words, written more than fifty years ago by a young student at the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, capture the significance of educational opportunity for working-class women in the twentieth century. Established in 1921, the Bryn Mawr Summer School was one of a number of education programs designed to meet the intellectual, economic, and social needs of working women and to train them for more effective workplace and community activism. The programs were unique, reflecting the collaborative efforts of women educators, social reformers, feminists, YWCA staff members, and wealthy alumnae of “blue stocking” women’s colleges, along with representatives of unions and the worker-students themselves. They aimed to give working women a total intellectual and cultural experience through which they could develop skills for analyzing, evaluating, and appreciating American society as well as their own ethnic and work backgrounds. Many women trade union leaders and their allies participated in these interdisciplinary, humanistic approaches to education, either as students, planners, or teachers of the early women’s summer schools and workers’ education classes.

The programs reflected their optimism that educated women workers could help rid society of social evils, bring about democracy in the work place, and contribute more knowledgeably on social issues in their communities. In philosophy and pedagogy, many of these programs were the forerunners of adult and labor education activities today.

Workers’ Education for Women: The Early Years

Even in the first trade unions, workers’ education was perceived as an important aspect of union work. Yet only a handful of unions actually sponsored workers’ education programs. In the early years, the unions and work-place organizations that demonstrated a commitment to education were those with predominantly female memberships. Women mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, wrote and published the first women’s newspaper, The Lowell Offering. Sponsored by the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association (organized in 1846), an Industrial Lyceum offered programs on working conditions and issues for social reform at regular public meetings, at social gatherings, and through an education committee that established a library and reading rooms for the women textile workers. In 1850, tailoresses in the Industrial Union of Philadelphia, an organization of female garment workers, initiated a series of meetings on the labor question to involve and educate their members, perhaps one of the first experiments in workers’ education in the United States.

Workers’ education in the United States had its roots in the European labor movement. In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the influx of European socialists and union activists into the U.S. labor movement encouraged union-sponsored classes and discussion groups on economic and social problems. By the early 1900s, two predominantly female unions—the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America—set up liberal arts and humanities classes for their east coast members. In 1913, members of the women’s local of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union initiated a number of recreation and education activities to provide for the “intellectual and emotional life of the workers.” This program became the first of many “Unity Centers” organized by the ILGWU for its membership.

These early experiments were followed by programs in other ILGWU locals, and in 1916 a convention resolution mandated a union-wide education program; a committee was to allocate funds to hire an education director and set up courses in economics, trade unionism, labor problems, American history, women in industry, literature, and psychology. Short-term workers’ education programs were held at Unity Centers throughout New York City, while the ILGWU itself created the more extensive Workers’ University. The next year, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers and the United Cloth Cap and Hat Makers’ Union—both with many women members—started workers’ classes, lectures at union meetings, concerts, theater parties, cultural festivals, and trips to museums.²

Although these activities were coeducational, women were their mainstay in the early years. The classes and cultural events were important contributions toward organizing women workers and integrating them into the labor movement. “On the whole,” wrote Theresa Wolfson in 1926, “the extent of participation in the educational work of women members of the union is extraordinary considering their limited activity in actual union business.”³

The National Women’s Trade Union League

The successful organizing and educational activities of the National Women’s Trade Union League encouraged a reexamination of the importance of the woman trade unionist and the need for organizing women workers. The WTUL, founded in Great Britain in 1874, organized a U.S. branch in 1903. In its first ten years in this country the League provided financial support, publicity, and staff assistance to women’s organizing drives and strikes in a variety of industries. In 1909, the NWTUL played a significant role in supporting and publicizing the shirtwaist makers’ strike—the Uprising of the Twenty Thousand—and the issues raised by the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire two years later.

The organizing skills demonstrated by NWTUL activists were in high demand. While education courses and programs had been offered by local league chapters for several years, NWTUL leaders recognized the importance of offering more extensive training for rank and file women unionists. In 1913, the NWTUL established the Chicago-based Training School for Active Workers in the Labor Movement. It was the first full-time national labor program in the United States and one of the first leadership training programs for adults. In its thirteen years, the program involved forty-four women from seventeen trades. Thirty-two remained active in the labor movement throughout their lives.

Participants were selected based on previous activism within their unions; their expenses were covered through scholarships. They enrolled in college-level courses at Chicago universities and were tutored to compensate for their lack of formal education. Course work included economics, history, and labor problems. In addition to the academic work load, participants took NWTUL classes in public speaking, drafting trade union agreements, running meetings, union administration, English, bookkeeping, and typing. As part of their on-the-job training, they participated in union meetings and organizing campaigns.

The Training School for Active Workers was one of the League’s many educational projects, which included lectures and classes, pamphlets and curriculum materials, leaflets and labor fiction. The NWTUL requested that unions set aside one hour each month for educational purposes. The League’s newspaper, Life and Labor, was an important source of current work place and legislative information.

Young Women’s Christian Association

The welfare of self-supporting young women had been a major objective of the Young Women’s Christian Association since its founding in 1858. Boardinghouses for working girls, employment bureaus, libraries, and classes in typing and other job-related skills were included in their early work. Staff members conducted their industrial extension program through talks and lectures during noontime factory visits and, by the early twentieth century, encouraged women workers to organize self-governing groups to plan education and recreation activities for noontimes and evenings. Concern for women’s working conditions committed the National YWCA to set up an Industrial Department, which helped local Y’s to plan classes and programs on social issues and to lobby for labor legislation. Y staff around the country worked closely with unions, the Women’s Trade Union League, the Consumer’s League, the American Association for Labor Legislation, settlement houses, and other organizations concerned with labor problems.

YWCA Industrial Department staff, frequently from middle-class, college-educated backgrounds, became members of the WTUL; joint programs were developed in many areas. The Y contributed funds to the WTUL to help its training program for women workers.

Throughout the next three decades, this close cooperation continued between the Industrial Department of the YWCA and the labor movement. Year-round industrial girls’ clubs and summer industrial conferences focused on working conditions, trade unionism, labor and social legislation, and leadership training. The Industrial Department of the Y branches recruited and financed students for all of the residential schools for women workers. Classes at the summer programs were frequently taught by YWCA Industrial Department staff, who also served on the planning committees for the residential schools and the year-round community workers’ education councils.

Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers

Among the early developments in the field of workers’ education, the resident schools for women workers made outstanding contributions in their philosophy, format, curricula, and techniques.

The Bryn Mawr Summer School was the first long-term summer education program for women workers and one of the first residential workers’ schools in the United States. In 1916, the National Women’s Trade Union League convention urged women’s colleges to make their campuses available to working women during the summer months. Four years later, impelled by the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and inspired by her visit to workers’ education programs in Britain, Bryn Mawr College president M. Carey Thomas created an eight-week session at Bryn Mawr. She put it this way:

I . . . saw . . . that the coming of equal opportunity for the manual workers of the world might be hastened by utilizing the deep sympathy that women now feel for one another. The peculiar kind of sympathy that binds women together seems to come only to those who have not been free. It belongs at the present time to all women because of their age-long struggle, which is not yet over, for human rights and personal civil liberty.⁴

Organized in 1921 under the leadership of Hilda Smith, a Bryn Mawr graduate who was director of the program, the Bryn Mawr Summer School met on the college’s campus in the Philadelphia suburbs for eight weeks each summer. Until 1937, when the Depression seriously impaired fundraising for scholarship support, about a hundred women enrolled each session. Most came from the needle trades and textile mills and had been recruited from or by YWCA industrial clubs, NWTUL, and garment unions in eastern cities. Full scholarships were offered to those who had worked at least three years in industry and who had at least a sixth-grade education. Many of the students were from immigrant families; a few came from European countries each summer and beginning in 1927, at the students’ request, black women were recruited. Many of the women came from unorganized industries. A special effort was made during the 1930’s to recruit students from specially selected areas such as the Pennsylvania anthracite region, where union organizing campaigns were in progress.

Year-round committees in 75 communities selected applicants, raised scholarship money, and worked with summer school graduates to follow up with winter classes and education programs. Bryn Mawr alumnae helped support the school financially and served on selection committees. Bryn Mawr undergraduates helped tutor students during the summer program. Leaders of the WTUL and YWCA, officers in government agencies, union education staff, and women union leaders served on the community committees and taught or tutored during the summer terms.

Summer school students were grouped into units of fifteen to twenty women staffed by three teachers. Courses included economics, history, speech, composition, literature, and science. Each unit developed its own progression of study. The students’ own work and experiences were utilized to develop an integrated curriculum focusing on a central economic theme relevant to their lives. Discussion, audiovisual techniques, and student involvement and participation were encouraged. Creative and innovative teaching methods helped make the BMSS a unique experience. In addition to the classes, the women participated in a full program of extracurricular activites: field trips to factories, mines, and museums; writing for a magazine that they published two or three times each summer; running their own cooperative store on campus. Other special events included study hikes, picnic suppers, special forums, and Sunday evening concerts.

School events marked the progress of the summer and became annual traditions: the International Peace Festival on July 24, where students in hand-made costumes danced and sang the music of their native countries; the Trade Party, where students dramatized the work of their industries through songs and skits; and the final Lantern Ceremony, held each year in the campus cloisters at dusk around a symbolic “altar of wisdom” where the women sang and marched with lighted candles to carry on the light of the education they had gained.

Back in their communities, former students helped set up evening and Saturday classes for working women and worked on the community committees to recruit and raise funds so that other women from their unions, work place organizations, and communities could attend the school.

Expansion of Residential Programs

The model of the Bryn Mawr Summer School prompted the initiation of a series of summer residential programs for women workers. The University of California Labor Extension opened soon after Bryn Mawr’s Summer School, followed in 1924 by the University of Wisconsin, working in cooperation with the Madison YWCA. In 1927, graduates of the BMSS, aided by progressive southern educators and community leaders, started a southern summer school. That year, Barnard College in New York City proposed that its classrooms be used for a non-resident summer school and asked Hilda Smith to help organize it. Former instructors and tutors from the BMSS taught from twenty-five to forty-five students each summer in a full program of daytime classes that paralleled the Bryn Mawr curriculum.

In 1929, after two years of planning and fundraising, an eight-month resident program was started for the graduates of the other summer schools, utilizing Hilda Smith’s large family house on twenty acres of land on the Hudson River, about two hours from New York City. For the next four years the Vineyard Shore School, as it was known, drew classes of fourteen, sixteen, twenty-four, and thirty young women who studied economics, science, history, and English, did their own housework, discussed labor problems, and carried on more advanced and independent work than was possible at the two-month summer schools. Organized by the teachers and former students at the Bryn Mawr Summer School and administered by Ernestine Friedmann together with a joint committee of college and worker representatives, the Vineyard Shore School also provided in its general curriculum for the training of teachers for workers’ classes.

By 1931, Depression-related financial problems forced the school to shorten its term to four months, then two months, combining in the summer of 1932 with the Barnard Summer School, which was also scraping the bottom of its treasury. Although students and staff made desperate efforts to save the school through various fundraising activities, including selling school-made grape jam and wooden stools to nearby educational institutions and restaurants, in 1932 both the Barnard Summer School and the Vineyard Shore were forced to close for lack of funds.

Wisconsin Summer School for Women Workers in Industry

During this period, the movement of summer schools for women workers began to extend throughout the country. The Wisconsin School for Women Workers in Industry became the first resident program on the campus of a state-supported university. Impetus for the program emanated from the Industrial Department of the Madison YWCA. This active chapter had organized evening discussions on labor problems for college students and working women, and in 1924 had experimented unsuccessfully with sponsoring eight women workers to attend regular summer classes at the university. In 1925, forty women workers from nine midwestern states were recruited by YWCA industrial departments to take part in the first eight-week residential program planned for women workers by a committee of university faculty, YWCA staff, and university students connected with the Y’s.

The school melded a progressive, “inspirational” ideology with a traditional, conservative approach. There were no labor members on the planning committee, and the program used no labor-problem orientation or workers’ education techniques. The women workers lived in dorms and co-op houses alongside students enrolled in the university’s regular summer session. Classes in literature, composition, and drama took on a feminine role perspective with extracurricular sessions in beauty culture, lectures on “what is a lady,” and the proper way to set tables and serve food for sitdown dinners. Recruited largely by the Y’s, the women came from non-unionized industries. There was little positive response or financial support from the labor movement in the state, which saw little reason to raise money to send non-union women to a university summer program. Much of the funding was raised by the Y’s from members of women’s business and professional clubs, who assumed, as a 1942 report stated, that the working girls would enjoy a pleasant vacation from the monotony of labor and would return to their work breathing “sweetness and light.” Their financial backing cooled when the club women found that the women workers returned to their jobs eager to turn “‘sweetness and light’ into practical service in and for the labor movement.”⁵

In order to solicit organized labor’s sanction and financial support, YWCA leaders, representatives of the Wisconsin Federation of Labor, and the staff of the Milwaukee Workers’ College met to form a coeducational School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin. Alice Shoemaker, a YWCA Industrial Department secretary with teaching experience at the Bryn Mawr Summer School, was hired as the first executive secretary. The new school, financially supported almost entirely by the unions, emphasized steward training, collective bargaining, and union administration, along with courses in labor history, economics, and politics, conducting one- and two-week on-campus sessions. Courses on women in industry were eliminated. Nearly all of the students attending after 1928 were union members. Most of them were men.

Southern Summer School

The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was established in 1927, again by graduates from the Bryn Mawr Summer School program together with southern Y leaders, progressive educators, and community leaders. Directed by Louise McLaren, its goal was to give working women a clearer understanding of politics and the economic system; it emphasized collective responsibility for social change rather than individual growth. Founders aimed to train women leaders for an insurgent southern labor movement and to give them an understanding of the processes that would help to bring about industrial democracy.

Most of the young women came from textile mills, cigarette factories, laundries, and telephone companies. Young and eager, they were a more homogeneous group than the students in other summer residential programs. Although the administrators of the school stressed the identical interests of black and white workers and ran short-term classes for black workers in many southern communities, they reluctantly acquiesced to the segregated mores of southern communities in setting up the program. As one visitor to the school said of the participants, “They are 100 percent American, almost 100 percent Protestant, and about 200 percent exploited.”⁶

The models for the school were Brookwood Labor College, the Bryn Mawr Summer School, and the workers’ education programs of the garment worker unions. Funds for the first year came from the American Fund for Public Service, administered by former I WW activist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Facilities for the first eight-week session were provided at Sweet Briar College in Virginia and each year, for the next fifteen years, the Southern Summer School rented facilities on different college campuses. A typical summer curriculum would include economics, labor problems, problems of white-collar workers, southern labor, cooperative movements and labor movements in other countries, parliamentary procedure, labor legislation, and current events.

Among the founders and faculty of the Southern Summer School were graduates of women’s colleges in the south and New England who had been trained in the social sciences. Many had worked with the YWCA and were committed to using education as a means for social change.

By the mid-thirties, CIO organizing campaigns in southern mining, textile, and garment industries spurred the number of students who were union members, and by 1935, 80 percent of Southern Summer School participants came from southern locals. Financial support and scholarship money increased as newly formed unions realized their need for workers schooled in parliamentary procedure, effective speaking, labor history, and economics. Support from southern middle-class women’s groups decreased, however, as the south faced an increasingly militant trade union movement. Most southern communities were hostile to aggressive labor organization. After 1935, the school became increasingly dependent on the labor movement for funding. Although the staff still stressed the importance of organizing and educating women workers, the school under union pressure began admitting men in 1938.

By the early forties, as unions established their own education programs and the residential education program for workers lost participants, the Southern Summer School changed its focus. Renamed the Southern School for Workers, its director Brownie Lee Jones and her staff began running literacy classes for black workers and organizing voter registration drives and campaigns to eliminate the poll tax. Lack of funds led to the school’s disbanding in 1950.

For many of the 300 women who had attended the Southern School during its fifteen-year existence, the experience had been their first step out of a mill town or mining village, a chance to share some social space with other working women and sympathetic faculty, and a means to self-confidence and some tools for community and union participation. In 1928, Grace Mills, a telephone operator, wrote, “I consider the school has great value in what it will mean to the South in the future,” and cotton mill weaver Eula McGowan added, “What the Southern Summer School did for me mostly was to make me think. I couldn’t get a complete education in six weeks but I got a good beginning.”⁷

The Affiliated Schools for Workers

In order to avoid duplicating recruiting and fundraising efforts, the joint administrative committee of the Bryn Mawr Summer School created in 1927 a coordinating agency with clearinghouse functions for the residential programs for women workers. Four programs were associated with the Affiliated Schools: the Bryn Mawr Summer School, the Wisconsin Summer School for Women in Industry, the Southern Summer School for Women Workers, and, after 1933, the Summer School for Office Workers. In addition to heading the Bryn Mawr School, Hilda Smith served as director; and in 1929, Eleanor Coit, a YWCA Industrial Department staff member, was hired to head the organization’s new education department. The Affiliated Schools coordinated publicity and community contacts, prepared students for the summer programs, improved teaching materials and methods, and helped students set up classes in their communities when they returned. In addition, its staff conducted special studies on the industrial background of women at the schools and their follow-up activities.

When the Vineyard Shore School and the Barnard Summer School closed in 1932 for lack of funds, Hilda Smith applied for federal money to continue those programs and to help finance the other residential schools that were financially disabled. Although federal aid to these schools did not materialize, Miss Smith was offered the job of establishing a national workers’ education program under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Challenged by this opportunity to expand workers’ education, she resigned from the directorships of the Bryn Mawr Summer School and the Affiliated Schools and moved to Washington. Eleanor Coit became Affiliated Schools’ new director. Within a few years, it had expanded its services beyond its member programs to an educational service for any workers’ group setting up courses and conferences. It carried on continuous work with the Women’s Trade Union League, labor schools, the Y’s college groups, and many community organizations. In 1939, the agency changed its name to the American Labor Education Service.

Summer School for Office Workers

By the thirties, the impact of the Depression and the deterioration of the status of workers led to an increased awareness of the common bonds between industrial and white-collar workers. Until 1933, the primary focus of workers’ education had been industrial. In that year, the Affiliated Schools for Workers responded to the growing crisis in clerical work by establishing a labor education program aimed at developing union and class consciousness and training union activists among office workers.

The Summer School for Office Workers offered a two-to-four week residential program for union and non-union clericals. It was interracial and coeducational, although most participants were women. Courses in economics, collective bargaining, labor history, corporate organization, social ethics, labor literature, drama, and music encouraged solidarity with the labor movement. In addition to the summer institutes, weekend conferences on such subjects as “The Place of the White-Collar Worker in the Labor Movement” were offered.

Held at different midwest campuses (the first at Oberlin College), the school operated under the direction of a national committee of former workers’ education students, trade union members, faculty, and representatives of the Affiliated Schools for Workers. This group received support from white-collar and office worker unions and associations and organizations such as the Y’s, the Urban League, the National Women’s Trade Union League, the League for Industrial Democracy, and the Socialist Party. In later years, the school was held at Sarah Lawrence College near New York City.

In 1939, the Bryn Mawr Summer School left the Bryn Mawr campus and was reestablished as the Hudson Shore Labor School at Hilda Smith’s home, where earlier the Vineyard Shore School had taken place. Now a seven-week summer session, it attracted approximately sixty women industrial workers each year, while shorter institutes also were conducted for and financed by various unions. The training course for union education leaders that Hudson Shore established before its closing in 1951 later continued at Rutgers University.

Schools and Camps for Unemployed Women

Meanwhile, in an attempt to meet the challenge of the Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration had established the Federal Emergency Relief Adminstration to provide federal funding for relief and welfare programs and agencies. One of these programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), offered an extensive program for unemployed male youths. In response to the allegation that women were not receiving their fair share of relief funds, the FERA approved a plan for providing relief funds to establish a program of camps and schools for unemployed women workers. Hilda Smith, employed as a FERA Workers’ Education Specialist, was asked to plan and direct this program.

The “She-She-She” Camps, as they were satirized by the press, were the only federally funded education and relief activities concerned with the impact of unemployment on working women. For the two years of its existence, the FERA and the National Youth Administration set up 75 programs in 33 states for over 5,000 women. Five areas of instruction were emphasized at these six-to-eight-week programs: home management, vocational counseling, health education, recreation, and current economic and social issues. Workers’ education was considered a vital part of these programs. The Camps and Schools for Unemployed Women were located in rural and industrial settings and were aimed at the women who lived in each region. In certain states, programs were geared to specific communities or populations; for example, in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Montana, young women from mining towns were recruited; and in Missouri only young Women from isolated mountain families were selected. The programs for the most part were segregated, with only seven programs for unemployed black women.

Most camps attempted various degrees of participatory government. Student responsibility varied from camp to camp, depending on the individual program. Although program content was far less controversial or provocative than in traditional workers’ education, freedom of discussion was encouraged. The Camps and Schools for Unemployed Women came under attack by right-wing media, organizations, and individuals. Newspaper headlines such as “Federal Funds Used for Red Schools” were not uncommon.

Although the Camps and Schools for Unemployed Women were largely designed on a workers’ education model, many difficulties prevented the effective realization of these goals. Workers’ education curricula, for the most part developed for use by industrial workers, assumed a general knowledge of the labor movement and trade unionism. Yet less than 20 percent of all the women attending the programs were employed as factory operatives, and the majority of the participants were unfamiliar with industrial work place issues. Thus many of the workers’ education components were revised as citizenship training, including discussions on current events and community and social studies. In some camps, student-organized skits and newspapers and trips to local museums, factories, government projects, union meetings, and educational centers supplemented the course of study. The citizenship training focused primarily on causes of and remedies for unemployment and depression, and attempted to provide a basic economic framework for understanding society.

Contributions of the Early Education Programs for Women Workers

The Depression, which forced the labor movement to concentrate on survival techniques, and the expansion of the labor movement during the Roosevelt Administration, changed the focus of workers’ education in this country. The rapid growth of unionism in mass production industries following the National Labor Relations Act, and the rise of the CIO, created the need to train local leaders in such tool subjects as union adminstration, contract negotiation, parliamentary procedure, and labor law. The objectives of workers’ education, which had included helping workers to understand this society in order to bring about social change, shifted to more utilitarian programming to meet the practical needs of the labor movement.

The education departments in many of the new unions, as well as in some of the older labor organizations, now sponsored their own short-term classes and conferences to teach members about the structure of their own unions and to train them to fulfill more adequately their union and related functions. This was in marked contrast to the earlier, workers’ education focus of the programs, which had recruited participants as individuals rather than as union members, planned curricula based on the humanities and social sciences, aimed to develop their critical thinking and a legitimation of their work and community roles, and focused on their intellectual, physical, and leisure-time needs as part of their leadership role in the union movement.

This shift in emphasis notwithstanding, the work of the many women leaders of the early workers’ education movement made a unique contribution to the labor movement and to the field of workers’ education in this country. Studies sponsored by the Affiliated Schools for Workers—later the American Labor Education Service—documented the continuing union and community activities of many of the participants in these early programs. Graduates of the residential schools and the shorter courses went on to become union activists, labor organizers, elected union and community leaders, appointed administrators of government agencies, and union business agents and education directors.

The accomplishments of these early programs included a cross-fertilization with other educational and social movements in this country. There was a constant exchange of experiences between women leaders of and participants in these programs and women in the settlement house movement, in the campaigns for labor and social legislation, and with women and men in government and other social agencies. The schools and programs for women workers were a laboratory in which many leaders in education and in the community gained a clearer understanding of the issues facing working people. That understanding often was reflected in the content and methods of teaching social science courses in colleges and universities, as in campaigns for labor and social legislation and services.

One of the main contributions of the summer schools for women workers was the development of a particular methodology for adult and workers’ education. The approach of the teachers was experimental and informal. Subject matter dealt with the daily lives of the students. The test of successful teaching was the participants’ ability to use what they had learned. Learning and teaching were reciprocal. The teacher and student together approached the problem; the information grew out of their common interests. Learning took place in informal settings, using discussion techniques that encouraged students’ questions and opinions.

Student participation in decision making was an important component of each of the residential programs. Students served on all major committees. Any decision-making body was composed of at least 50 percent labor representatives. This concept of self-government became one of the cornerstones of workers’ education programming. A strong belief in freedom of discussion was also a key principle in shaping the summer school experience.

Labor drama played an important role in the residential programs for women workers. In each of the schools, students, faculty, and staff wrote and performed short plays and skits reflecting their work place and community experiences and their goals and dreams for the future. Students were encouraged to write their life experiences for the school newspapers.

Many methods developed at the residential schools—outside speakers, student-run forums and debates, mock legislative and grievance-handling sessions, field trips to nearby factories, cooperative stores, and cultural institutions—are now incorporated into adult and labor education. Visual education was stressed in workshops where students worked with their hands on charts, maps, illustrations, and statistical materials in an attempt to involve them intellectually, physically, and emotionally in absorbing new information.

Writing in the Annals of November 1935 on the role of workers’ education, Hilda Smith synthesized some of the philosophy of these early undertakings in programming for working women.

Workers’ education is designed to meet the educational needs of wage earners who have had little formal schooling. Its purpose is to stimulate an active and continued interest in the economic and social problems of the times and to develop a sense of responsibility for their solution. Workers’ education received its impetus from educational needs revealed by the labor movement and assumes the right of workers to form their own organization, to consider and take action on their own problems. Freedom of discussion and freedom of teaching are taken for granted in workers’ education. Above all, workers’ education leads straight from the classroom to the community, encouraging the student to analyze his own situation as a worker and as a member of that community, to follow the classroom term with further study of industrial and social problems; and on the basis of new facts discovered, to assume definite responsibilities leading to various forms of social action.⁸

After attending one of the summer schools in the thirties, an unorganized woman student wrote to Eleanor Coit, reviewing the knowledge and skills she had acquired in the eight-week session:

I never did have a chance to express my gratitude for what the school did for me. People here at home keep asking me, “Just what did you learn there?”—and how can I tell them that I learned more than, say, the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act; that I learned a new outlook on this world and my relation to it; and that the labor movement has emerged for me as something with dignity and power, something that someday will have the force of an avalanche, and I must be a part of it.⁹

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boone, Gladys. Women’s Trade Union Leagues. New York: Columbia University Press, 1942.

Cohn, Fannia. “Educational and Social Activities of the I.L.G.W.U.” American Federationist 36, no. 12 (Dec. 1929).

        . History, Fiction or Fact: What Is Workers Education? New York: I.L.G.W.U. Educational Department, 1938.

Fredrickson, Mary. “The Southern Summer School for Women Workers.” Southern Exposure, 4, no. 4 (Winter 1977): 72–78.

Friedmann, Ernestine. “Some Unique Features of the 1928 Barnard Summer School.” American Federationist 35, no. 12 (Dec. 1928).

Hill, Helen. Effect of Bryn Mawr Summer School as Measured in the Activities of Its Students. New York: American Association of Adult Education, 1930.

Hourwich, Andrea Taylor. “Workers Education and the Affiliated Schools.” American Federationist 44, no. 3 (March 1937).

Palmer, Gladys L. Industrial Experience of Women Workers at the Summer Schools 1928–1930. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau #89, 1931.

Pell, Orlie. “A Workers School for the Office Worker.” American Federationist 42, no. 6 (June 1935).

Robins, Margaret Dreier. Educational Plans of the National Women’s Trade Union League. Chicago: W.T.U.L., 1914.

Schneider, Florence. Patterns of Workers Education: The Story of the Bryn Mawr Summer School. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Public Affairs, 1941.

Schwarztrauber, Ernest E. Workers Education: A Wisconsin Experiment. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1942.

Smith, Hilda Worthington. Women Workers at Bryn Mawr Summer School. New York: Affiliated Schools for Women Workers in Industry, 1929.

        . Opening Vistas in Workers’ Education: An Autobiography of Hilda Worthington Smith. Privately published, 1978.

Wolfson, Theresa. The Woman Worker and the Trade Unions. New York: International Publishers, 1926.

NOTES

1. Hilda Smith, Women Workers at the Bryn Mawr Summer School (New York: Affiliated Schools for Women Workers in Industry, 1929), p. xi.

This chapter is adapted from Joyce L. Kornbluh and Lyn Goldfarb, What Dreams May Grow: Education Programs for Women Workers (forthcoming).

2. Theresa Wolfson, The Women Workers and the Trade Unions (New York: International, 1926), p. 198.

3. Ibid., p. 200.

4. Hilda Smith, Opening Vistas in Worker’s Education: An Autobiography of Hilda Worthington Smith (Washington, D.C.: privately printed, 1978), p. 113.

5. Ernest E. Schwartztrauber, Workers Education (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1942), p. 35.

6. Mary Fredrickson, “The Southern Summer School for Women Workers,” Southern Exposure 4:72.

7. “What Students Have Said,” Report of the Southern Summer School for Women Workers (unpaged, ca. 1930). National Archives, Young Women’s Christian Association, New York City.

8. Hilda Smith, “Workers’ Education as Determining Social Control,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 182 (Nov. 1935): 83.

9. Eleanor Coit, “Progressive Education at Work,” Workers’ Education in the United States, Fifth Yearbook of the John Dewey Society, ed. Theodore Brameld (New York: Harper and Bros., 1941), p. 171.

CHAPTER 2

Promoting and Recruiting: Reaching the Target Audience

By FRIEDA SHOENBERG ROZEN

Programs for and about union women require special recruiting and promotion for two important reasons: first, because women are under-represented in conventional labor education classes, but do attend classes when recruited or when programs are tailored to their needs; and second, because programs for and about union women, unlike basic tool courses such as steward training, are not commonly understood or requested by union groups. When they are promoted and taught, however, they are often more useful for developing women leaders than tool courses.

Women’s Participation in Labor Education Programs

Most labor education programs collect statistics, but few analyze them for the sex distribution of students served. When they do, they find that women make up a smaller proportion of labor education classes than they do of the labor force (where they are 43 percent) or of the labor movement (where they are 27 percent). A 1974 survey of one state university’s four labor education centers included 20 percent female students.¹ In a three-state university labor education program consisting of a series of courses taught over several years, less than 15 percent of the 674 graduates were women.²

Women are underrepresented in labor education programs because they are underrepresented in the leadership; this means they are not part of the union’s inside communication network. They do not hear about some programs and may not be encouraged to attend others, especially those that are considered part of the union reward structure. Being outside this network can also mean not being able to afford to go. Fees may be so high that only the person whose union pays her way can go, and if the union is sending only its officers, for example, most women will be excluded. Lost time is even more important than fees in assessing the cost of attending programs. Few women can afford to take time off from work, and most unions pay lost time only for leaders. Therefore, women are even less visible in those programs that involve time away from work.

Women also are underrepresented because most programs are convenient only to union members who have no household obligations. The majority of working women find it difficult to get home from work, make dinner, clean up, and get to an evening class. Many of these women have child care problems as well. Thirty-eight percent of the mothers of preschoolers are employed, and child care money often does not stretch to extra hours for union education programs.

Going home alone after late-night classes presents another problem, both for women in urban areas and for those who work in small towns and may live miles from their jobs and the union hall or university. In certain areas, even if a woman doesn’t worry for herself, other people worry for her; some local union officers still hold to the belief that a woman should not be sent to out-of-town schools or meetings by herself. A woman who asks to be sent is told, “We would like to send you, but for your own sake, we can’t send you alone.”

The problems that lead to women’s low attendance at programs can be summarized, then, in terms of women’s exclusion from the leadership in many unions, their family obligations, and traditional restrictions on their movement. Fortunately, a number of programs and unions are experimenting with answers to these problems.

Recruiting Solutions to Low Attendance by Women

Where communications in the union are restricted, special kinds of recruiting must be developed. These are the same techniques used when rank-and-file members in general are the target, but they are especially geared to reaching women.

For conferences and summer schools, very effective outreach can be done through union newspapers and newsletters, especially if the leadership wants to overcome the exclusionary effects of normal recruiting. When unions have printed open invitations to members in statewide union papers, they have been enthusiastic about the response from applicants who would never have turned up through ordinary channels.

Even national union papers help. In Pennsylvania, union women read about a Michigan women’s program in a U.A.W. paper, wrote to Michigan, and were redirected to our programs.

For specific union audiences, some non-union publications are helpful. For example, flight attendants trying to start a women’s program mentioned their plans in Ms. magazine and got inquiries from flight attendants all around the country. This is not to suggest that most union women in small-town America read Ms., but rather that imagination can produce valuable new ideas for outreach.

In the “old days,” labor educators publicized programs in places that are still useful in reaching women: bulletin boards in neighborhood churches, trailer parks, and laundromats. That is not to overlook publicity in fast food outlets, carryouts and pizza parlors, restrooms and lounges at work, and on bulletin boards at the supermarket. In a lot more places than West Virginia and Kentucky, the right radio station for announcements is the country music station.

Often, local groups undertake good programs that they inadvertently sabotage by bad recruiting. The good labor educator avoids this problem by briefing local education committees on publicity techniques, reinforcing this with a “how-to” flier on effective recruiting.

Program fees or lost time pay may not sound like a recruiting problem, but effective publicity must be coupled with ways to finance women in programs once they have learned that the programs are available. Pilot programs for union women, such as Cornell’s Trade Union Women’s Studies, which was funded by a Ford Foundation grant, built in scholarship money. The good results encouraged planners of other working women’s programs to aim for low fees even in unsubsidized programs. Low fees enable union women without political clout to pay their own way or to convince the union that fees are reasonable. Lost time calls for other solutions. Some institutions schedule women’s programs so that a minimum of lost time is involved: resident conferences may be planned for an extended weekend rather than the traditional Monday through Friday.

These suggestions are made on the assumption that women may not get much union help in seeking special education, and for the time being that is a realistic assumption; but it is important to work toward getting union support for women’s programs. This is discussed in the section on promotion, below.

How should planners accommodate problems caused by family obligations or travel restrictions? Program planners need flexibility: in one community, perhaps, classes should start at eight rather than seven, to help women who must clean up after dinner, or classes should be held immediately after work, to avoid problems of late-night urban transportation or distances between work, home, and union classes. In some locales, avoiding week nights entirely and concentrating on Saturday sessions is the solution.

Recently, labor educators have begun to include child care in some programs. Where this is available, recruiting literature should mention it. Thirty years ago, the Y.W.C.A. and similar groups made memorable contributions to the education of homebound mothers by running children’s programs concurrently with adult programs. A similarly imaginative approach to reach today’s working mothers may be necessary.

Many unions believe that they best serve the needs of their women members by refusing to send any woman to an out-of-town program by herself. While this problem undoubtedly will resolve itself as society comes to accept women’s independence, in the meantime unions could be urged to send two women to a program. Continuing to keep program costs low can facilitate this.

Promoting Women’s Programs

To offer or support a program for its women members, leaders of a union must be convinced of the need for the program, or of its value and interest to their membership. The advantage to unions in promoting programs for or about union women is that women’s programs strengthen the union itself by increasing the skills and interest of women members.

Unions must underwrite the cost for their members to participate in programs for or about union women, sponsored by groups of unions or by universities, and encourage this participation. Labor educators can urge unions to sponsor women members in classes, conferences, and institutes, as one way to give recognition and reinforcement to people who are accustomed to receiving little of either. Women traditionally serve the union without reward and are seldom elected to high office or sent to national conventions. Sending women to education programs, even when lost time is involved, is a relatively inexpensive way to reward them and encourage them to continue in their union service. This direct appeal has worked successfully with a number of union leaders.

Some union leaders, recognizing a pattern of exclusion of women, are trying to remedy it by sponsoring their own special programs and conferences directed at their female members. These have been local, statewide, regional, or national meetings that examine women’s issues. The results have been rewarding for the unions, particularly in terms of developing new activists and getting out the message that the unions know there is a problem. This approach can be suggested to other unions. Many union leaders are aware of the rising discontent among women members, and are prepared to build on the successful experiments of other unions.

In some unions there have been no women’s programs only because no one thought of them. In other places, the barriers are greater. Labor educators are familiar with leaders who perceive any special discussion of union women as a symptom of “dual unionism” or as an outsider’s attempt to disrupt the labor movement. Here the proponents of women’s programs will have to use each available opportunity to make the point that these programs are intended to strengthen the union, not divide it.

In an example of such an opportunity, a union group may have been forced by actions brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to become an advocate for its women members. Perhaps the unionized plants in the area previously did not hire women on the shop floor, but under affirmative action pressure, the company has hired some women. Latent hostility to the employment of women in jobs that formerly were held only by men erupts in the union and is reflected in area newspapers. The union finds itself having to deal with conflicting pressures. At this point, the alert labor educator suggests that a program of information on the equal rights laws and on today’s women workers is a positive way to deal with the furor. Examination of the facts opens the way to reevaluation, and possibly to acceptance, however reluctant. There are possible pitfalls in the situation, but it could provide the opportunity to prove the value of this kind of programming, if it is planned with great sensitivity. In many labor communities, picking up on a cue like this would be more effective than urging programs tailored to reach women members in particular. Here the programs would be about, rather than for, women workers.

Another approach to unions that resist programs about women workers is through their need to organize the unorganized. As the female proportion of the labor force expands, and as more unions move to organize in clerical, white-collar, and service sectors, unions recognize that their new constituencies are female. Union staffs, officers, and members will need to examine more of the issues relating to these women workers. They will want to take a new look at blue-collar women as well, as some of them move into skilled jobs. As unions formulate plans for future organizing, educators may find them more receptive to programs about women workers.

A favorite subject of union leaders is how to increase participation in the union. Here is the opportunity to suggest that involvement can be increased by tapping the union’s female membership, looking at its problems and encouraging women to aspire to leadership. This argument will be even more on target in the future as women make up a larger proportion of union membership. Unions will have to look to women for the volunteer leaders and paid staff so necessary to their survival.

These examples are used to make the point that, even with unions unused to or uneasy about sponsoring women’s programs the case can be made that “there is something in it for you.” That is, we promote programs for exactly the same reasons and in the same ways as we promote all labor education: it helps build effective unions and makes workers competent to participate in them. As people see education’s relevance to their lives, they are drawn to it and get more from it. For those of us who have met with discouragement when urging programs about women, possibly in the wrong context, it is important to keep a variety of approaches in mind—another tack might work, this time may be better than last time. Of course, this problem is not limited to programs for or about women!

Often the labor educator can move toward programs for—away from programs about—women. Part of the job of promotion is to make a good case for women’s classes. Union leaders and even some labor educators may not be convinced of the need for education programs that are designed to bring women together for leadership training and to discuss issues of special concern to them. It is useful to think back to the debates about the need for black studies programs and black students’ need to develop an outreach to each other. The campus argument also raged over women’s studies and offering classes that appealed almost exclusively to women.

A prominent labor educator recalls the same argument a few decades ago over whether unionists should attend labor education classes with management representatives or by themselves. Interestingly, that discussion is new and fresh in Sweden, as labor unions argue over implementation of that country’s new labor law and the best way to educate workers to its use: whether in classes with management representatives who also have to learn about the law, or in separate, segregated worker groups. In the past few years the same discussion has held sway with regard to union women.

Effects of Sex Composition on Learning Groups

Fortunately, there is an accumulating body of research on the effects on groups of their sex composition, which we can use to evaluate our positions. Most of this research examines the behavior of men and women in artificial task groups.

Rubin and Brown looked at over 100 studies of bargaining behavior that included analyses of the sex variable.³ Although numerous studies found no relationship between sex and bargaining, there was sharp conflict in the findings of the rest: some found that males bargain more cooperatively than females, while others found the opposite. Rubin and Brown reconciled the conflict by pointing out that in these studies, females respond to cues from their fellow bargainers more than males, while males focus on reaching goals or on winning rather than on the responses of their fellow bargainers. This means that women bargain more cooperatively if they get certain interpersonal cues, while men bargain cooperatively if that is an acknowledged goal. For our purposes, the implication is that women are more sensitive to others than men, and may be distracted from seeking success by trying to deal with relationships within the group.

Webber directly studied women’s performance in female-majority and female-minority task groups.⁴ His subjects were graduate students in management schools. Each of 83 groups spent several months working on case studies. The women were more likely to strive for leadership and to make contributions in female-majority than in female-minority groups. Webber concluded that, to learn and develop skills most effectively, women should be in female-majority situations. “Critics of this recommendation could maintain that it is unrealistic, that women in real organizations will usually find themselves surrounded by males and they should be trained to work with them . . . but the counter argument is that exercizing leadership in predominantly female groups while in training is better than exercizing no leadership at all in male majority groups. It could build skills and confidence that would be helpful later in real organizations.” From these findings it appears that leadership training groups are more useful to many women if they are also women’s groups.

“Self-awareness group” research suggests that women benefit more in single-sex groups when studying sex-role issues (problems relating to the leadership skills women need to move ahead in the union). Carlock and Martin found that mixed-sex group participants are more concerned with relations within the group or class than with analyses of problems they face outside the group itself, for example, on the job or in the union.⁵ If they are women, they are likely to play more passive roles than they do in single-sex groups.⁶ In addition, Carlock and Martin conclude that discussion of sex-role issues produces too much stress in mixed-sex groups. Since those are the very issues that women must deal with when training for more active union participation, they need single-sex learning situations in some subject areas.

These studies help us separate those subjects for which women’s classes are important from those for which separate groups might not be necessary. Certainly if we ourselves are convinced of the value of separate groups in selected areas, we can be more successful in promoting them with unions.

Recruiting for Women’s Programs

Recruiting to women’s programs presents some additional special challenges. When a program is for a local area or sponsored by one international, many of the suggestions listed above apply. The union’s commitment to the program is demonstrated by its decision to sponsor it, though back-up in recruiting as well as program planning and execution may well be involved.

When a program involves more than one union—for example, when it is sponsored by a university labor education program, a state labor federation, or a group of unions, universities, or union women’s groups—responsibility for recruiting must be shared and coordinated to reach the maximum number of women, but in a reasonably economical fashion. The target group is scattered, often over a wide geographical area. Some suggestions for this kind of program follow.

1. Try to get official co-sponsorship from organizations whose recruiting help is desired.

2. Issue a press release to accompany fliers or other advertising. If possible, the press release should include information that makes it particularly relevant to recipient unions: mention of their members who participated in earlier schools or who will teach in this one, or the number of people from this state who are involved in the planning. Send the release to women’s departments of internationals or state federations, to editors of appropriate union papers, followed with a personal contact wherever possible to help ensure that a story is carried. If the state federation of labor or some union internationals do periodic mailings, they will be willing to include information on the school or program, so you should time your release to coincide with these mailings.

3. Develop a mailing list. Cull names of union women from registration lists of other general conferences and education programs over past years. Request names from local union leaders or educators of women who should be notified. Include names of those who attended women’s programs in the area over the last few years. This list should be put on reproducible labels so that it is easy to use again. One warning: direct mailings to individuals are more effective when publicity about the program also is sent to the union of those women who receive the mailing. Some union officers are uneasy about requests sent to their members until they have received word of the school themselves.

4. Publicize the conference or institute at other programs. The labor education institutions or unions co-sponsoring a school will be holding other programs in the months preceeding the school, providing a good place to publicize the women’s school. Often men will tell women in their local about the program, if they hear about it while they themselves are attending a conference they enjoy. Women at one particular conference may want to come to another, or will tell friends and co-workers who couldn’t come this time.

5. Regularize recruiting. The greatest difficulty in recruiting for a multi-sponsor conference is in institutionalizing the procedures. A conference that becomes an annual event is the biggest challenge the first year. It is hard to duplicate that effort a second or third year unless techniques are developed that make the job manageable. Comprehensive notes should be kept of what has to be done. These should be passed on to each year’s chairperson. Mailing lists should call for as little additional typing as possible. Wherever possible, sponsors should create a permanent recruiting committee. One way might be to form a women’s committee in each state federation of labor. Program participants one year should be recruiting assistants the next. No matter how successfully procedures are institutionalized, coordinating responsibility must be assumed by caring individuals—most often the labor educators who initiate and staff such schools or programs.

The growing importance of women’s programs, and the excitement that comes from watching women move from participating in them to greater and more effective involvement in their unions, is the surest guarantee of continuity. Special programs to train and advance union women are becoming a recognized component of labor education.

The best techniques for recruiting and promoting education programs are also the best for recruiting to women’s programs. What is needed is extra imagination, special sensitivity, and a great deal of enthusiasm!

NOTES

1. Thomas A. Kochan, David B. Lipsky, and Lee Dyer, “Collective Bargaining and the Quality of Work: The Views of Local Union Activitists,” Industrial Relations Research Association Series, Twenty-Seventh Annual Winter Proceedings, 1974—San Francisco, pp. 150–62, 153.

2. See Richard Z. Hindle, Union Leadership Academy: Graduates Survey Report (May 1976, mimeo), for a study of respondents drawn from this pool of graduates up to 1974.

3. Jeffrey Z. Rubin and Bert R. Brown, The Psychology of Bargaining and Negotiation (New York: Academic Press, Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1975), pp. 169–74.

4. Ross A. Webber, “Perceptions and Behaviors in Mixed Sex Work Teams,” Industrial Relations 15, no. 2 (May 1976): 121–29.

5. This confirms Rubin and Brown’s findings.

6. Charlene J. Carlock and Patrician Yancey Martin, “Sex Composition and the Intensive Group Experience,” Social Work (Jan. 1977), pp. 27–32.

CHAPTER 3

The Short Course

By ROCHELLE SEMEL

The heart of labor education is still the not-for-credit course, conference, or workshop that deals directly with workers’ concerns and provides information and tools for students to act on these concerns collectively through their labor organizations. This chapter discusses short courses as a flexible format, using as its norm courses of four, six, or eight consecutive sessions, approximately one and one-half hours in length, conducted on a non-credit basis.

While this is a standard format through which unions and university labor educators have for years provided education for unionists, here we look at a new development: short courses offered especially for labor union and other working women. Many of these are offered through university extension programs. They deal with traditional subjects as seen through women’s eyes, for example, grievance handling for union women, public speaking, parliamentary procedures; and they offer new courses that meet special needs, such as assertiveness training, job hazards and the white-collar worker, women and the law, sexual harassment at the work place, coping alone, and working women and money.

Unions that utilize the services of university labor education centers for in-house programs are often the newer unions, or locals without their own education departments to call on, or union education directors who plan programs that provide expertise in particular areas that university centers can supply. However, university labor centers also initiate programs that reach a cross-section of union audiences, frequently by offering training in a variety of leadership skills (always in demand because of the high rate of turnover among local union rank-and-file leaders and committees). Since these are the levels where active women unionists enter the leadership scene, skill-building short courses are particularly critical for and popular with union women.

One advantage of the short-course format, then, is its flexibility. Classes can be scheduled at local union halls or in central locations, at times and places most convenient for participants. Unlike long-term evening or weekend credit programs, which must meet rigid university criteria on course content and faculty, the non-credit course relates to the immediate and practical concerns of workers—in this case, women workers—and can use as teachers practitioners who also provide role models for the students. The courses provide information and skills that women can apply almost immediately, whether on the job, in their labor unions, or in the community.

Short courses for trade union and other working women have a double purpose. First, they give women the chance to meet as women, to participate freely in a supportive, friendly environment. For some, this is a first experience in relating union issues specifically to their concerns as women workers. Courses must be designed to bring union women and these concerns into the reading materials as well as the class discussions. Second, and equally important, courses provide women with the specific knowledge and competencies that help to prepare them for leadership and more effective participation in their unions. The following section looks at short courses provided for individual unions by labor extension services and centers, and those school- (i.e., university) initiated programs open to all union and other working women.

In-service Courses for Local Unions

How are in-service courses organized and planned?

Arrange a planning meeting. Contact the union officer in charge of membership education activities (it may be the local’s president or full-time representative) and set up a meeting. A leader from a union with a high concentration of women members, or the chair of a women’s committee, might be responsive to a letter outlining your center’s educational services. (This assumes the university labor center has a card file of union contacts and / or a current labor union directory to use as a guide.)

If this is the local’s first program on or about women workers, discuss what the best, most acceptable focus might be. For example, should the course deal with the increased numbers of women in the work force and implications of this for the union? Should it be offered to men and women alike? Or should it be designed primarily for rank-and-file women? Some locals might prefer to hold a seminar-type program for officers first, to discuss the growing role of women in the union or the impact on the union of recent equal employment court decisions on women and minorities. Be prepared to make suggestions, to offer sample course outlines, to demonstrate how materials have been used in other union programs you have conducted.

Once you and the union have decided on the audience and subject matter, you can move to tuition cost; when and where to hold the course; the number of sessions; who else to consult about content. What material does the local’s international have available to distribute to the students? What can the union supply as background for the course developer and teacher? How long should each session run? Keep in mind that the program need not cover every aspect of the problem. The union may see this as a basic course to be followed by a more advanced one. If the course is to be held at union headquarters, is the necessary equipment (for example, blackboard, motion picture projector and screen) available? Will the union provide coffee?

The local will be responsible for recruiting students; to what extent will it also handle publicity? Often the university labor center will be called upon to prepare a flier describing the course. This flier and course registration form should include not only the student’s name, address, and phone number, but also what, if any, union office or committee post the person holds. The union will distribute these fliers to its membership and do whatever further recruiting is needed, perhaps utilizing its shop steward system, its own newspaper, bulletin boards, and membership meetings.

Make an advance roster that lists students’ addresses, phone numbers, and union offices held. This enables you to ensure that enough materials are prepared; to make up an attendance roster for the teacher (for determining who receives a university certificate of attendance); to provide information for the teacher on each student’s level of union involvement; and to notify students of the course’s starting date and place, or of last-minute changes. Either the union or university center should send out a reminder notice a week in advance, welcoming each student, stating the course’s purpose, time, and location, and mentioning the availability of university certificates for regular attenders.

Wherever possible, the teacher should meet at least once with the union education or other staff person for background information about the organization and its present structure. How the union sees the course and its purpose is important. There will be necessary background reading for the teacher to do, whatever the course content: the union’s contract, its constitution, its newspaper, and specific convention resolutions dealing with course subject areas. This is the teacher’s opportunity to get a feel for how the union functions.

Where specific union information may be necessary during the course, especially relating to union policy, plan for a union representative to be present to explain and to answer questions. However, individual problems relating to the subject under discussion, whatever it is, should not be allowed to take up class time unless they are general enough to relate to several members of the group. Labor educators know the danger of letting a class disintegrate into an individual grievance session between the union representative (there as a resource) and the members.

In-service courses have some advantages. They can be immediately applicable to students’ day-to-day activities. Case studies can deal with recognizable and relevant specifics, for example, the kind of grievances likely to occur in that local, or provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. Exercises can be developed around the experiences of women members who assume added responsibilities or new leadership posts within the framework of the local’s structure and traditions.

Working with a single local offers the university labor educator the chance to plan programs with and for the local that progress from one level to another, and to observe and even to measure results. A trust relationship can be developed and, as a result, education can over the years become an integral part of the local’s program.

School-Initiated Programs

University labor education centers augment educational services to individual trade unions through the programs they initiate and offer to unionists on a first-come, first-served basis. The choice of subject is wide open as long as there is an interest on the part of union members, leaders, or staff. Courses can be in the same skill-training areas that make for successful in-service programs, but here union women might attend where their union does not offer women’s courses or perhaps does not have any education program at all. Or courses can focus on problems women encounter as citizens and consumers: how to get involved in the political process, new developments in equal employment law, occupational health and safety. Or they can deal with subjects individual locals might consider too sensitive: sexual harassment at the work place, assertiveness training, or one that we have found quite popular, “Career Development and the Job Hunt,” which union women in white-collar, professional, and para-professional jobs register for in great numbers.

Consulting the labor center’s advisory committee is one good way to learn what new courses might be developed and offered. It is hoped that the advisory committee represents a cross-section of unions and racial and ethnic groups in the area; women, who are now close to 43 percent of the work force, should be well represented on it also. The advisory committee can provide guidance for developing programs of current concern to union leaders themselves; moreover, support of such a committee is invaluable for ensuring continuity of state funding for labor education, since most university labor centers are part of the state universities that depend on legislatures for annual budget appropriations.

How are school-initiated programs organized?

Programs for union women may be new to many local union leaders, most of whom are men, which can make uncertain how wide an audience of union women will be reached through usual recruiting channels. Therefore, a promotional campaign must go beyond saturating the mails with fliers, even beyond personal visits to education directors and union officers. Short-course planners must be prepared to “hit the road,” that is, to seek opportunities to talk about the university’s short courses and other offerings for union women at local executive board and general membership meetings, and to answer questions about why programs are offered especially for women. Union women can be reached through the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), which now has more than thirty regional or city chapters, many of them with education committees. Keep an up-to-date file of course registrations, in order to build a mailing list for future programs.

Publicity fliers should meet the same criteria as any successful leaflet: a title that commands attention; a brief summary of the course content; short, direct sentences; and all important facts: dates, meeting times, location, cost.

The major costs of short courses—instructors’ fees, design and production of materials, and staff time—are allocated differently depending on the university’s program budget. The labor center’s objective is to serve unions and their members to the widest extent possible, which means at the lowest feasible cost. Since universities are supported by workers’ tax dollars, workers are entitled to service from these centers. This often means an almost constant battle with university administrators who would like to see all adult education programs make money.

Program costs often can be reduced when university labor program staff coordinate, teach, and prepare the materials for the course, but this is not always possible. Part-time extension teachers must be hired to teach particular courses or conference sessions. This enables the university to utilize experts in such particular fields as labor law, arbitration, equal employment enforcement, and health and safety. It provides an excellent opportunity to seek out women accomplished in these and other fields and to employ them as ad hoc teachers—and not only in courses for union women. Women can be inspired by other women who have achieved, and men can learn that most roles traditionally thought of as male (for example, arbitrator, negotiator) can be filled capably by a woman.

Wherever possible, university charges for school-initiated courses should be kept modest, and its in-service charges scaled to the local union’s size or ability to pay. For example, the labor center might absorb the costs of new, experimental programs with new kinds of audiences, or for small locals with modest treasuries, or unions hard-pressed financially because of recent strikes or layoffs.

Among other advantages, school-initiated programs supplement the services requested from the labor center by individual locals. Without these, some unionists would have no access to labor education. This is especially true when it comes to programs for union women. Inter-union programs offered at the university’s labor center provide a forum for women of various backgrounds, from different occupations and unions that can enrich students’ and teachers’ understanding of union issues, structures, and problems. They are one way to initiate and test new program ideas not yet requested by local unions; to ascertain the extent of interest in a subject; to revise, where necessary, and to ready new courses for local unions to sponsor. A specific instance is described below, a short course developed through Trade Union Women’s Studies. Trade Union Women’s Studies is a program of the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University. Titled “Working Women and Money,” it proved so popular that it is now requested by local unions and is open to men as well as women. It has been renamed “Workers and Money,” although the special problems faced by women as workers and as single heads of families remain in the course content.

School-initiated programs, along with in-service courses, also provide an important channel for recruiting for the longer, credit-bearing labor studies programs that have come to provide another major focus of labor education.

Materials

New short courses call for the development of materials both for teacher and student. Through the Trade Union Women’s Studies program, a number of six-, three-, and four-session courses with manuals have been developed (see Courses and Manuals, below). The enterprising teacher will locate many free or inexpensive materials to augment courses: magazine articles, newspaper clippings, government publications, and materials or films available through the AFL-CIO and other souces (see the Appendix, A Resource on Resources).

Short-course manuals or kits should contain an outline for the student that describes the objectives of the course; a brief description of each session; and reading assignments. Articles, case studies, and exercises can be developed for each study unit. These provide a flexible framework that can be adapted to the requirements or interests of a particular local group.

Course Instructors

When ad hoc instructors are hired, university labor programs recruit from the ranks of government, labor unions, the professions, and various departments of the university itself. Those who teach working adults need to appreciate the problems of the worker-student, who comes to class after a full day of work, often without supper, eager, interested, but tired. The instructor must understand and sympathize with her aims and aspirations.

In addition, the instructor should be able to take advantage of the rich life experiences that students bring to the classroom, examining the subject matter in the light of practical problems working women encounter on the job or in their unions. Because the growth of the individual student is critical, the teacher may find herself in the role of counselor, mentor, and friend as she learns more about the students through discussions before and after class.

It is important to involve students in the development of mutual student-teacher goals for their study experience. To realize these, every technique should be used that can involve group members in the learning process and relate the material to their work experiences. These methods, discussed in later chapters of this book, include group discussion, case studies, small group processes, action projects, role plays, and, where appropriate, films or slide shows.

Teachers who have never taught in the university’s labor program should be invited to sit in on a class in progress to become familiar with the spirit of the program, methods the teacher uses, and the student body. It is helpful to have materials for the instructor to review that describe techniques in labor education instruction. If the teacher will be working from a prepared manual, she should review it well in advance of the program and discuss it with the program coordinator, feeling free to suggest changes and variations based on her own experience in teaching or in the subject area. Be sure she is briefed on the university’s own administrative procedures, including registration forms, taking attendance, evaluation sheets, and certificate presentation.

The program coordinator has an important role, even when an ad hoc teacher is used. The students in the course are not there in isolation. They are a direct link between the union and the university. Perhaps they have attended other university-sponsored courses; hopefully, they will be participants in future programs.

At the opening session, the coordinator welcomes them, explains briefly the role of the university labor center, and introduces the teacher. This sets the tone for the course. One of the first things that should happen is the introduction of the students to each other.

The assumption is made here that the necessary course materials are ready, and registration forms, audiovisual aids, and a blackboard and chalk or flipboard and felt pen are at hand. Ventilation, acoustics, lighting, and seating arrangements are in order. Room size is appropriate, as far as possible, to the size of the group. (Realistically, the labor educator is used to working with the facilities a union provides, which are not always ideal. Nonetheless, a check list is useful!)

It is suggested that program coordinators sit in on at least one class in the middle of the course to see how it is progressing, and that they be on hand at the final session to award certificates and announce other university-sponsored courses and programs. No labor educator ever underestimates the importance of the certificate that the university awards: these get framed and kept for years, and more frequently these days are accepted as proof of course work by universities and colleges that give degree credit for life experience.

Evaluation

In the short course, evaluation is necesary. The most important kind is classroom observation by the program coordinator. Another gauge of how the course is going is the dropout rate. If it is high, you won’t know why unless you have visited the class—and then you may be able to reduce it by working with the teacher between sessions.

A written evaluation questionnaire distributed at the last session of the course also provides valuable information. It gives students a chance to comment on the teaching techniques used, on the materials and the content of the course, and to suggest ideas and subjects for future programs. Working adults as students tend to be both kind to and accepting of the teacher. Thus the questionnaire should elicit specific information about what students feel they have learned, what they liked best, and what they would like to see changed if the course were given again. If they are disapproving of the teacher, believe them! They don’t express disapproval lightly.

Once you have the evaluations from the class, use them to improve course materials to meet student needs and expectations. Instructors will benefit from a frank discussion about their teaching methods. Only if they seem both willing and able to incorporate suggested changes into future teaching should less successful instructors be given a second chance. On the other hand, poor instructors with a special area of expertise might be more useful as guest speakers at particular course sessions, or worked into the program in another way more agreeable to students and perhaps to the teacher as well.

How One Course Was Developed: A Case Example

The problem addressed in this course is one of the most pressing of our times: inflation. When women shop, pay their utility bills, purchase clothing, pay their rent, or buy on credit, they are confronted with the fact that spendable income has dwindled. It is increasingly difficult to manage money.

The Trade Union Women’s Studies coordinator decided to develop a course that would help women manage their money more effectively and, at the same time, show how their union worked for them beyond negotiated wage increases, through the range of fringe benefits that usually make up the union contract and collective bargaining settlements (for example, health coverage, pension plans, legal services), and such services as credit unions and counseling.

Linda Small, a talented young writer, was interested in developing and teaching a pilot course. She is not an economist. Until the time she put together a course on managing money for an audience of trade union women, she had never researched the subject. In a series of planning meetings, we discussed the goals of the course, the issues that should be covered in its six sessions, and the basic skills it should communicate.

“Working Women and Money” was the result. When completed, it contained a wealth of information on taxes, banking and credit, fringe benefits, retirement (social security and union-negotiated pension programs), and the working woman as consumer (see Working Women and Money, below). Women learned to prepare budgets, fill out tax forms, shop around for credit, estimate their retirement needs, and shop and buy wisely.

For each subject a resource list is provided, along with course handouts, most of which are available free from banks, insurance companies, the government, and unions. A questionnaire (unsigned) is distributed at the first session to provide the instructor with a profile of the participants (marital status, income range, financial history). Thus details of the course can be shaped around student interests and needs. Classroom discussion at an early stage elicits other areas of concern.

Students find especially helpful the sessions on fringe benefits and retirement. A worksheet on contract provisions for health and related benefits is included as homework (see Worksheet on Benefits, below). Women refer to their own union contracts or information booklets that outline benefit plans and analyze their hospitalization and surgical coverage, other health-related benefits the union may provide, and pension programs.

If the course is offered as an in-service program for a particular union, the union’s pension plan officer should be asked to speak and answer questions at this session. Retirement is often a source of anxious concern for women workers, who traditionally earn less than men and draw lower Social Security payments. In this course many women learn for the first time what vesting means and how to calculate their retirement incomes.

“Working Women and Money” lends itself to the use of outside resources. For example, if it is offered early in the year a representative of the Internal Revenue Service can attend the class on taxes and explain the latest revisions in the law that apply to filing tax forms.

The best of courses can fail in the hands of a poor instructor. “Working Women and Money” is not useful if students focus on individual grievances (for example, against the utility company that never answered their calls, against the department store that sold them shoddy merchandise). For this reason Linda Small included a section on how and where to complain, and offered students her own “Complaint Combat Rules.” Then she referred them to this section of the manual when individual problems threatened to take too much class time.

Conclusion

Short-course planners provide a direct educational service that combines meeting the needs of unions for member education and of women for special training and information. While union women are not yet represented in most unions’ top levels, they are beginning to run for office more frequently, and their first steps in participation may well be through enrolling in a course for union women.

In order to influence union policies, women must understand their rights and obligations as members and at the same time develop the special skills they will need as leaders. University and college labor education programs are uniquely suited to provide this training.

COURSES AND MANUALS

The following courses and manuals are available through Trade Union Women’s Studies, Cornell University, 3 East 43 Street, New York, N.Y., 10017.

Six-session courses: Beginning Journalism; Effective Letter Writing; Grievance Handling; Health Hazards; Mathematics of Work; Effective Speaking; Advanced Speaking; Working Women and Money; Career Development—The Job Hunt; Sexual Harassment at the Workplace; Coping Alone.

Three-session Courses: Union Women and the Political Process; Internal Organizing; External Organizing; Building Committees and Coalitions; Public Speaking; Parliamentary Procedure; Increasing Women’s Participation; Getting Women’s Story into Print.

Four-session Course: Leadership Skills for Union Women.

Modules: Working Women in Organized Labor; Women in American Labor History.

WORKING WOMEN AND MONEY

This course will take you through the “money maze” and help you acquire basic skills so that you can deal with money matters.

Session 1: Working Women and Money. An introduction to the course and each other. How we relate to money. How to manage it better. How to prepare a budget.

Session 2: Tax Clinic for Working Women. Highlights of the Tax Reduction and Simplification Act. How to file. How to fill out tax forms. How to get help.

Session 3: Banking and Credit. How to shop around for financial institutions. Services offered by commercial banks, savings banks, credit unions. Current credit legislation. Establishing your own credit history. How much debt is too much? How to get help.

Session 4: Beyond the Fringes, or, What Is Your Salary Package Really Worth? What are fringe benefits? How “good” is your fringe benefit package? How much health insurance do you need? How much life insurance? Sexism and the insurance industry.

Session 5: Can You Afford to Retire? Planning for your financial future. The two main sources of retirement income: social security, union-negotiated pension plans. What is social security worth to you? What is your union plan worth to you? How to estimate your retirement needs. Budgeting for the future.

Session 6: The Working Woman as Consumer, or, How Not to Be Taken. An introduction to wills. What to include. Why write one. What to look for in a contract. Rules to eat by. Shopping and buying wisely. How and where to complain.

WORKSHEET ON BENEFITS

For the purposes of this worksheet on contract provisions, health and related benefits will be considered in four parts. Refer to your contract and / or your own booklet outlining your benefit plan.

1. Hospitalization and surgical coverage

Who is covered? Member? Spouse? Children? Age limit?

Hospitalization coverage, per day (Private? Semi-private?) Length of stay?

Incidental expenses—what do these include?

Are maternity stays included in hospitalization coverage?

Surgical allowances:

Set fee schedule?

Are certain operations disallowed? Which?

Maternity provisions? What are they?

Family coverage? Spouse? Children? Are provisions same as for member?

Other benefits not included in the above that you are eligible for in the area of hospitalization and surgical care? (For example, after care, home visits, visiting nurse care, doctor visits related to surgery, etc.)

2. Medical coverage outside of hospitalization

Doctor office visits? For member? Spouse? Children?

Amount allowed for visit?

Number of visits per year?

Other services allowed (X-rays, dental, eye examinations, specialists such as on

hearing, gynecology, obstetrics, etc.)

Drug and treatment benefits (Medicines; physiotherapy, etc.)

Home visits? For member? Spouse? Children?

3. Pension program

Amount at 65 years? At 62 years?

Can member work longer than age 65?

Vesting: do you know amount after 20 years of work on the job? after 10 years?

If you do not know, how can you find out?

What determines the amount of the members’ pensions? How is it set?

4. Other health-related benefits

Disability for illness? How long?

Is pregnancy-related disability included?

Does your local have a health and safety committee? What is its job?

Are there any health-related programs in your local? (Blood pressure; yearly X-ray of chest; special testing; other.)

What health-related services does your local offer? (Alcoholism program, referral service for family problems, etc.)

5. How are these benefits paid for?

Percent of payroll paid by employer? Which ones are paid for this way?

Joint contribution by worker and employer? Which are paid for this way?

Entirely by worker? Which are paid for this way? (Voluntary extra coverage; inclusion of family and spouse on some benefits, etc.)

Are any health-related benefits paid by union alone? (Education programs on health, other.)

6. How are contract demands related to health determined in your local?

Is paid maternity leave included in your contract?

If so, how long and how much?

CHAPTER 4

Conferences: The One-Day Model

By JOYCE L. KORNBLUH and HY KORNBLUH

We cannot teach except as we help others find their inner freedom and will to learn. The workshop is an evolving invention designed to provide this kind of stage for learning—an exciting experience for leader and learner alike.¹

“I owe it to my union, myself and my world to carry on the work of my sisters in the labor movement,” wrote Virginia Cowley, chief shop steward in a shoe factory in a small western Michigan town. To attend a one-day, six-hour conference on working women and the law (sponsored by the Program on Women and Work) she had traveled with three other women from five in the morning.

The Program on Women and Work grew out of meetings held in spring 1972 at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations (ILIR) in Ann Arbor, for local union women leaders and staff from across southeastern Michigan. Participants spoke of their work within unions, of their need for more information and for a support network. They requested training in the skills needed to function more effectively within their unions and communities. Meeting as they did with other union women who had similar problems and commitments, they were eager to set up an informal network and educational support system for union women living and working in a wide geographic area but who shared common goals and concerns.

Because of this enthusiasm, the Program on Women and Work began in 1973, a part of the Labor Studies Center of the ILIR. Its goal was to provide information and education to women union members and other women workers on issues of practical interest to them, and to offer training in leadership skills. The program today conducts workshops and conferences, three-and-a-half-day residential summer and winter institutes, and special conferences and non-credit courses. In addition, the Program on Women and Work sponsored the oral history project, “Twentieth Century Union Woman, Vehicle for Social Change,” under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

A recent survey indicates that those who attend these types of programs are primarily union-oriented women in their middle years with fewer than three children at home. Almost all are high school graduates. More than half have had some additional formal education or training in vocational schools, community colleges, manpower programs, or in other adult education settings. Half are heads of households; half have always worked in the labor force. One quarter have been union members for three years or less, a figure balanced by the 25 percent who have maintained union membership for more than ten years. The women are an active leadership group seeking training for more effective participation within their unions. They want to see greater utilization of women within the union structures in elective and staff capacities.

Like Virginia Cowley and her union sisters from Big Rapids, Michigan, many participants come from small communities where there have been few sources of information on and training for women workers. While few of the women have been active in the women’s movement, a large number have taken part in community and other political campaigns. Many are change-oriented personally as well as organizationally and express the desire to become more competent and confident in both spheres of life. Some seek the skills to negotiate new roles as heads of households and single-parent families. Others speak openly of the need for job mobility within their work settings so they can utilize their talents, earn more money, and have the challenge of more responsible work. Still others want to prepare for more leadership responsibility and to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to advance within their unions.

Saturday Workshops and Conferences

One-day Saturday workshops or conferences have been successful in meeting the needs of geographically scattered Michigan women workers, and are a core part of the University of Michigan’s Program on Women and Work. This format is flexible, and can include workshops that build skills or provide information, and are useful as well in launching long-term programs. An initial conference gives an emerging program visibility at an important, early stage. Its structure can highlight some of the issues and skill areas that the ensuing longer-term program will include, and serve as a means to collect information on the needs of potential participants through questionnaires, evaluation forms, and discussions.

Subjects suggested for a one-day conference format include: working women and the law, effective speaking, parliamentary procedure, women in the international work world, working with groups, legislative issues for women workers, collective bargaining issues and skills, grievance handling, assertiveness training, writing for union publications, health and safety for women workers, women in the public sector, communication skills, and organizing women workers. In 1974, groundwork was laid for a program with Spanish speaking women in southeast Michigan. Bilingual workshops were conducted on issues for Spanish-speaking women workers, and an assertiveness workshop (in Spanish) was led by a Chicana psychologist. We have found all these areas to be useful.

The women workers attending the first Saturday conference in the fall of 1973 confirmed this format as a program model. When 174 women unionists and other women workers registered, we attributed the turnout to the enthusiasm of a neglected group of workers who saw some educational attention from the university labor program finally being devoted to the problems of working women. But through the feedback from that day’s session and from participants in other ILIR programs, we found that the one-day program also offered a number of advantages:

1. Many women can more readily get away from home for a whole day than for an evening to attend a two-hour, one-night-a-week class. In the fall, husbands or older siblings who are at home watching football on TV can assume responsibility for younger children.

2. Since some participants travel as much as four or five hours each way to take part in a Saturday program, the investment seemed worthwhile when they got a lengthier program for their effort.

3. The experience of being with other women and sharing problems for six hours develops a consciousness and, as one adult educator put it, the feeling of “relatedness” that is matched only by that developed in the residential schools for women workers described in Chapter 7.

4. Many women make Saturday their “day out,” away from the concerns of home and job. Following the Saturday program, which usually ends at 4:00 P.M., students arrange to shop together in Ann Arbor, then have an early dinner, before driving home.

5. Coming to a Saturday workshop can circumvent both the issues of reimbursement for lost time and of overnight hotel and meal expenses. The local union may be more amenable to sending a greater number of participants if the cost involves only transportation and a five-dollar registration fee (ten dollars if lunch is provided).

Educationally, the availability of six to eight hours for a one-day conference or workshop is important in building skills. It is a good time period for consciousness raising. Participants come from a wide geographic area and diverse unions, industries, and communities. It builds a support network, while the group also has ample time to focus on a single issue. A six-hour period allows for (and, we believe, requires) different educational techniques that might combine a speaker, a panel discussion, a film, group discussions, mock situations, and a summary session on back-home application. Looking back on our earliest Saturday workshops and conferences, we realize that the first series served as consciousness raisers to emphasize issues and stimulate women to move on their own behalf. This focus has changed with time, and currently the Saturday programs offer skill building and leadership training.

For example, advanced workshops for women moving up in the union structure supplement our other educational programs—the Workers’ Basic Study Program, or the winter or summer schools and / or prior one-day conferences. Advanced assertiveness training, advanced collective bargaining, and advanced communication skills were three recent Saturday programs.

Anatomy of a Saturday Workshop

Like most labor education programs, the Saturday workshops and conferences follow a five-step process: planning, recruiting, administration, evaluation, and follow-up.

Planning

The Saturday series is planned for three-or four-month periods, usually a fall and a winter program, with three or four Saturday workshops scheduled in each program. This makes publicity more efficient, as fliers mailed in the fall and in mid-winter are effective but do not publicize too far in advance. Detailed planning is a staff function, but the topics chosen reflect the suggestions of residential school students and of a statewide planning committee of trade union women. Thus the workshops and conferences also serve as follow-up to the residential programs and are based on the needs expressed by those involved.

Additional input on topics comes from evaluation forms filled out by participants at each of the Saturday workshops. While topics usually focus on leadership skills and union-related issues, Saturday programs conducted in the Detroit area with the Labor Studies Center at Wayne State University reflect some different needs, and have dealt with adjusting to divorce, separation and death, and battered wives.

Program dates should not conflict with conferences planned by unions, community organizations, and other groups in the area, or with religious and other holidays. The planning committee provides valuable input on scheduling, but it is important to check with unions in the area before final decisions are made on workshop dates.

Instructors, speakers, and resource persons are drawn from union, government, and community agencies and university staffs. As in programs described in other chapters, utilize as many women instructors and leaders as possible, to provide role models. Some of our instructors are rank-and-file union members expert and experienced in a particular area—for example, collective bargaining, grievance handling, community services, skilled trades, safety and health. Recently we have begun to train teachers chosen from among program participants who demonstrate ongoing commitment and skills. In fall 1978, ten union women were trained as facilitators for assertion training workshops and utilized as assistants in an advanced program on this subject. These ten facilitators will eventually conduct assertion workshops with other groups of trade union women around the state.

It is often necessary to help workshop leaders and instructors choose teaching materials for the kits or notebooks prepared for participants. Maintaining files of usable materials is helpful. At most of the Saturday workshops, a literature table displays free pamphlet material as well as relevant paperback books for sale, obtained on consignment from the University of Michigan’s student-owned bookstore. The EEOC, Department of Labor, university and union education programs, newspapers, journals, and magazines are rich sources for reprints for the literature table. More than once we have successfully adapted these materials as questionnaires, case studies, or mock role-playing situations tailored to particular participant needs.

Recruiting and Publicity

Face-to-face recruiting remains the most effective approach to publicizing conferences and workshops. Planning committee members and program participants are the most enthusiastic recruiters for the Saturday series, since they have an interest in the success of a workshop that they have suggested or helped to develop. Additionally, past participants in conferences may have started women’s committees in their local unions or have volunteered for union education committees. Through their increased activism they become excellent contacts for publicizing and recruiting in their locals. In addition, a systematic mailing goes to all participants of previous programs and to women unionists who have taken part in other ILIR Labor Studies Center activities, to Michigan members of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, to union women’s committees, and to union staff. Union education representatives who serve on the Washtenaw Area Labor Education Board, the advisory committee to the Labor Studies Center, are an integral part of the recruitment process.

Press releases go to union and community newspapers. ILIR staff attend local union and regional meetings to announce forthcoming programs; fliers are distributed at union functions; and radio and TV interviews and announcements help publicize the programs.

Administration

We have found it most effective to assign one ILIR staff person to the administration of each workshop. If possible, that staff member should not teach, so that she is free to greet, register, and talk with participants and to handle any non-teaching problems that might arise, as well as deal with the many administrative details. A Saturday workshop checklist includes remembering chalk, name tags, and newsprint; collecting the registration fee from those who did not register in advance; making notes on more materials to order; arranging chairs and tables; and so forth.

The Saturday workshops provide useful training experiences for interns from the University of Michigan School of Social Work and the School of Education as well as for undergraduate students interested in labor education as a field work placement. The workshops usually attract between twenty and fifty participants, and are a good place for student interns to learn the anatomy of a workshop program in which they can assume responsibility and work as part of a staff team.

The end of a Saturday workshop or conference, of course, is only the beginning of cleanup and follow-through. A list of tasks for this phase includes: reading participants’ evaluation forms; evaluating the workshop and making notes for future workshops based on this experience; sending thank-you letters and payments to instructors and resource persons; sending any follow-up materials promised to participants and instructors; making sure participants’ names are on the mailing list; debriefing the student intern; planning such necessary follow-up as advanced workshops, materials development, or special programs; sending any newspaper coverage/photos of the workshop to intructors, participants, or the press.

Teaching Methods

The one-day model is flexible, allowing for effective use of various teaching methods and approaches developed for adults through workers’ and labor education. Experiential learning methods could include mock bargaining games to simulate real-life situations (for example, to develop negotiating skills); video-taped grievance sessions; discussion questionnaires; buzz groups; panel discussions, using participants with special expertise and experience; community-building exercises to develop group awareness and to sensitize participants to group dynamics and interpersonal skills; simulated committees (for example, to plan a season of education programs for a local union). Films, film strips, and other audiovisual aids are valuable if integrated into the program—an introduction and follow-up discussion should relate them to the workshop’s focus.

Where the one-day conference or workshop is aimed at initiating a program in a specific geographic area, or is focused on a single topic, it is useful to include speakers who can both share information and demonstrate the availability of people who are resources in that area; they can be utilized in follow-up programs. Including women leaders from area unions and the community as speakers performs a similar function: it highlights that there are women in the participants’ home base who have moved ahead.

However, for many women the workshop is a very different way of spending their time from what they are used to. It is important to provide comfortable chairs, a break at least every hour and a half, and the opportunity to move about throughout the day. Finally, there is a limit to how much information and skill building can be accomplished in one day. Effectively adapting to that limit and refraining from cramming too much into a one-day program is a constant challenge to program planners.

Some General Observations

Wherever possible, the Saturday workshops are team-taught by women facilitators from a union and a university setting, with special efforts made to include a variety of unions and women from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. This record of team-taught workshops has been a little-publicized but important accomplishment of the program.

The issue of child care during Saturday workshops has surfaced a number of times in program planning for women workers. Early in our program we faced the problem of finding and offering such a service. When we rented a nearby nursery school for the day, only one participant brought a child. The issue of child care during workshops and conferences involves careful planning and assessment of actual need. Several working mothers who come to the Saturday programs told us that they prefer to make other arrangements for their children so that they can have the day without this responsibility; they provide for their children’s care either with family members at home of with their children’s friends in the neighborhood.

Throughout the country, women workers are on the move. They need the opportunity to meet with other women, share concerns and goals, acquire necessary information, and increase their skills and confidence to meet more effectively the many new challenges and responsibilities in their work places, unions, communities, and homes. Saturday workshops and conferences are one suggested format for accommodating the roles, needs, and time constraints of working women who live in a wide geographic area. Although these workshops are not enough by themselves, they can be an important link in a program developed by and for women workers.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Adult Education Association. Conducting Workshops and Institutes. Leadership Pamphlet no. 9. Chicago: AEA, 1956. This is an old but very useful standby.

Davis, Larry Nolan, and Earl McCallon. Planning, Conducting, Evaluating Workshops. Texas: Learning Concepts, 1974. A useful resource for more detailed analysis of workshops and how to conduct them.

Liveright, A. A. Union Leadership Training. New York: Harper, 1951. Out of print, but still very useful in working through methods, format, content, etc. Available in many libraries.

NOTE

1. Conducting Workshops and Institutes (Chicago: Adult Education Association, Leadership Pamphlet no. 9, 1956), p. 2.

CHAPTER 5

Training Rank and File Leaders: A Case Study

By MARJORIE B. RACHLIN

Well-groomed and smiling, the flight attendant of the 1950s and early 1960s played a traditional woman’s role. Hers was one of the glamour careers for women, usually terminated by marriage after two or three years. Only a few airlines used men as stewards or pursers, largely on overseas flights. Behind the glamour lay rigorous training and close supervision by the airlines’ management, who watched hairlines (above the collar), checked fingernail polish, and held regular weigh-ins. Warnings were issued for passenger complaints, financial problems, poor grooming, or other “unbecoming” conduct. Pilots kept a close watch on their “girls”—expecting deference and admiration both on the plane and off.

Then came Betty Friedan with The Feminine Mystique, and the civil rights laws of 1963 (Equal Pay) and 1964 (Title VII). The revolution in women’s lives and women’s expectations had begun.

In the airlines, the out-at-age-32 rule was the first to go, then the no-marriage and the no-babies rules. As a result, flight attendants began to see their job as a lifetime career—they stayed at work, baby or no. Seniority went up. In one major airline with 6,000 flight attendants, the average seniority rose from 18 months in 1968 to 9 years in 1978. As years of flying rose, the glamour wore thin for many flight attendants, who began to voice dissatisfaction with the role the airlines assigned them (“We move our tail for you”), with their wages and working conditions, and with their union contracts. They also began to ask for a greater role in union activities and for an equal voice in key decisions affecting them.

Most flight attendants had been organized into labor unions during the 1940s and 1950s, mainly in the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). In recent years, some flight attendants have gone to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and a number of other groups have founded independent associations. In 1973, ALPA flight attendants worked out a new status with their parent union and became an ALPA affiliate called the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). In all of these unions, new thinking among flight attendants has brought continuing unrest and change.

Like many women, flight attendants now feel both able and anxious to “run the show” in their unions. They believe that for too long key activities were left largely in the hands of union staff, who were not flight attendants and who were male. In almost all flight attendant groups today there is “feminist” momentum, with feminists increasingly active in leadership roles.

These women realize, however, that active members and leaders need training—in negotiating, grievance handling, and union administration. In recent years, a number of flight attendant groups have devoted considerable time and money to training programs that build these union skills and increase their understanding of unionism. Most of the training programs for flight attendants in the last six years have been conducted either by the Extension Division of the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations (Cornell University) or by the George Meany Center for Labor Studies. These two institutions have developed quite different programs, because each has worked with flight attendants affiliated with different unions. The Cornell program has worked with flight attendants in the Transport Workers Union and with some of the independents. The George Meany Center has worked for the most part with the Association of Flight Attendants. The AFA programs are described in this chapter.

Training Needs

The Association of Flight Attendants came to the George Meany Center in 1974 to discuss its training needs. Since that time a number of programs have been planned and jointly conducted by the union and the center. These programs have given center staff an unusual opportunity to develop approaches and techniques geared to this largely female group of young unionists, who regard themselves as white-collar professionals.

The impetus for the programs came from the 1973 structural change in ALPA that gave the flight attendants affiliate status with greater independance and responsibility. For years prior to this, ALPA had a Steward and Stewardess Division that covered flight attendants on all airlines with which ALPA had bargaining rights and contracts for flight attendants. Officers of ALPA and the Steward and Stewardess Division were elected. During this time, ALPA offices and ALPA personnel across the nation provided union services to the Steward and Stewardess Division, while ALPA headquarters supplied contract negotiators to aid bargaining committees, and legal staff for handling the higher steps of the grievance procedure. Overall, this structure gave ALPA personnel considerable responsibility for decisions important to flight attendants, while ALPA also, in effect, was subsidizing union services that flight attendants needed.

In the early 1970s this arrangement began to wear thin. Career flight attendants, with their increased years of service, began to look critically at their contracts. Some of them felt ALPA staff who handled negotiations and grievances did not always understand their problems. Their distrust was reinforced by the fact that ALPA technical staff, hired to work with pilots, were male and had no experience as flight attendants. Furthermore, many feminist-influenced flight attendants wanted more day-today control over their union.

At the same time, ALPA was increasingly uneasy over the status of the Steward and Stewardess Division. The jumbo jets that went into service in the late 1960s required many more flight attendants. The Steward and Stewardess Division’s membership was growing dramatically. ALPA pilots began to wonder whether flight attendants’ votes might someday determine their association’s top officers and policies.

In 1973, the Steward and Stewardess Division became the Association of Flight Attendants, an ALPA affiliate. Each group was to elect its own officers. Bargaining rights under the Railway Labor Act were to be transferred from ALPA to AFA. ALPA agreed to subsidize AFA for its first five years. This agreement was not without opposition among AFA members. Flight attendants have relied on pilots for advice and help for many years. Some AFA members felt they would do better to continue under the old arrangements. They saw advantages in ALPA’s financial resources and thought that backing in strikes would be more likely. Other flight attendants wanted to leave ALPA entirely and join another union or become an entirely independent association. Thus AFA began its existence without unanimous member commitment.

Flight attendants had seen the need for education early in their union’s history, and had conducted programs using ALPA’s training and headquarters staff. In 1972, the Steward and Stewardess Board of Directors passed a resolution mandating the training of all new local council chairpersons, but after the structural change in 1973, officers began to think seriously about a broader package of training to help both officers and rank-and-file leaders meet their increased responsibility in bargaining and grievance handling. They also felt that AFA leadership needed to become more union-minded, to understand and identify with the rest of the labor movement.

During 1974 and 1975, AFA officers and George Meany Center staff planned training programs to reach three groups in the union: negotiating committees, local council officers, and those involved in the grievance process at the higher steps. The first of these programs was held in mid-1974. From the start, AFA wanted programs that provided practical skills in specific subject matter (collective bargaining, local union administration, and arbitration techniques). Equally important, they hoped participants would come away feeling proud to be part of the labor movement and of AFA. Thus, like most labor education, the programs had goals in the areas of skills development, providing information, and union building, all of which had to be included in the planning.

A residential program with small groups was the best way to ensure that participants got acquainted with each other and got to know both teachers and AFA officers informally. The Center’s campus facility in Silver Spring, Maryland, was ideal for this; AFA officers agreed to live on campus during the program whenever possible. Group size has ranged from fifteen to twenty-five. From the start, AFA has paid lost time and expenses for all participants. Each program has included flight attendants from a wide mix of airlines, a conscious move by the AFA to build unity and loyalty among its member flight attendants, who work on sixteen airlines. This is a concern because each airline tries to instill company loyalty in its flight attendants. By mixing people from different airlines in an environment that encourages discussion of problems and experiences across airlines, the program provides perspective and underscores the need to work through the union.

Programs began in mid-1974. The institutes on bargaining and on grievance arbitration were held until 1977, when they were discontinued because AFA was short of money. The local council training was held regularly, however, with a total of fifteen programs from 1974 to 1980.

In the AFA, each airline’s union group selects a Negotiating Committee, usually four flight attendants who are active in the union. Often they have had little previous negotiating experience. The five-day Institute on Collective Bargaining was set up for members of these committees. Training emphasizes bargaining techniques. The first day began with a lecture/discussion on bargaining power and strategy. The group then divided into management and union teams and spent an entire day in mock negotiations. These negotiating sessions were videotaped and played back the next day, with extensive discussion and analysis by instructors. The final part of the program presented material on the airline industry, the Mutual Aid Pact, and specific bargaining provisions of the Railway Labor Act. This program has been conducted four times at the Center.

In usual airlines grievance procedure, grievances not settled at the local level go to a four-person System Board (two union and two management members), and then, if that fails, to a board of three or five persons that has one neutral member. Presentations at these boards are formal and resemble arbitration. The Center’s program on grievance arbitration was designed for people who were handling grievances at the top airline level or who were serving on System Boards.

When AFA first started this advanced grievance program, officers considered training experienced flight attendants to become the “presenters” at board hearings, replacing the ALPA and outside lawyers who had been used in the past. AFA also sought to give its union System Board members a better understanding of their responsibilities on the boards, so they could be more effective during hearings and in executive session. As time went on, this latter aim became the major focus, since AFA decided to expand its legal staff to handle most of the presentations.

The five-day Grievance Arbitration/System Board program began with a day-long lecture/ discussion by an expert (often an arbitrator) on how to prepare for a hearing. For two and a half days participants, divided into management and labor teams, worked to prepare and present actual cases before actual arbitrators familiar with the airline industry. These presentations were videotaped, played back with the arbitrators present, and the arbitrators made specific comments and suggestions. Class sessions on the role and use of witnesses and the responsibilities of System Board members complete the institute. The center conducted four of these programs.

The program for local council officers has been held more often than the others, in part because this training is mandated by the union. Fifteen local council seminars have been held, some two and a half days in length, some three and a half days.

The heart of AFA’s structure is the Local Council (LC) in each domicile base of each airline. These councils, similar to local unions, vary in size; for example, the United LC in Chicago has 2,000 flight attendants, while the Frontier LC in Salt Lake City has fewer than 100. Each council elects a chairperson, vice chairperson, and secretary, and appoints a number of committee chairs. The council is the basic communications link to flight attendants, and provides the key place for participation by members in the structure of AFA. All grievance handling begins at the local council level.

Local council officers often lack experience when first elected, making it essential that the training program cover a multitude of subjects. Over the years content has changed to reflect the needs of the union: For example, the 1978 training program focused on officers’ duties (the union’s constitution, organizing the council, working with members and committees), grievances (role-playing cases, using videotape playback and discussion), and the AFA and unionism (labor history, collective bargaining, headquarters services, air safety, civil rights laws).

In the beginning, the Labor Studies Center provided most of the teachers for the Local Council training, with AFA officers handling some sessions and providing backup for others. As AFA officers and staff gained experience they took on more teaching, and they now lead sessions on bargaining, grievances, communications, and the like. Today the program is taught largely by AFA; this has been one of the most positive outcomes of the training.

Teaching Techniques

Role-playing has been used whenever possible. This not only provides hands-on experience for the novice, but also encourages participants to become involved with each other and to work together. Videotape is a valuable learning tool when a skilled instructor conducts the discussion. Participants can see the situation—and themselves—when the heat is off. Class discussion can pick up on important points and help everyone learn how to handle them. Used tactfully, video playback is a confidence builder—most people look better than they expect on TV. If the mock situation has been handled poorly by participants, discussion can focus on the problem presented by management and how to handle it, rather than on the mistakes of the participants.

But not all subjects lend themselves to this method. Lectures and discussions are used often throughout the programs. Labor Studies Center staff focused on building the comfortable, informal atmosphere familiar to all labor educators, and on setting a time frame within which speakers stopped for questions and group participation.

Because so many women are used to seeing themselves as followers, staff consistently made it clear that all wisdom did not reside up front with the instructor. Participants were encouraged to contribute from their experiences, and instructors were selected who understood this approach.

Unionism and Feminism

Throughout the program, AFA and Labor Studies Center staff focused on presenting an image of unionism with which flight attendants could identify. This meant emphasizing women in the labor movement and professional and white-collar jobs. In a labor history session based on the film The Inheritance, for example, the discussion leader pointed to the role women played in the early garment strikes. Discussing developments in labor since the movie was made, she reminded the group of the feminist revolution and told them of the rising numbers of teachers, TV performers, and other white-collar and professional people coming into unions today.

Since 90 percent of flight attendants are women, and since many of them are influenced by feminist thinking, feminist posters (“Don’t Call Me Chick”) decorate the classroom. Books about women in labor history are described and sold. Staff emphasizes that union leadership tasks require the same kind of brains and competence that women are now using in many new fields.

To counteract the media picture of the labor leader as a middle-aged white male, women instructors and speakers were used wherever possible. Flight attendants expect to see able women leading their own union—to this group the program has added women arbitrators, women labor educators, women labor lobbyists, and the like.

These various instructors provide a range of role models. Some participants identify with a lively, forceful personality, while others are relieved to know that a low-key woman has been successful in negotiations or grievances. Using women as role models also builds confidence: they discuss their early problems or fears in entering union activities. One such woman, who described how she was thrown into her first job with no expereince and no help, was asked, “How did you get through those first months?” She replied, “I cried a lot.” This kind of candor is reassuring.

Conducting the Program: Special Aspects

The program was carefully structured and conducted with attention to schedule, which flight attendants expect from their training on the airlines. Equally important, the general tone of warmth and friendliness helps participants to feel comfortable with each other and with the instructors, freeing them to talk and to participate. This atmosphere also builds group spirit and encourages people to share experiences across airlines.

Adult education techniques, when used well, contribute to this. Question and discussion periods were built into the lecture sessions; buzz groups, case problems, and role-playing provided opportunities for participants to talk to one another rather than to instructors. Socializing in the bar, at meals, and in dorm rooms was encouraged, and both AFA and other instructors made an effort to be available for informal talk.

The opening session always is important in setting the tone. Participants and instructors briefly introduced themselves, followed by an exercise to get participants acquainted. In this exercise, called “Cost and Promise,” members were asked to think through what it had cost them to come to the program (left husband or baby, gave up skiing weekend), and then to spell out what they needed to make the training worth the cost. Participants divided into groups of four strangers, all from different airlines. (Here we made the point that one value of the program was the chance to get to know about problems of workers on other airlines.) Groups talked over the Cost and Promise areas, combined their thinking on pieces of flip chart paper, then one person from each group reported. This takes about fifty minutes and serves as a good icebreaker; each person suddenly has three “buddies.” It also helps the staff learn what students have on their minds. The program planners can add items that seem important and have been omitted, or individual needs can be taken up in informal discussions.

Materials

When the program began, little material was available on the airline industry, the Railway Labor Act, or flight attendants’ problems. Cases for arbitration and grievance-handling sessions had to be developed with the union. For other subjects, instructors adapted what standard materials they could.

AFA, however, had begun to prepare materials for its Local Council officers, since they had a deep concern about their training needs. In 1975, they published an extensive Handbook that deals with all aspects of union administration; in 1976 they produced a Grievance Handbook. These publications now are used as the basis for training, and serve as a ready reference for local leaders throughout their terms of office.

Meeting New Needs

As AFA officers and staff became more sophisticated about workers’ education techniques, they began to see more clearly how to relate them to the needs of their members. Evaluations, sometimes oral but more often by questionnaires sent from AFA headquarters, were conducted with participants, and these yielded additional and valuable insights. AFA input in program planning increased; the union recommended changes in content and experiments that involved different ways of teaching some subjects.

To meet the special need of those handling grievances in the initial steps at the local level, programs were designed for locations closer to the membership. For these “Grievance Handling Road Shows,” AFA staff and experienced leadership have served as instructors and traveled to bases along the West Coast. The union also has conducted one session to train negotiating committee members.

One problem that affects the training program remains unsolved, although AFA currently is wrestling with it. Turnover among local leadership is high. The problem is more serious for flight attendants than for those in other unions because they are young and mobile; their work prevents them from getting together as a group. Flight attendants are in and out of airports, each one flying different hours and days. This makes union leadership a frustrating job. Local Council officers have trouble reaching members. Forced to operate on the telephone to a large extent, they rarely get a feeling of group support. Most leaders use their homes for offices, since few locals have a permanent office. When one set of officers is voted out, there is little continuity; the next set has seldom seen the former leaders run the union.

AFA is tackling the problem in several ways. Negotiating committees are trying to win lost time for grievance handling, paid by the airlines. This was negotiated successfully in the contract with United Airlines in 1978. The union also is assigning staff negotiators—experienced flight attendants who have negotiated on their own airlines—to advise new negotiating committees. Finally, AFA hopes to take its training programs to key cities and to develop, in addition, refresher courses for local council leaders who have been through the basic course.

AFA is a young union, still developing structures and traditions that will best serve its membership. Flight attendants themselves are in a process of change, as more and more see flying as a lifetime job, and realize the union’s importance and its need for good leadership. Today flight attendants who have high seniority and a career commitment to flying are running for local and airline-wide union office. Once there, they want to become experts in union work. Training and education will continue to have a high priority for the union. AFA leadership and staff have learned much about workers’ education techniques from their experiences with the Labor Studies Center. This will carry over in the programs they develop and conduct on their own, as well as those they continue to hold at the center.

CHAPTER 6

Credit Programs for Working Women

By KATHERINE SCHRIER

The 1970s saw a rapid growth in the number, range, and availability of education programs designed especially for working adults returning to school. These are not the stereotypical continuing education programs on hobbies or vocational subjects, nor are they traditional courses offered through agricultural or cooperative extension services. This new wave of adult education responds to the needs of worker students who seek courses to help them advance on the job or in their labor organizations as they further what often are long-delayed educational goals. Our age of credentialism recognizes the ever-rising level of education of the American work force, the demands of increasing automation and specialization, and the training necessary to retain present jobs or to advance. It acknowledges the need for specific information and leadership skills in order to be effective in today’s complicated labor-management relations and union organizations.

Fortunately for workers, education has become a buyer’s market. Universities and community colleges, finding the traditional student population of 18- to 22-year-olds decreasing, are forced to reach out to attract the working adult who is returning to the classroom. New degree programs in labor studies are emerging, incorporating more flexible curricula, more convenient class times and locations, and credit granted for life experience. All of these ease the working adult on his—and, increasingly, her—way. In 1952, some 51 percent of women in the work force had completed at least four years of high school. By 1973, this had increased to 75 percent. The number of those with some college had increased from 16.6 percent to 25 percent in the same period. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor) predicts that by 1985, 78 percent of all women workers will have high school diplomas, while the number of those with four years or more of college will have risen from 12 percent in 1973 to 17 percent.

A special report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in December 1975, “Going Back to School at 35 and Over,” cited three main reasons for the return of adult workers to school. First, workers feel handicapped by obsolete skills and unable to compete with those who are more educated. Second, they want to keep up with new developments in their chosen fields. Third—and this relates particularly to the woman student—they seek skills needed to reenter the job market. Economic pressures lead more and more women into the labor force, but on the average they still earn less than two dollars for every three dollars earned by men. Education is seen as one way to remedy this discrepancy. One reason not dealt with in the Department of Labor report is critical to understanding the current demand for labor-related courses and the proliferation of evening and weekend labor studies programs offered by university extension and community colleges across the country. For all union activists, whether shop stewards who need to evaluate contract or health and safety violations, or union officers costing out a new bargaining demand, labor relations are growing more specialized and complex every day. To face management experts across the table and represent workers effectively takes more knowledge and skill than ever before. Among those seeking to become more involved in union affairs are women, who constitute the greatest untapped resource of potential leadership the labor movement has ever had.

Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (NYSSILR) was chartered by the New York State Legislature in 1944 to bring education programs both to industry and to labor unions and their members. In addition to an on-campus undergraduate and graduate program in industrial and labor relations, the school includes an extension division with offices in New York State’s major urban centers. At first its programs focused on such tool subjects as shop steward training, labor law, and collective bargaining, which were offered through short courses, conferences in union halls, or programs held at the university’s extension centers.

But in 1968, in response to student demand for more in-depth information on labor subjects, the extension program took a new form. A two-year college credit certificate program in labor studies was launched in New York City, offered one night a week for three terms each year. Its purpose was to combine content that union officials and members needed in labor-related subjects with skill training that would enable them to put that content to work. The eighteen college credits earned through the twelve courses of this sequence are transferable to two- and four- year institutions in the city, particularly Empire State College’s new Labor Division, while the format of the two-year labor studies program quickly proved replicable. Within only a few years, each of the NYSSILR extension districts had opened a similar program. More than 1,400 students throughout the state enroll each year in this labor studies sequence. Course offerings range from oral and written communications to labor history, from collective bargaining to science and technology for workers, from labor law and arbitration to the arts, and a host of other core courses and electives.

In 1972 the NYSSILR, with a grant from the Ford Foundation, undertook a year-long study into the barriers to the participation of women in their labor unions.¹ Although women constituted 25 percent of all union members, only about 5 percent held top elected or appointed union posts. A subsidiary concern was that enrollment in the new labor studies credit program was overwhelmingly male. What held women back from participating in union and educational activities?

In surveying a cross-section of New York City unions with large numbers of women members, the researchers found that many personal barriers—such as family responsibilities—were shared by women and men, but that these constituted more of a barrier to participation for women. Such job-related barriers as active union women’s feeling that supervisors were harder on them than on the men seemed to lend themselves to programmatic remedy. However, the findings that led to the development of a special education program for union women were related most closely to the barriers that prevent many women from competing with men for union posts and responsibilities. Women displayed low self-confidence and feelings that they lacked competence and necessary union-related information; they desired education and leadership training to develop the skills they needed. Women wanted this training more than the men surveyed, and minority women wanted it most of all.

In response, the ILR investigators designed a program that would provide both the skills and the information women sought. Again with Ford Foundation funding, two kinds of courses were developed: short courses in such specific skills as effective grievance handling and public speaking, and an evening college-credit program that provided an alternate first year to the two-year labor studies sequence. Here women unionists could study together and build their self-confidence in an environment of mutual support before they went on to the second year of the ILR School’s labor studies program.²

Trade Union Women’s Studies

Structure

A labor advisory committee, formed at the program’s outset, represented unions with large numbers of women members. This ensured that the courses to be offered would reflect the needs of women unionists. Because most women wear more than one hat, combining full-time jobs with home and family, an early starting hour of 5:15 P.M. was decided on, with students encouraged to bring a supper sandwich for the coffee break. This enables students to take care of family responsibilities before too late in the evening, with less travel after dark—an important consideration for the urban woman.

The school year is divided into three twelve-week terms. Each applicant meets with the program coordinator for a personal interview to ensure that she understands the program’s purpose, course sequence, and attendance and homework requirements. Although admission is open, applicants who need remedial help may be steered into a program that provides this first, then re-involved in Trade Union Women’s Studies, which operates at a first-year community college level and prepares students for a return to academic work.

Content

The curriculum of Trade Union Women’s Studies is developed around the union experiences of the students and the knowledge and skills they need to participate more effectively in their labor organizations. It recognizes that, while almost all of them have completed high school, they return to school with trepidation and often with rusty study skills. This, and knowledge of their family and work responsibilities, helps to determine the course sequence and the nature of the homework assignments.

The six courses, two each term, include one content course and one skills-development course as an integrated unit, graduated in degree of difficulty:

Term 1: Writing and Study Skills (refresher course; develops research techniques); American Labor History (special emphasis on women’s role).

Term 2: Oral Communications (develops poise and self-confidence); Union Organization and Administration (how unions function; operating within union structures).

Term 3: Collective Bargaining (constructing and costing out contracts; the bargaining process); Social Behavior and Work (the psychology of leadership).

All courses require written assignments, but these are staggered so as not to fall due at the same time. Each term’s content course requires the heavier reading, while the skills-development course focuses on reading combined with preparation for class participation (writing assignments, public speaking, leadership “games”). Often the skills course will deal with an assignment for the content course. For example, in Writing and Study Skills students learn how to prepare a research paper, based on a labor history assignment. Assignments are grounded in the union experiences of the students. For example, a series of worksheets was designed to implement one goal of the Union Organization and Administration course, the development of an in-depth understanding of the structure of the local union. The worksheets deal with such subjects as how union dues are used, provisions of pension and welfare plans, local union grievance procedures, how committees work in the local, and the role of women in each student’s own union. Students explore these areas between classes and share their findings during class discussions. The Collective Bargaining course involves extended mock bargaining over a contract issue important to women workers. Oral Communications assignments involve preparation for various kinds of speaking occasions that students are likely to encounter in the union.

Whether or not the students are already active as stewards or executive board members, self-confidence is developed as information is provided. Many women have been socialized not to take risks, such as those required in running for union office, unless they are sure of winning. Men, on the other hand, are conditioned to take those risks and not to condemn themselves unduly if they lose. Part of the purpose of Trade Union Women’s Studies is to teach women how unions work, how to set goals for themselves, and to encourage them to accept the risk of losing. That involves a willingness to come back and try again if need be. The role models presented by the teachers and students in the program, and the examples built into course content, combine to develop this self-confidence.

Support Services

From the first contact with the program coordinator, students learn that there are support services available to them: individual course counseling, follow-up when they miss a class, homework assignments sent to them, tutoring when needed. Recently a remedial and tutorial writing center has been opened, utilizing specially trained peer counselors. This service is available to students at no cost. An on-site library and trained librarian are additional resources. The Trade Union Women’s Studies Alumnae Association keeps the group in touch after “graduation” for continuing support, through meetings, conferences and programs it sponsors, and through a newsletter.

Follow-up

A planning session is offered to each completing group to discuss the range of options available for further education. Strong efforts are made to keep in touch with students after they leave the program, through the Alumnae Association as well as through periodic follow-up questionnaires and personal contact.

Recruiting Students

Union support of Trade Union Women’s Studies has been important from the beginning. The program’s Labor Advisory Committee helped shape and design the courses, and has been a key factor in recruiting. Unions, especially those with substantial numbers of women members, increasingly count on women for support, participation, and as volunteer leaders. Encouraging women’s involvement in their labor organizations should be high on union agendas, and many unions that appreciate this do support attendance at the program through full or partial scholarships, as well as recruiting efforts.

Unions announce the program in their newspapers. Union staff help in recruiting. Sometimes union-negotiated tuition refund programs reimburse students’ expenses.

By far the most effective recruiters, however, are the students themselves, who publicize the program among their fellow workers. Recruiting also takes place through the local chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and through the annual regional summer school for union women sponsored by the University and College Labor Education Association’s Committee on Programs for Union Women. Mailing lists provide another publicity vehicle, since these include names of union women who have attended recent conferences and short courses offered through Trade Union Women’s Studies.

Students tend to reflect the city’s occupational mix. Many are from the clerical and service sectors. They tend to be between 35 and 50 years old, to have finished high school, and to be the sole support of their families; three out of every four are members of a minority group.

Developing a Corps of Teachers

Who teaches in this program? Women who can meet both Cornell’s rigorous standards for resident faculty and the program’s own demands. These latter include experience working with adults, empathy for the goals and motivations of the students, and subject matter competency, both theoretical and practical in terms of the students’ union and work structures. This is a tall order. To fill it, the program coordinator conducts teacher-development programs and asks potential teachers to observe ongoing classes to familiarize themselves with the backgrounds of the students they will teach and with techniques and methods of workers’ education.

The program coordinator monitors the classes and obtains a written student evaluation half-way through each term. Student representatives elected by each class meet with the coordinator for additional discussion and suggestions. Evaluations are obtained from teachers as well. In addition, the coordinator works with each teacher on her course outline and textbook selection, and on providing additional materials or classroom aids.

Teacher orientation sessions provide an opportunity for interchange among the program’s part-time faculty, and for discussions of methods, techniques, and new films or filmstrips. Even so, some teachers just do not work out, or are unable to add this new commitment to their schedules, and must be replaced. The recruiting process is continuous.

It has proved invaluable to involve union practitioners as teachers or resources. The students thrive on meeting and talking with women who are leaders, who have come up through the same channels the students are discussing in class, who have collective bargaining experience, who head pension and welfare programs or who are labor attorneys or organizers. Special efforts are made to recruit minority women as teachers.

Admittedly, recruiting is easier in large urban centers than in smaller communities. Although not easy, it has proved possible even outside these centers to find women with the experience and academic credentials necessary. As the program grows, however, so does the need to provide a continuous training program for those interested in combining worker and adult education methodology with their experiential or academic qualifications.

The program coordinator would, if pressed, confess that she seeks some “extras” from the teachers she recruits: a willingness to come early and stay late, to give her phone number to students so they can call her at home if an assignment is not clear or if they miss a class and need to catch up. Sometimes teachers need to meet with students who may have fallen behind in their work. In short, there is far more to workers’ education than any teaching contract ever spells out.

Since the program’s inception in 1973, a roster of more than fifty part-time extension faculty has been developed for the New York City-based Trade Union Women’s Studies.

Financing the Program

Initially developed through a long-term Ford Foundation grant, Trade Union Women’s Studies has gradually been institutionalized until today it is part of the annual budget of Cornell University’s Extension Division of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Program tuition fees cover teaching costs and some administrative expenses. However, the need persists for scholarship funds for women whose unions do not cover tuition. This reflects the lower incomes of women workers and the fact that a majority of the students in the program are single heads of families.

Longitudinal Survey

Because this is a continuing program with roots in a research project, there is ongoing interest in results, learning what happens to women who complete the program. Do they continue their education? Do they formulate different goals when they are in the program from those they had on entering? Do they move up on the union leadership ladder? A preliminary survey after three years of operation yielded affirmative answers to each of these questions. Many students do continue in the second year of labor studies offered through Cornell’s extension division, but with a difference. Observers found that these women participated twice as often in class discussion in the mixed male-female group that they attended the second year than did women who had not spent the first year in the union women’s program. Their educational goals came to include the possibility of earning an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree, most electing to concentrate in labor studies.

The initial survey also showed that women had made substantial gains in union, community, and political leadership roles. They appeared at public meetings as panelists or speakers, testified at hearings, ran for political office, took leadership roles in the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and, often, moved into leadership roles in their own unions at a number of different levels. Although the students credit their participation in Trade Union Women’s Studies for their success, its actual relationship to their advancement is hard to measure. Nonetheless, their increased self-confidence and expertise seem to contribute. As Sonyia Leggett, a program graduate and now Secretary-Treasurer of New York Metro Area Postal Union, the largest postal local in the world, puts it: “When you came to your work as shop steward (after completing the program) you got a different kind of respect. It gave me a whole new outlook. It led to where I am now.”

Some Problems to Address

The program is not without problems. The students come to it overextended in their responsibilities: jobs, family duties, often personal or family illness to cope with, and union and community activities, to which they now add weekly course attendance and several hours of homework. In addition, these last two call for the use of reading and study skills that often need honing. But tutorial and remedial work take added time. Sometimes the bind they find themselves in is just too much, and as many as 25 to 30 percent of entering students leave the program before completion.

Even though the program’s retention rate is well ahead of the national average (50 percent of all college students are likely to leave before finishing their schooling), it is still a matter of concern to program staff and faculty. Additional support services are needed, but cannot be funded. Professional counseling would help; so would more remedial and tutorial assistance.

What adult students really need, men as well as women, is time off from their jobs for school. Professional and managerial employees often get this as a standard fringe benefit; blue- and white-collar workers rarely do. It would eliminate some of the pressures and fatigue, and help students, who travel from all parts of the city, to get to class on time.

Student selection procedures need to be examined. Open enrollment has been the policy, the only criteria being commitment to the program and the ability to do college-level work. Program staff are reluctant to give this up, for it results in a diversity of students that enriches the experience for all group members. Though a more selective admissions procedure might mean higher retention, it might also mean a different kind of outreach and student mix.

Improved teacher development, now under way, should strengthen the faculty’s ability to respond to special student needs. Methods of integrating course materials even more closely, and analysis of techniques for presenting these materials, form part of this development program. Teachers are encouraged to talk over classroom and student problems they are experiencing, and to exchange ideas.

Program Replication

A number programs, similar in design but each with a different emphasis, have been developed in the Metropolitan New York area and in five additional locations where NYSSILR has extension centers. These program models include:

Trade Union Women’s Studies for New York City Employees. This program is sponsored by District Council 37 (DC 37), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, at its own headquarters. A union of 105,000 employees of the city, DC 37 has for the past eight years had a negotiated Education Fund covering more than three-fourths of its members. As a result, the union has been able to offer a wide range of courses and services to city workers, from training in vocational and academic skills to a college in its own headquarters where a two- or four-year degree can be earned. The Education Fund Trust Agreement with the city reads:

The purpose of the Fund is to provide covered employees with programs of training and education related to preparation of such employees for greater job effectiveness and career advancement . . . .

Some 3,000 union members receive tuition assistance through the fund, and an additional 2,500 attend classes regularly at union headquarters.

Although three out of every four city workers eligible to enroll in these education programs are women, and 80 to 85 percent of the actual enrollees are female, until recently there were no programs specifically designed for the woman worker/unionist/student, no program for the woman who wanted to learn leadership skills or acquire more information about the specific problems of women in the work force.

In January 1977, DC 37’s Education Fund contracted with the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work to bring Trade Union Women’s Studies to DC 37 headquarters and make it available to city employees. Course materials were adapted to relate directly to the needs and problems of New York City employees. Tuition costs, but not books and materials, are paid for in full by the DC 37 Education Fund. DC 37’s support services, including a library, vocational and education counseling, and academic tutoring for students who need it, are also available at no additional cost.

Public Service Women’s Studies. The Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work sponsors a similar year-long program adapted to the career advancement needs of women who work for the New York State government. It now operates in five urban centers where there are substantial numbers of state employees. With the full cooperation of the Civil Service Employees Association, AFSCME Local 1000, as well as state administrators, clerical women in levels up to Grade 12 can earn college credits while they enhance their skills and prepare to complete their degree work in linked institutions that grant two- and four-year diplomas. The acute need for this kind of program is evidenced by the fact that, since it opened, there has been a waiting list each term in every location. Women know they are in the work force to stay, and are eager for opportunities to sharpen their skills and move ahead. Partial tuition refund monies that are available to state employees are important in enabling them to participate.

Career Development Women’s Studies. This institute program, designed primarily for clerical workers in private industry, also looks toward job advancement. Both Public Service Women’s Studies and Career Development Women’s Studies were made possible initially by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

An Off-Campus College for Women in Banking. The latest program on this model takes the year-long format to a major bank where, as part of a consent agreement for affirmative action, upper-level clerical workers without college degrees attend courses that earn them nine college credits as they develop skills in math, oral and written communications, principles of management, human relations, and the structure and development of organizations. Job promotions are possible—though certainly not guaranteed—as are opportunities for obtaining business-related (or other) degrees in any one of a number of educational institutions in the metropolitan area.

Conclusion

These new programs, based on a model that has been tested, both in its initial form and through adaptations, indicate flexible and sound replication possibilities. As the number of working women who seek to return to school grows, universities and colleges will look increasingly to ways of attracting this student population. Hopefully they will develop and offer programs to meet the special needs and concerns of women workers.

Today 54 percent of all part-time students in higher education are women; but this does not include most of the women in blue-collar, clerical, and service occupations. To reach them requires special outreach, programs offered at convenient times and locations, moderate tuition fees, and certain support services. These are a must if education for working women is to become a viable option and a utilized opportunity.

NOTES

1. For a detailed account of this study, see Barbara Wertheimer and Anne Nelson, Trade Union Women: A Study of Their Participation in New York City Locals (New York: Praeger, 1975).

2. Out of these initial programs for union women grew a wide range of research and education services that led to the formation in 1977 of the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, part of the ILR Extension Division.

CHAPTER 7

Residential Schools

By BARBARA M. WERTHEIMER

“I’m here! I’ve arrived!” With these words, some fifty or more years ago, a woman worker greeted the director of the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, located just outside Philadelphia on the Bryn Mawr college campus. True, she was late for the school’s opening—but she had “arrived,” having walked all the way from Chicago because she had no money.

Today’s labor union and other working women also have arrived, in different times and by different paths. One of their routes is via residential schools focused on labor subjects and leadership training, held on college campuses across the country. The short-term residential institute, still a mainstay of labor education, is the focus of this “how-to” chapter.

A residential school, as labor educators know it traditionally, “takes people away from home for five or six days, offers concentrated training and at the same time a way to use labor education staff to reach a number of different locals at one time.”¹ Usually its student body consists of officers, shop stewards, rank-and-file committee members, and active unionists, and sometimes union staff as well. A more formal definition in adult education terms is offered by Morgan, Holmes, and Bundy in Methods in Adult Education. The residental school

fosters intensive learning over a short period of time and, if organized correctly, prevents interruptions. Effort is exerted to develop informality, opportunity for participation and self-expression. Many techniques such as buzz sessions, role playing, group projects, and open discussion, as well as formal stage-audience presentations, may be used.²

Within the last four or five years, several types of residential schools for union and other working women have emerged. The AFL-CIO-sponsored George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Maryland offers a continous series of week-long training programs for union staff representatives. It has incorporated as a regular part of this program an annual training week for women staff and officers, directed by two women labor educators on its faculty. Two- or three-day schools are offered at an increasing number of university labor education centers around the country, often in cooperation with state federations of labor in the states in which they are located. These bring women together across union lines and enable those from the same towns and communities who may never have met to come together as union women. As chapters of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) organize in these states, they play a key role in advancing the movement toward statewide programs. A third kind of residential school is the week-long summer institute program sponsored regionally since 1976 under the auspices of the Standing Committee on Programs for Union Women, part of the University and College Labor Education Association (UCLEA).

How did these schools begin? In an effort to promote programming for and about women workers, a group of labor educators from universities affiliated with UCLEA met in 1975 and formed the Task Force on Programs for Union Women (as of 1978, the Standing Committee on Programs for Union Women). At its first meeting, the Task Force mapped out an ambitious three-pronged program: publication of a quarterly newsletter on women’s programs, to appear in the UCLEA Labor Studies Journal; inclusion of programs on or about working women as part of the agenda for all regional and national UCLEA meetings; and inter-university, inter-union regional women’s summer schools, to be conducted by the Task Force.

Since 1976, summer schools for union women have been conducted in the northeast, the midwest, and the south. From 1976 to 1980, some 1,200 women participated. In a like manner, the new Working Women’s Organizing Project, with its thirteen chapters of office workers in as many different cities, began in 1979 to hold annual residential summer schools based on the UCLEA model described here. Residential programs for working women are enjoying a renaissance, drawing from the past but building on the needs and energies of the present and the promise of the future.

While this chapter uses the one-week residential school for union women as a model, the principles on which these schools are planned and conducted apply as well to three-day programs or institutes lasting two weeks or more, and are, of course, transferable to residential programs not exclusively for women.

There is no question that there is a need for residential schools. “Union leadership is perhaps the only major profession in the United States for which there is no established and generally recognized sequence of professional training,” wrote Lois Gray, Associate Dean for Extension and Public Service of Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She believes that “Leadership training is one of the principal challenges facing the American labor movement.”³

Residential schools provide union activists and rank-and-file leaders with a concentrated training experience that encourages a better understanding of and more effective participation in the labor movement, and a willingness to assume increased union responsibility. They are particularly useful for union women, many of whom are new to the labor movement and inexperienced in its ways, as were many men in the 1930s. Today women seek both information and leadership training that will enable them to return to their locals better prepared to take their rightful place as equal partners in their labor union organizations. For many women this is their first exposure to union-oriented education and to programs that center around their concerns as working women.

Specifically, the schools for union women incorporate the following five purposes:

1. They provide skill training and information on labor union and working women’s issues.

2. They foster a spirit of mutual support and sisterhood among union women and among labor education staff.

3. They bring together a staff of university and union labor educators in a mix of women new to the field and those more experienced in labor education, to exchange program ideas and to learn from each other.

4. They provide a testing ground for ideas on programming for union women that can be transferred to home situations by both staff and students.

5. They give increased visibility to women in their unions, communities, and universities, demonstrating their interest in preparing for increased participation in their unions, and lending a new status to programming for women workers.

Planning and Conducting a Residential School

A planning committee that is representative of the women expected to attend the school is essential, both to ensure the relevancy of the program design and to recruit successfully. From the start, planning for the regional summer schools for union women has been done by a committee made up of the university and union labor educators who form the teaching staff and, after the first year, elected students from the preceding year’s school.

The committee should meet no later than six months preceding the summer school (the earlier the better.) After the first year, the evaluation from preceding years becomes important to the planning, and should be tabulated and the evaluator’s report circulated to the committee so that suggestions from students and staff become part of the planning process. Allow an entire day for the planning meeting, which should start with a review of the evaluation report. Decide on the size of the school and the cutoff number for registrations. Be sure the meeting room has blackboard and chalk; mapping out a program and schedule demands that planners see in front of them what they are working on as they go along.

The factors that one planning committee took into account in locating its school are suggestive. It sought:

A campus experienced in dealing with union programs (i.e., with access to xerox and multilith facilities, recreation equipment, ability to provide a picnic one night, a social room/lounge for exclusive use of school, easy access to telephones for calling home, air-conditioned classrooms, blackboards or flip charts for all classes, friendly office staff);

Good food;

Reasonable cost;

Room accommodations suitable for adult students;

A cooperative administration;

Atmosphere conductive to developing a spirit of unity (i.e., a central dining facility, students housed in one dorm);

No great distance between classrooms, dormitories, and dining;

Access for the handicapped;

Ability to provide for special dietary needs;

Possibilities for child care (there are not many requests for this; day-camp-age children are more likely);

Possible banquet room for final meal; and

Twenty-four-hour medical clinic.

It should be noted that strenuous efforts have been made to conduct summer schools on member-university (that is, UCLEA) campuses, rotating the campus each year where feasible. If booked well in advance, a college campus usually is available at reasonable cost for room, board, and use of conference facilities. An added advantage to using a UCLEA-member campus is that it has a labor education center that can requisition the best possible facilities, can oversee arrangements, and knows how to work with union groups.

The coordinator’s role is crucial. Ideally, the next year’s location should be chosen at the final staff meeting during the preceding year’s school, thus ensuring the reservation of space. At the planning meeting, the location should be confirmed and the coordinator chosen. The latter may be determined by the location: it makes good sense to have the host university’s labor center coordinate the school. If there is no experienced woman labor educator on the center’s staff, however, a codirector should be selected by the planning committee to work with the host institution. Women staff are essential role models for union or other working women’s schools. (Thus far this situation has come up three times. It brings home to the host university the importance of affirmative action in terms of its own staff.)

No one person will have all the attributes of the “ideal” coordinator. Perhaps the most important virtue is the ability to meld the school’s staff into a team that draws on the expertise of each for the benefit of the school as a whole. I have watched a relatively inexperienced coordinator who had this gift get every staff member working with her to help in those areas where she lacked experience. However, for the record, here are some of the qualities to look for in a coordinator:

Experience in organizing conferences and institutes;

Ability to work well with her peers, i.e., the labor education staff volunteering its time to teach at the school;

Ability to work with campus administration, on whose cooperation the school depends;

Some experience working with labor unions; ability to relate to rank-and-file women;

Ability to work well under pressure;

Knowledge of how to delegate responsibility and follow through;

Ability to deal with shifts in plans in emergencies;

Willingness to consult staff and accept suggestions gracefully;

Willingness to share the limelight with other staff;

Affiliation with a university that supports her time commitment to this activity, although it is her own dedication that will see her through.

The coordinator’s job commences immediately after the planning session adjourns. Chronologically, from that point to opening night at the school, she must see to the following:

Design, produce, and distribute the summer school brochure to ensure maximum time for recruiting.

Prepare a press release to be sent to all relevant publicity channels. Be sure “contact” name and address are included.

Send letters to all cooperating organizations to spell out ways you have agreed to work together and what each can do to ensure the success of the school (follow up on this).

Set up registration procedures and system for the school and the method for handling funds.

Appoint coordinators for each of the program sub-sections (for example, workshops, issues sessions, evening programs). These coordinators have the responsibility for making sure that all staff who teach the sub-section topics prepare their outlines and materials in advance and reproduce enough copies for each of their students. If a teacher is having difficulty preparing, her coordinator will know it and can work with her. The summer school coordinator keeps in touch with each section coordinator, but does not need to follow up on each teacher. This serves to divide the cost of materials production, since there is no school budget for this (see below). Thus each union or university with staff participating in the school absorbs a small, manageable part of the cost. Supplementary materials distributed at the schools usually are available without charge from such sources as the AFL-CIO Education Department.

Alert the school evaluator to be sure all necessary questionnaires are readied.

Prepare program schedules for the week, registration forms for opening day, all kit materials and kit folders, name tags, and information sheets about campus facilities.

Obtain workshop descriptions from instructors for inclusion in confirmation letter to students. Advance registration for workshops simplifies registration day, and permits arranging for additional sections of popular courses (see Advance Registration, below).

Films, audiovisuals, projector must be ordered well in advance.

Arrangements must be completed and confirmed for summer school picnic, wine and cheese for opening-night “social,” photographer, exact number and location of classrooms to be used, location of each activity.

Student confirmation letter providing travel information, what to bring, times for registration, when dormitory rooms will be open.

Plan for opening-day registration procedures.

Teachers must be kept informed of the school’s progress as plans develop. This is especially useful if registrations are short from some areas, as teachers can help recruit further.

Prepare a contingency plan in case some staff scheduled to teach cannot make it.

Who will lead the group singing that is such an important part of each school? Have songbooks been ordered, or songsheets prepared?

When staffing the summer school, keep in mind that the director should not take on a heavy teaching load. Ideally, she should not teach at all, especially if the school has 75 or more students. Instead, she should plan to sit in on as many classes as possible to get a sense of how they are going. At the planning meeting, labor educators will have volunteered for various teaching spots, based on their particular areas of expertise, experience, or interest. Newer staff might take workshop assignments, since these tend to deal with specific content, are more limited in scope, and are more manageable as an introductory assignment. Brand new staff or trainees might assume a team-teaching role together with labor educators, who will know how to involve them, will give them the opportunity to handle specific assignments, and will provide them with useful feedback.

Administrative responsibilities should be shared among the staff. For example, one staff member should work with the school’s recreation committee, another plan and chair the evening programs, another take orders for school photographs, another coordinate travel arrangements, and so forth. The coordinator should work with the elected student committee of the school, meeting with it daily to iron out any problems it brings to her attention and helping it develop plans for graduation at the end of the week.

For the first year of the regional summer schools for union women, a small Ford Foundation grant enabled women whose unions initially did not support the school to attend. In many cases this has resulted in changed attitudes as unions came to see the schools as successful and appreciated the enhanced participation of women members who attended—or as the women became better organized and more effective in seeking their unions’ support.

Aside from this initial contribution, the schools have been self-supporting for “out of pocket” costs. What has been contributed is the time of the union and university education staffs and the not-so-hidden costs of telephone, supplies, reproduction of materials, as well as travel and room and board costs for staff. The schools do not cover any staff expenses except for those of a few women not released by their union or university who utilize their vacation time to come to teach at the school. Such extras must be built into the school’s limited budget, which also includes film rentals, travel for special guests for labor history night (usually retired union women who have no organization to pick up travel costs), the school picnic, the university’s conference fees, and the like. These expenses are met through a small extra charge over and above room and board. So far, none of the schools has operated in the red, thanks to careful budgeting and watch-dogging of expenditures. They are not luxury operations, but what they lack in elegance they make up for in spirit.

Student recruiting depends heavily on planning committee members and their many union contacts, on students from prior schools, on labor union education staffs, and on the cooperation of the AFL-CIO Department of Education, of chapters of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and of the labor press. After their first year, the schools have been oversubscribed. Sometimes representation is a problem: do students come from a cross-section of unions? Are public- and private-sec tor unions and blue-collar workers registered in proportion to their numbers in the region? What about geographic and racial distribution? Here’s where the planning committee continues its recruiting help. Outreach may be needed to new unions, or older unions that have never sent delegates before. As a recruiting aid, each year’s evaluation form asks students to list contact suggestions for the following year (see Chapter 8). While many names on these forms duplicate those already on the mailing list, new ones also appear and become important new leads. A touchy problem is how to tell registrants and their unions when the cut-off point has been reached, and that they will have to go on the waiting list. Anger coupled with disappointment can affect the next year’s recruiting effort.

The program design for each summer school is worked over painstakingly each year to improve upon the preceding year’s school and to take into account suggestions from the evaluations. The tendency still is to over-schedule the week. Even listing some activities as “optional” does not really help, since most women want to squeeze the very most out of the week. The school routine is different from anything the students are accustomed to. Sitting in class for a large part of each day; being asked to think about one kind of problem after another (whether it is how to deal with an obstreperous member in a parliamentary procedure workshop or whether women’s concerns are met in the most recent proposals for National Health Insurance); sleeping less than they should because of the chance to talk with women from different unions and states; worrying about how things are going back home—all these and more contribute to fatigue. The schedule never accommodates to this, nor can it. Labor educators feel the limitations of just five days and so much to do. So free evenings become times for public workers to meet together to discuss their special problems; for an optional showing of films that might be useful back home; for the newspaper workshop to ready the summer school paper in time for graduation; or for the student committee to meet over some school problem or to plan the graduation ceremony. Rushed as the students feel during the week, however, it is part of the excitement and contributes to what is an unforgettable experience.

Students are required to attend both morning classes. In the schedule included at the end of this chapter, the first is centered around leadership skills that union women need and that provide the means for taking action back in the local union on some of the issues discussed during the second morning class. This schedule runs for four of the school’s five days, and permits four basic issues to be covered in some depth during the second morning class. Afternoon sessions are informal workshops, with eight or more offered during each of the two afternoon periods. Each student is required to select one workshop; a second is optional (a bow to the need for free time). Invariably, most students sign up for two. The subjects hit home: they are what the students came to the school to learn. The comment most often heard is: “I wish I could take them all.”

Each day begins with a plenary session for songs, announcements, and a sense of togetherness. Evening programs are plenary too, and vary. Opening night seems a good time for a film about working women, songs, introductions, and a run-through of the program. Another evening, devoted to Women in Labor History, proves inspirational and underscores that women in the past have been not only workers but union leaders. A picnic early in the week is relaxing, and provides a chance to get acquainted and to unwind. If there are songs and an open fire, so much the better. Another free evening with optional activities is a possibility. The 1979 school tried a mid-week free afternoon with a campus tour and an opportunity to shop or wander in town, holding classes that evening instead, again in an effort to have the week seem less pressured.

The final day of the school is a short one—most often graduation follows a noon meal, with departure in the early afternoon. In the morning, at the northeastern school, students meet first by states, then by unions, to work out what they will do when they get back home. Staff from those states and unions meet with them. How will they use what they have learned? How will they avoid coming on too strong with new ideas and their increased motivation? What will they do first? Next? How will they keep in touch with each other? At each state meeting students elect a representative and an alternate to serve as their contacts and to represent them at the next year’s planning committee meeting.

Evaluation forms must be filled out when students are gathered together that last morning. Otherwise it becomes impossible to collect enough of them to be meaningful. This turns out to be true of staff evaluation forms as well (see Chapter 8).

Graduation is an important event. The special certificates presented mean a great deal to the students, as does the school newspaper—which should include the name, union, address, and phone number of each student and staff person at the school. With a final singing of “Solidarity Forever,” each sister holding the hands of her neighbors, the school closes. No one leaves quite the same person that she was when she came.

Materials and methods can be a problem, as there is as yet no central clearinghouse or repository for the many excellent materials used at residential schools for union and other working women. Such a service would be valuable, for the teachers at these schools develop outlines and put together materials on countless subjects focusing on women workers. As an aid in locating materials, the reader is referred to James Wallihan’s Appendix on resources following Chapter 23.

Many teaching methods useful at residential schools are described elsewhere in this book. The emphasis is on involving the student in classroom participation. The theory behind this is, in part, that in their home locals many women face constant put-downs that lead to self-restraint; encouraging the fullest participation possible builds self-confidence. Also, we learn most when we are not passive; for maximum retention, the learner needs to hear, see, and do. Speak to an issue; ask a question; role play a possible solution to a problem; discuss a film after viewing it; exchange ideas in a rap group; see points raised in discussion listed on the blackboard; practice speaking before a group. A conscious effort is made to use as many of these methods as possible, in the hope that some students will make use of one or more back home.

Interchange among students is fostered. Students tend to congregate in groups that form early in the school week and to eat and move in these groups. The staff has a special mission: to circulate, to encourage and facilitate mixing. In the assigned classes, students who traveled together or who come from the same union or town are separated. All these efforts yield the kind of spirit that, as one labor educator put it, “sets me up for a year.”

Just as the summer school director wearily climbs into her car to head for home, thinking her job well done and over, having hugged the last teary-eyed student goodbye and thanked each of the staff, there comes the thought: follow-up publicity!

The group picture that each student treasures is only part of the reason for having a photographer come to the campus. It’s important for students from each international union to be photographed as a group. After the school a press release is drafted; as soon as the pictures are delivered the release is sent with the group picture and the names of the students to the editor of their union papers.

Union leaders with groups of students at the school (and ideally, each union leader) receives a letter thanking them and stating what a good contribution the student or students made to the school. (Inviting union leaders with sizeable delegations of students at the school, and State Federation of Labor Presidents from the region to attend graduation is important.) This can be a multilithed letter with a brief comment penned below the signature of the coordinator. (The letters should be individually signed and addressed to the union leader personally. The student will know best to whom in her local the letter would mean the most, and should indicate the name and address of this person on a sign-up sheet passed around during one of the morning plenary sessions.)

Students should be encouraged to write brief accounts of the school to submit, with their delegate picture, to their own union paper, and to their town’s newspaper. A “canned” story can be distributed about the school, with space for students to fill in their names and local union numbers. Too little publicity about union women ever appears in hometown papers; this helps to even the balance a bit.

Finally comes evaluating the school. As confidence in the process of evaluation and the evaluator has developed, at the northeastern school evaluation has moved from an informal to a formative type (see Chapter 8). Additionally, the comprehensive report that the school evaluator prepares provides important demographic information about the school’s student body. In 1978, for example, most of the school’s students ranged in age from 21 to 50. Married women made up 46 percent of the students; 60 percent of these had children over age 13, and only 5 percent had children younger than seven. Slightly more than one-half of the student body came from public employment, with the largest single group being clerical workers. This is in contrast to the representation at the southern school, for example, where a growing number of the students hold non-traditional blue-collar jobs, “either through affirmative action programs or through the opening of formerly male jobs to women (with the support of unions like the Communications Workers of America, the Steel and the Rubber Workers)”, reports Majorie Rachlin, a staff member at that school.

Based on the discovery that 14 percent of the 1978 northeastern school was made up of women on union staffs attending as students, a special staff workshop was conducted at the 1979 school. Twenty-one international and fifty-nine local unions were represented at the 1978 summer school among the 115 union women. More than one in every three women were stewards (31 in all); eight were local presidents. Altogether, 64 held some particular office. In addition, many mentioned community or other organizations in which they participated.

Three of every four women attending had their costs covered by their union, although some 47 percent had to use vacation time to come to the school. Why did they come? In their own words, to develop leadership skills; to understand more about grievance procedure and contract language; and, to learn how unions operate.

What problems did they want to deal with relating to their jobs and their unions?⁴ Improving communications between union and management; combatting discrimination against women; getting more people involved in the union; building rapport among leaders and committee members; helping women understand the benefits of collective bargaining; increasing participation in community and national politics and in health and safety problems. Attention to these responses helped shape the 1979 summer school program.

What did the labor educators feel the school accomplished? From staff evaluation responses, school objectives seem to have been met in this order: provided skill reinforcement; dealt with how to take what students learned back to their locals; discussed how to help involve more women in union activity; disseminated information about political and legislative issues; provided the opoortunity to exchange experiences; brought union women together in a new way. Even allowing for the difficulty staff had in ranking their responses, it appears the school’s major purposes were fulfilled.

Problems

At this time there is no way to begin to measure the school’s long-range impact. Follow-up over a period of years with students who have been at one, two, or more summer schools would be useful but costly. Without an office and staff to work with regional labor educators in a systematic way, this data will not be collected.

Coordination among the staffs of the residential schools for union women is minimal. It rests primarily with the Standing Committee on Programs for Union Women of UCLEA and takes place at the annual UCLEA meetings, which not all women staff are able to attend.

A problem that needs careful attention is how to program for the returning student. Various formats have been tried: an advanced school under the umbrella of a basic school; a special workshop for returning students on how to use workers’ education in the local; a program to develop returning students as teaching assistants. Should there be a blanket rule against students returning for more than one additional year? Each of these has been tried at one or more regional schools; there is a need for the schools’ staff members to discuss this and seek some programmatic solutions.

Another possible format might be schools for women workers built around special issues, open to those who have attended previous schools. For example, a three- or four-day school focused on health and safety issues on the job and how to develop a union committee and to program around them; or a school for older women on preparing for an active retirement; or schools on organizing the unorganized, on working women and the law, with a focus on equal employment law, or on involving women in the political process.

Further, there is a need to train women labor educators. A resident school accomplishes much in developing skills in teaching, in how to design working women’s programs and prepare course outlines, in program administration. As has been noted, these skills are transferable to programs for all working adults.

Additional regional schools need to be organized. Some universities without women staff, in areas that have never held women’s schools, are willing to do it—but they need help and, ultimately, they must add women to their extension faculties.

Conclusion

Are summer schools for union and other working women worth the time and effort they take? A look at the immediate impact of the schools leads to a resounding “yes” in reply. There is no doubt that students return home with a new ability to participate with confidence, and an interest in doing so. The schools build skills and provide knowledge on issues for several hundred union women each year. School staff from the states the women return to after the school report on the education activities the women have organized, the union offices for which they have become candidates, the union staff posts to which some have been elevated. Women staff at the schools provide each year a range of role models for the students: as teachers, as union leaders, as activists, as concerned human beings who happen to be women. For newer education staff, the schools prove a valuable training ground. Labor educators, young or seasoned, find the schools a source of new program ideas to try out when they go back to their union or university jobs.

The schools have gained recognition for union women. Five state federation of labor presidents journey to the southern school from as many southern states each year to attend the final banquet. Union cooperation with the schools increases every year.

Summer schools add impetus to the growing movement for programs for union and other working women conducted by universities, unions, and state federations of labor. The requests in this area by union groups to university labor education centers result in a new recognition that a portion of the budgets for labor courses should be allocated to women’s programs. It is hoped, too, that universities will be encouraged to examine the composition of their labor advisory boards to be sure that women are represented adequately.

The director of a university labor center, visiting one of the summer schools for union women, commented: “I can’t believe it! It’s like the 1930’s all over again. I never saw such spirit!” For a labor movement beginning to turn seriously to the task of organizing the millions or unorganized women workers in this country, the summer schools for union women provide potential leadership. Ultimately, women will be the ones to organize other women, to speak to them on their concerns, and to transmit enthusiasm and confidence in trade unionism as the vehicle through which working people can achieve social change.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION FOR SUMMER SCHOOL WORKSHOPS (SAMPLE FORM)

We want to provide enough workshop sections so that every student’s interests are met. Fifteen workshops are scheduled in two different afternoon sessions. Each student is expected to attend at least one workshop, but may elect to attend one in each session. Please help us by putting a (1) in front of your first choice and a (2) in front of your second choice. If you want to take two workshops, put a (1) and a (2) in front of your first choice for each afternoon session.

Return to Rochelle Semel no later than June 15. Thank you!

1:30–3:00 P.M. (Monday–Thursday)

Career Planning and Job Advancement. Aids students in assessing their own skills and abilities, developing work and educational goals and determining how to reach their goals.

Building CLUW Chapters. Takes you through the steps of building a local chapter; outreach to union women, getting your charter, electing officers, and developing action programs.

Advanced Grievance Handling. Using the case study method, students analyze and compare contractual differences and alternative grievance handling techniques; for people with some grievance handling experience.

Internal Organizing. Aids students to identify barriers and find practical solutions to encourage women to become active in their unions; programs that would make unions more responsive to workers.

Legislative Issues. Discusses major legislative issues affecting you as a union leader, consumer, woman; administration policies on inflation, budget; why we need national health insurance, ERA.

Newsletter. Techniques and skills to write and publish a union newsletter; communication skills.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA). Develops skills to improve health and safety in the work place using the contract and state and federal legislation.

Public Speaking. Provides the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, with emphasis on how to organize and present speeches.

3:15–4:30 P.M. (Monday–Thursday)

Assertiveness Training. If you say yes when you want to say no, if you get aggressive when you want to state your case, then this workshop is for you; practice sessions in areas in which you have difficulty.

Basic Contract Language. Focuses on collective bargaining issues and related collective bargaining skills; especially for people with little or no bargaining experience.

Advanced Collective Bargaining. Collective bargaining issues and related package costs; developing and interpreting contract language and understanding cost figures of employers; for people with some experience in contract negotiations.

Basic Grievance Handling. The basic techniques of investigating, preparing, and processing a grievance; especially designed for new stewards.

Women and the Law. Reviews legal battles affecting women in the work place and in their private lives; sex discrimination; sexual harassment; marriage; divorce; property ownership.

Rap Group. Students and staff meet in informal groups to identify problems specifically related to their work place and discuss ways of solving them.

Workshop for Union Staff. Focuses on problems that union staff women share and will be shaped by suggestions from the group; time demands; how to encourage member participation; setting up programs to develop rank- and file-leaders.

NOTES

1. Lawrence Rogin and Marjorie Rachlin, Labor Education in the United States (Washington D.C.: National Institute of Labor Education, Sept. 1968), p. 96.

2. Barton Morgan, Glenn Holmes, and Clarence Bundy, Methods in Adult Education (Danville, 111.: Interstate, 1976), p. 66.

3. Lois Gray, “Training of Labor Union Officials,” Labor Law Journal (Aug. 1975), pp. 472, 473.

4. Marjorie Rachlin reports that at the 1979 southern school, the subject of sexual harassment on the job surfaced with new openness. “It’s ready to be taken from the closet now; we ought to be doing more on that issue.”

CHAPTER 8

Evaluating Programs for Working Adults

By MARIA-LUZ D. SAMPER and STANLEY ROSEN

This chapter deals with evaluation as an educational tool that benefits institutions, specific educational programs, classroom activities, and individual teachers and students. We believe that labor education programs can use evaluation to improve and enrich their activities. Knauss has observed that many labor educators become involved in philosophical arguments about Skinnerian approaches, behavioral objectives, and the like.¹ Approaches to evaluation range from purely behavioristic to humanistic, depending on the purposes of the evaluation and the philosophy of the evaluator.

The behavioristic approach, which is based on rigid evaluations of outcomes, has a limited use for labor education, since evaluations cannot be confined to the measurable outcomes of the programs or to the observable actions of the student; changes in attitudes are not easy to measure. The humanistic approach, therefore, better suits educational programs for adults, who have complex and varying motives for participating in programs. Adult learning cannot take place by manipulating behavior. The subject of study must be close to adult experiences, meaningful, and useful for the everyday tasks at work and at leisure; and information must be geared to adults’ self-concepts if it is to help them.

Why Evaluate Labor Education Programs?

Evaluation can force planners to clarify general goals as well as specific educational objectives, and to find out how well they did in achieving them. Over time, it encourages accumulating information and insight useful to high-quality planning. Evaluation requires that planners and staff constantly justify the program’s priorities. Registrants, sponsors, and planners want certain subjects treated and certain skills learned. This critical and constructive feedback is important to utilize limited time effectively.

Evaluation helps establish and justify program effectiveness, convincing unions and individuals of their value. Also, union and university staffs must be able to account for their use of time and resources. As Worthen and Sanders state, evaluation can help ensure that new programs are more than random adoptions of faddish innovations.² Evaluation has helped to justify the need for education programs for union women, for example. The evaluation process can be a help to detecting and diagnosing problems, and can point out good practice, provide constructive criticism of poor practice, and, overall, improve the educational activity.

Evaluation can help teachers prepare, formulate objectives, develop exercises and student involvement, and effectively use handouts and materials. As Cronbach states, one of evaluation’s greatest services in the classroom is to identify elements of the course where revision is desirable.³

The evaluation process encourages communication among members of the program staff, as the process requires a great deal of interaction. Staff members find themselves talking about aspects of the program they do not usually discuss. This results in an overview of the program; a systematic and personal exchange of insights and experiences in a cooperative framework; and growth and development for the teacher and labor educator. Evaluation also encourages more open communication between staff and participants, which can show students that the staff values their comments and criticisms. Evaluation encourages constructive self-criticism, and helps paricipants learn to get the most out of an educational experience. Participants are encouraged to express needs openly, creating an environment of “freedom from fear, freedom from being ridiculed, freedom to experiment, to take risks and explore personal meaning.”⁴ Students force instructors clearly to state their standards and expectations. Because some participants may go on themselves to teaching, this interchange serves a valuable educational function.

Evaluation can also serve to gather a comprehensive description of the program. “On the surface this seems trivial. However, much evidence and experience suggest that describing any educational activity is a difficult task . . . and one notices that those people in a program frequently cannot see the total program in its entirety.”⁵ This is particularly true of inter-union or inter-university activities. Systematically collecting information about students, materials, and program goals is pure gold, after the energy and excitement of the conference are over. For the evaluation process records all the results of the program, unexpected as well as expected, tangible as well as intangible.

Types of Evaluation

All labor educators can be conversant in the purposes and operations of evaluation, as the skills involved are not mysterious and can be learned from others who have carried out evaluations, through training and through practice. Cooperation of labor education centers with their respective university evaluation centers, where these are available, may be helpful.

Informal

An informal evaluation involves casual and subjective observation of students’ comments and teachers’ reactions. Such opinions as “That was a good meeting,” or, “I didn’t like the program,” deserve further exploration. “Why did you consider that a good meeting?” “What would you recommend to make it even better?” “What aspects of the program did you not enjoy?” are some of the questions for further exploration. The informal evaluator should be able to observe, to listen, to obtain feedback from participants, and to interpret that feedback. She should have the trust of group members.

Informal evaluation is often underestimated by educators. Forest declares that “what is critical in effectively using informal evaluations, is to recognize their existence, their varied nature, their control and influence over future decisions, and therefore their importance.”⁶

Formal

Stake suggests that educators must use more systematic methods of evaluation that describe activities and judge what happened during the program.⁷ Check lists, tests, visits by colleagues, follow-up surveys, questionnaires, rating scales, biographical data, and anecdotal records are some widely used forms.

Summative

The summative evaluation, which takes place at the end of a program, is used to estimate how the final results compare with the stated objectives. For example, any leadership school aims to increase participants’ awareness of their potential as leaders, and of additional skills and training they might need. The summative evaluation includes questions that will show if these have been identified. This can be done through whatever means evaluator and participants find comfortable for them. An example of this is the “Staff Evaluation Form,” below, in which reminders of the objectives of school courses and workshops are provided to assist staff in thinking through the level to which these were accomplished.

Formative

The formative evaluation requires continuous feedback to program developers and / or instructors. It allows for changes in activities, development of new materials, even modification of objectives. This provides immediate feedback to program decision makers. However, it requires self-confidence and experience on the part of the evaluator, the staff, and the participants, as well as a non-threatening environment where trust and freedom are present. This may not be possible in new programs. However, this type was used with outstanding success at the Northeastern Summer Schools for Union Women, where the evaluator was in an environment of openness and trust.

Evaluation at the Summer Schools for Union Women

Informal

In 1976, at the first week-long Northeastern Summer School for Union Women, an informal evaluation was made. The evaluator, who had not been part of the school’s planning committee, received a description of the purposes of the school. She visited classes and activities, observing teacher-student interactions. All comments were important to the evaluator. Over lunch or dinner, or even at break time between classes, teachers’ and students’ comments were sought. Physical facilities (food, lodging, recreation facilities) were observed, as well as teaching methods, schedule development, class and workshop content, and student participation. The evaluator’s main concern was to record events non-judgmentally. Those events assumed more significance later on, when analyzed within the context of the whole school. At the end of the week the purposes of the school were analyzed one by one, and compared with the evaluator’s observations, in a report submitted to the school planners.

Formal

The second Northeastern Summer School’s planning committee began its work with a careful look at the previous year’s informal evaluation. The purposes of the school were discussed; they were found still valid, and no revisions were made. Planning of specific programs was aided by the evaluation report, which for the staff emerged as a helpful tool. As a result, new evaluation elements were added to help obtain in-depth information at the second year’s school. A new registration form was designed to obtain specific demographic data about participants: type of work, age, education, favorite activities, family, community, and union responsibilities, and expectations from the school. This information was grouped, analyzed, and shared with the teachers at the beginning of the school. It provided teachers with a clearer picture of who the students were, and what their interests and needs were.

Two new questionnaires, one each for students and teachers, were designed to yield a more thorough evaluation. It permitted feelings, criticisms, and suggestions to be better expressed. So that the questionnaires would reflect how the program was affected by on-site human and physical resources, they were revised at the school. They were administered to all students and teachers the last day of the school. In addition to this formal evaluation, an ongoing informal evaluation also was conducted.

At the end of the school, all questionnaires were coded, the information was analyzed against the initial intent and purposes of the school, the human and physical components of the school (staff, students, materials, physical facilities), the teaching strategies (workshops, panels, films, rap sessions), the follow-up suggestions, and the candid comments of teachers and students for improving future schools. Once the data were analyzed, the information derived from the formal instruments used in the evaluation (registration forms and evaluation questionnaires) was combined with the evaluator’s informal observations. These were incorporated in a report that included a profile of the participants, the program components as evaluated by students and teachers, and general conclusions on the school’s planning and development, on the program’s goals and objectives, on the characteristics of staff and students, and on the evaluation of the staff.

Formative

Another dimension was added to the summer school evaluation beginning with the third year. In addition to using the registration and evaluation forms and conducting the informal evaluation, there was feedback to staff and planners during the school. Staff meetings allowed the evaluator to bring up results of the evaluation of the previous school and to point out how the current school related to those results. That motivated several changes in activities and reminded teachers of previous experiences and evaluations. On the individual level, several teachers discussed with the evaluator particular problems in a class or activity. Where teacher and evaluator agree beforehand on aspects to be observed and evaluated, this can be of particular value. All conditions and expectations should be spelled out before formative evaluation takes place.

How to Conduct an Evaluation

Evaluation is a common-sense activity that labor education practitioners can handle. Experience and practice, augmented by reading and training in evaluation techniques, can make almost anyone an accomplished evaluator.

The starting assumption is that labor education activities benefit from a conscientious, serious evaluation effort. The concerned parties include the evaluator, students, decision makers, and related “others”—community, university, or union personnel. The evaluator’s responsibilities relate to all of them and, in turn, their cooperation is important to the success of the evaluation effort. The following are suggested steps in conducting an evaluation:

1. Get acquainted with the total program, the issues involved, and complete details of the program’s components and what is expected from it. Examine the stated goals or objectives. If there is a priority list attached to the goals of the program, the evaluator should know what this is. Meet with program planners and staff.

2. Choose the type of evaluation that best fits the program, according to the goals and activities included, the planners’ expectations, future developments expected from the program, and the receptivity of planners towards evaluation. The evaluator’s time and facilities are also critical considerations. An informal evaluation may require the evaluator’s time during the program but no expenditures in duplicating formal instruments, while a formal and summative evaluation means administering a questionnaire the last day of class and coding it afterwards. A formative evaluation requires an open and congenial environment, duplication of formal instruments, and time to provide continuous feedback.

3. Collect pertinent data. The type of evaluation chosen determines the kind of information collected. The evaluator should decide whether a final evaluation is sufficient or if a series of evaluative activities should be developed throughout the program. Observation is crucial to the informal evaluation, since all of what is happening is essential for the evaluator. Keep detailed and clear notes on observations of activities as well as on students and teachers. Data collection for a more formal evaluation includes questionnaires, interviews, historical inquiry, tests, check lists, and rating scales. Plan for time to administer the instruments.

4. Code the results. This time-consuming job is done after the school is ended. If the evaluator does not have time, it may be better to conduct a different type of evaluation, rather than design and collect questionnaires that will not be used.

5. Interpret the results and make recommendations. A coherent report should be presented to the planners, including all necessary information for use in planning future programs. The results of the evalutaion should be presented to the appropriate users in time to affect decision making. The report should be simple and clear, and should summarize the evaluation, as well as present details.

Evaluation will not provide all answers to all people. It may raise new issues and spark discussion. It may be used by planners ready for change who just need the “hard evidence” that the evaluation can provide.

The Inside vs. the Outside Evaluator

Should the evaluator be part of the program or institution, or should she not have ties to either? In part, the type of evaluation used determines who the evaluator can be. In course evaluation a staff member can be the evaluator. This allows for continuity of feedback. However, when an entire program is being evaluated, the question of insider vs. outsider should be considered. According to Weiss, neither has a monopoly on the advantages.⁸ Factors to consider include: the program administrators’ confidence in the competence of the evaluator; the evaluator’s objectivity; the evaluator’s knowledge of the program; the potential utilization of results (for example, the interpretation of results may be done within a policy context so that they influence policy makers in future decisions); and, finally, the evaluation’s autonomy and freedom from co-option. Some possible negative results can be avoided. Evaluation should neither collect trivia nor intrude too vigorously on the program. There is always the chance, too, that an evaluation effort will be disregarded by all parties and result in no program change or improvement.

Evaluation is an imperfect art and should be accepted as such. However, the evaluator’s task can be exciting, challenging, and educational. As the number of labor education evaluations increases, so do opportunities for self-development in this exciting, often challenging field.

STAFF EVALUATION FORM (SAMPLE)

1. What were the major general accomplishments of the school for the students? Rank them from 1 to 6 according to the level of accomplishment (1 = the lowest, 6 = the highest): to bring women together; to exchange experiences; to get skill reinforcement; to learn about political and legislative issues; to discuss how to take what they have learned back to their own local unions; to discuss how to help to involve more women in union activity; other.

2. Write your suggestions on recruiting.

3. What suggestions do you have to encourage union leaders to support training programs for women?

4. Please list the workshop, issues, strategies, and rap sessions you led.

5. What pluses and minuses did you see in your group? (Issues, strategies, workshop, rap session.) What would you change?

6. Do you think that reading materials and handouts were effectively used?

7. These were the topics chosen for issues and strategies: Women and Work Change and Stability; Employment and Unemployment; Dealing with Discrimination in the Union; Swing to the Right in Today’s Politics.

a. Were they adequate? Why or why not?

b. What topic do you think was the most useful?

c. What topic do you think was the least useful?

d. If you think of another appropriate topic that we may include for next year’s school please write it down.

8. What do you think of the role of third-year students as teaching assistants?

9. What kind of follow-up do you suggest?

10. Please comment on the evaluation efforts at the school, and make suggestions for improvement in the future.

STUDENT EVALUATION FORM

To help us plan future programs, we will very much appreciate your comments, criticisms, and suggestions. Many thanks.

1. Program components

A. Issues

For each item, circle the number that best corresponds to your opinion.

The most favorable response is 5, and the least favorable response is 1.

B. Workshops

I attended the workshop on:

I chose this workshop because:

How will you use what you learned in the workshop back home?

Would you recommend this workshop to a student who is coming to the school next year? Why? Why not?

C. If you attended a rap session, was it useful to you? Why or why not?

D. The special program I enjoyed the most was: wine and cheese orientation meeting; labor history night; picnic; film (name); other. Why?

E. What I liked best about the school program was

F. What I liked least about the school program was

G. Other kinds of courses and workshops I would have liked

2. Follow-up (interest in further study)

A. Would you be interested in attending an advanced school of this kind next year?

B. After this conference is over, what topics related to the conference would you like to study further?

3. Facilities and services

Were the following physical arrangements adequate?

A. Housing

B. Food services

C. Comments

4. List below changes or suggestions you recommend for future schools:

A. To improve courses

B. Other ideas (to improve program, increase its value to students)

5. Some unions were not represented at this school. Please list names, unions, and addresses (if known) of persons to contact about sending delegates another year.

6. Check the phrase that best describes this year’s school: extremely useful; much use; some use; little use; no use.

7. Comments

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brophy, Kathleen, Arden Grotelueschen, and Dennis Gooler. A Blueprint for Program Evaluation. Occasional Paper no. 1. Urbana, 111.: University of Illinois, 1974.

Combs, Arthur W. “Humanism, Education and the Future.” Educational Leadership 35 (Jan. 1978): 300–303.

Provus, Malcolm. “Evaluation of Ongoing Programs in the Public School Systems.” The Sixty-Eight Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969. Part II, pp. 242–83.

Scriven, Michael. “The Methodology of Evaluation.” In R. E. Stake, ed., Curriculum Evaluation. American Educational Research Association Monograph Series on Evaluation, no. 1. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1967.

Stufflebeam, Daniel L. Evaluation as Enlightenment for Decision-Making. Columbus, O.: Evaluation Center, Ohio State University, 1968.

Tyler, Ralph W. “General Statement on Evaluation” journal of Education Research 35 (1942): 492–501.

EVALUATION RESOURCES

The resource centers listed can provide interested educators with further information on evaluation. Some deal with educational evaluation in general, while others are specific to labor education programs.

Bureau of Educational Research and Service, Box U-4, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. 06268.

Center for Instructional Research and Curriculum Evaluation, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. 61801.

College of Education, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich. 49008.

Evaluation Institute, Campion Hall, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, Cal. 94117.

ICES Item Catalog, Instructors and Course Evaluation System. Office of Instructional Resources, Measurement and Research Division, University of Illinois at Urbana. Newsletter #1, 1977. Contains sample questions for use in teacher evaluation forms.

Measurement Services Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 55455.

Chicago Labor Education Program, 1315 SEO Building, RO. Box 4348, Chicago, 111. 60860.

Labor Education Center, U-13, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. 06268.

NOTES

1. Keith Knauss, “Evaluating Non-Credit Labor Education Programs: Practices and Problems,” Labor Education Viewpoints (n.d.), Local 189.

2. Blaine R. Worthen and James R. Sanders, eds., Educational Evaluation: Theory and Practice (Worthington, O.: Charles A. Jones, 1973).

3. Lee J. Cronbach, “Course Improvement through Evaluation,” Teachers College Record 64 (1963): 672–83.

4. Arthur L. Costa, “Affective Education: The State of the Art,” Educational Leadership 34 (Jan. 1977), 261.

5. Arden D. Grotelueschen, Dennis Gooler, and Alan B. Knox, Evaluation in Adult Basic Education: How and Why? (Danville, 111.: Interstate, 1976), p. 9.

6. Laverne B. Forest, Adult Education Forum 26 (Jan. 1976): 174.

7. Robert E. Stake, “The Countenance of Educational Evaluation,” Teachers College Record 68 (1967): 523–40.

8. Carol H. Weiss, Evaluation Research (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972).

PART II

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

Where Part I deals with form, Part II looks at methods and techniques, areas on which labor and adult educators make decisions every day. The emphasis is on teaching in the classroom, the traditional setting that workers prefer. It is a structure that lets them know what to expect and what is expected of them. Interaction with other students often provides as much learning as the teacher, while students count heavily on the mutual support they find within the group, enjoy the social experience of the classroom, and look forward to its comaraderie.

What method best imparts information? How can students be involved more fully in the learning process? What should determine which methods will best suit a particular skill-building workshop? In the four chapters that follow, a number of specific techniques are reviewed.

The discussion method has long been considered the foundation of successful workers’ education. Teachers of the adult student who comes to school after a tiring day on the job must utilize this method as a primary tool for student involvement. To use it to maximum effectiveness takes planning, as well as skill and practice. Chapter 9 includes valuable suggestions on how to build a discussion outline and put it to work.

Chapter 10 examines ways to develop and use case studies. Case study material is readily available to labor educators; what material to use, how to develop cases and how detailed to make them, when to use short vignettes instead, and other questions form the core of this chapter. Tips on integrating case examples into the teaching plan should prove helpful to those who want to introduce simulated experiential learning into their classrooms.

In Chapter 11, oral history is discussed and its uses in teaching women’s role in labor history are explored. A method increasingly popular with labor educators, variations are suggested to utilize the students’ own family work histories in the classroom teaching process and to relate these to the labor, social, and economic history of the periods covered in these family accounts.

The final chapter in Part II describes a variety of games and exercises, easily transferable to a range of classroom situations. They are designed to build self-confidence by underscoring how much learning can and does take place on the job or in the community where students are involved all the time. Some of these games focus on the decision-making process, on problem-solving skills, and on how to set goals and plan ways to reach them.

CHAPTER 9

Discussion Method

By MARJORIE B. RACHLIN

The skills involved in leading a discussion with a group of working adults are different from those called on when presenting a lecture, a panel, or a movie, although each of these teaching methods often is followed by discussion. The emphasis in a discussion session is on the participants’ ideas and experiences. Their comments on the subject are guided by the discussion leader to deepen understanding of the topic.

One of the basic principles behind use of discussion method follows from this: students can discuss only those aspects of a problem that they know something about. Sometimes this knowledge comes from experience, but often the instructor must provide information and ideas—through a speaker, panel, movie, or lectures—before the discussion takes place.

A good discussion helps people think through the implications of an idea, a fact, or a visual presentation such as a movie. For example, most of us know that women workers in the U.S. earn on the average 59 percent of what male workers earn. What is the significance of that statistic for union men and women? “Why is this so?” asks the discussion leader. Once the whole problem of segregated or women’s jobs has been raised and discussed, the question becomes “Is it true in your experience?” This question asks group members to consider whether the statistic has any relevance to them—bringing the subject close to home and transforming a dry statistic into concrete reality. Finally, “What can be done to change this situation?” makes the group consider the various ways in which it can take action. With this question the discussion leader is asking the group to see the problem as important enough to involve itself in doing something about it. As this brief example illustrates, discussion helps a group to think about the ramifications of a problem or an issue, to see how it is relevant to its own experience, and to consider whether group members want to change their approach or take action as a result of this new understanding. The example above is based on a discussion of a “fact,” but a discussion following a role- playing situation would take a similar tack.

An instructor or leader may decide to use discussion for various reasons. Discussion is useful to deepen intellectual understanding of an issue; deal with attitudes and values; gain consensus on a policy or action; and build group solidarity.

Discussion’s intellectual value relates closely to the way an adult’s mind works. For a person with considerable experience gained through years of living and working, any new idea or fact must be added to a mosaic of past ideas, attitudes, and information. This new idea or fact may encounter resistance—it does not fit. Perhaps it seems irrelevant. Or the idea may be accepted at face value but its implications may not be clear. People do some of this refitting on their own, but group discussion can encourage thinking.

While discussion is a good technique when the goal is to understand an issue or a problem, it is even more useful when the subject touches attitudes or values. Since attitudes and values are emotionally charged, many people simply turn off a lecture or a panel presentation if they disagree, or they feel that “the other side” should have been presented. In a discussion setting, however, participants express their own thinking and hear how others in the group look at the problem. They are often more open to ideas from their fellow workers, their peers, than from the instructor up front. Discussion is part of most successful efforts to change or open people’s minds.

In a committee, executive board, or other “action” group, discussion is used to bring about agreement or consensus on a program or policy. Interchange among the participants allows a thorough exploration of varying views. By the time agreement or compromise is reached, most people have participated and they understand each other. Each individual is likely to feel more committed to the program and to the group itself.

The value of discussion in building group solidarity is often overlooked. It is particularly helpful when the group comes from the same local (a stewards’ group) or international (a bargaining group) and will be working together over a period of time. Good discussion assumes that “we all have this problem and we all must solve it”; it promotes group solidarity far more than a speech or voice from the front of the room.

There are particular advantages to using discussion with women’s groups. Women have long been taught to follow the voice of authority, from the days when father or husband ruled their lives to today, when most bosses at work are men. Discussion helps establish the idea that the instructor or leader has neither all the knowledge nor all the answers. In a good discussion participants listen to each other, pick up from the previous person, reply or add to those remarks. Since women in our society are brought up to value men’s opinions on issues and problems more highly than women’s, they sometimes tend to ignore other women’s ideas. A discussion can help change this if the instructor takes everyone’s contribution seriously and helps participants listen and respond to one another.

Discussion will also bring out women’s particular concerns and perspectives, which may differ from those commonly accepted in a male-dominated culture. Women with young children, for example, may have priorities different from those of male workers. Such women may care less about wages or overtime than about a foreman who will permit them to come in late or take time off if a child is sick. As women become more visible in the labor movement, it is important that they be encouraged to articulate their concerns. Instructors will also learn from such discussions.

For discussion to flow, the instructor must develop both a tone and a setting in which participants and leader feel comfortable with each other. The group should be small, preferably no more than twenty. People should be seated around a table, in a circle or some variation of the U-shape so they can see each other’s faces.

Since speaking out in a strange group may seem risky, the instructor’s first job is to help people feel at home, to get them acquainted. The traditional method of name, local, how long have you been an officer, or how did you get interested in (the union, the subject at hand) takes but a short time, during which the instructor should make sure that each person introduces herself to the group, not to the instructor.

When the group is new and does not come from the same local or union, it may be useful to put people in pairs or threes, ask them to talk to one another briefly and have each person introduce someone else to the group. This gives each participant at least one “buddy” with whom she has had a personal experience. Whatever method is used, the instructor needs to begin the process of developing a friendly group out of a collection of relative strangers.

From the start, the instructor must set the tone for her own participation. She should tell the group that this is a discussion where each person’s input is valuable—and live up to that statement. The leader is a resource for information that the group does not have, and she should supply this—but she should be careful not to answer general questions or to comment at length on every point. Problems or questions should be thrown back to the group—“What do you think of that?” or “How would that work with your members?” In this way the group works together to reach a conclusion about the issue.

Planning the Discussion

In planning the discussion, the instructor needs to define her major purposes and the facets of the subject she wants to cover. In a session on national health security, for example, she may wish to bring out problems and details of the legislation. Discussion here should probably be supplemented by some sort of presentation—lecture, movie, videotape, or reading.

This is a different aim—and a different type of discussion session—than the instructor would have in a class designed to encourage women to run for office in their local unions. Here a major goal is to help group members give each other confidence by discussing problems that they learn are almost universal, and by determining how to handle them. Role playing or case studies could be useful for this session, where a lecture would not be suitable.

Once the instructor has developed her goals and subject matter, she should consider carefully what she knows about the students/participants. How much will they know about this subject? What are their experiences in this area? What problems interest them?

For example, what age is the group? Young women tend to be somewhat more liberated in their attitudes toward work and home than many older women (but you can never be sure). Women with husband, children, and family concerns will usually be very conscious of their dual roles and responsibilities. Even if they themselves are unwilling to move much beyond traditional patterns at work or in the union, this group will almost always be concerned about opportunities for their daughters.

What occupation or industry do they come from? What jobs do they hold? Clerical workers, for example, often see their jobs as dead-end, and increasingly are interested in upward mobility into professional jobs; blue-collar women are more likely to see mobility in terms of other blue-collar jobs in their factory, though they are beginning to look at training opportunities in the skilled and apprenticed job areas. Industry or occupation also affects women workers in many of the ways familiar to union educators—the unemployment problem looks different to women in the acting-TV-arts professions, where women are accustomed to the continual search for the next job, than it does to women in a factory affected by imports or by cyclical layoffs.

Time spent thinking about group members and getting acquainted with them helps the discussion leader decide how best to tackle the subject, what questions or problems should be raised, what issues may bring disagreement within the group that will need to be resolved. Of course, once an instructor has led discussions on a topic a number of times, she has also found out a lot about how different groups perceive them and knows what to expect.

Preparing an Outline

In preparing an outline for the session, the instructor must first decide whether she will start “cold” by throwing out a question to the group, or whether she will start with some sort of presentation. In workers’ education we often start with a short lecture, a speaker, a film, or a panel. An article assigned to the group to read ahead of time might also be the starting point. A questionnaire, provocative quote, tape recording, short role play, or use of a case problem are other starters.

Whatever method the instructor chooses, she should know what will be in her opening presentation in order to prepare suitable questions for the discussion that follows. Read over the assigned article carefully, talk over with the speaker what her major points will be, look at the videotape beforehand.

In preparing to use a film, for example, the discussion leader must first look at the film to determine whether it deals adequately with the subject. With most films, the leader can choose from perhaps four or five possible directions for the discussion that follows the film. Previewing provides the opportunity to decide what angle of this film to use as the focus. This angle should be emphasized in introducing the film and raised again shortly after the lights go up. For example, when using The Emerging Woman, 3. discussion leader might want to focus on problems of women workers in the 1900s or on the history of black women workers, or on the role of women as workers and mothers—and this by no means exhausts possible emphases. After previewing the film she can match her approach to the interests of her group, preparing a set of discussion questions that focus on the aspects she considers most useful.

Use of discussion method can, however, proceed without an introductory lecture or presentation. Decide in advance what major points to cover, where to start, and how to proceed through those points. Here questions should be framed with care. Participants should be asked their opinion, their assessment, or their experience. Questions that require a factual answer (how many U.S. women are working today?) will get only a little participation and stimulate only mild interest, since many in the group will not know the answer. On the other hand, the question “Why are so many more women working today?” will elicit a number of responses and let people feel they have made a contribution to the subject right from the start.

To illustrate, an outline on the subject of women in non-traditional jobs follows the text of this chapter. It was prepared for a group of active women from a cross-section of unions and occupations. The aim was to encourage women to enter non-traditional jobs and to form support groups for women in those jobs. (Alternatively, this session could have emphasized what needs to be done to enter non-traditional jobs, or the need for training and vocational counseling for women, in which case the outline would be different.)

This sort of an outline is a personal product. Another individual might feel more comfortable starting with a brief explanation of the job market in this country, since many people do not realize the extent of job segregation. With a group of women who have little union experience—or with a group including men—this might be the best approach. The order in which the leader uses her questions and the time spent on each will of course vary. The sample outline deals with a specific women’s problem, but here, as in most discussions of women’s issues, several more basic questions arise from women’s ambivalence and conflicts about their new roles, and the new image they see for themselves. It is useful to be aware of these, whether they surface directly or are unspoken:

How has woman’s role changed? Is this change desirable?

How does the change affect personal relationships with men? Work relationships?

Are family, husband, children threatened by these changes?

Are women as competent as men? Do they make as good leaders in the union?

Will men support women’s drive for better jobs and union leadership, or will women progress only through their own power?

Although it is the leader’s job to see that the subject is discussed thoroughly and fruitfully, this is not her only function. She must encourage participation from the group, so that each member is involved and “part of the action.” The leader introduces the topic so people understand it; draws out facts, ideas, experience; sees that various aspects of the issue are discussed; helps people generalize from and evaluate experience; supplies information the group needs—facts, statistics, considerations not raised by the group; summarizes from time to time (the blackboard helps); keeps discussion fairly well on the track and moving along; encourages everyone to participate and discourages those who monopolize the session; summarizes at the end, giving a feeling of conclusion and accomplishment.

In structuring the discussion so that the group can see how it is moving from point to point, many discussion leaders use the blackboard. Writing and organizing comments on the board, then summarizing them and throwing out a question that leads the discussion on, will help everyone follow the logic of the discussion as it proceeds.

Common Difficulties during Discussion

No matter how interesting the subject, most groups respond slowly to the first few questions. Many people hesitate to speak up for the first half hour or so. It is useful to throw out a question, talk around it for a few sentences while it sinks in, then ask the question again. Even so, the discussion leader must steel herself and wait patiently for the group to warm up. A halting discussion will gradually become lively if the leader does not give up and begin to talk too much.

To encourage as many people to participate as possible, comments should be acknowledged with respect. Most of them can be related to the subject in some way. The leader also can call on individual group members occasionally, using a question that is easy to comment on: “Marie, does that happen in your local?” or “Is that the way it works in Texas?”

Every discussion leader finds, at times, that the group wants to pursue a subject that seems irrelevant to the leader (it wasn’t in her outline!). The group may understand its members’ concerns or interests better than the leader does. The leader must decide whether or not to spend time on this “tangent.” Since the discussion leader’s perception of the subject is not necessarily the last word, there are times when it is best to let the group lead. It is reassuring for the inexperienced discussion leader who fears that if she does this she cannot get the group back on the subject to know that most union groups respond quickly to a firm hand. “You seem agreed that . . . . And now I think we had better move on.”

Another common problem is the non-stop talker who monopolizes the discussion. To handle this the leader might try: “Brenda, I think we should hear what someone else thinks on this,” or “We need to hear how that works in a different industry (or state).” Occasionally the leader may have to talk to the person outside of class, explaining that a discussion requires wide participation and asking the person to help her achieve this by talking less. If the person is too disruptive or argumentative, the group eventually will move to counter or quiet her down, sometimes by confronting her directly, sometimes by kidding her outside of class.

Some of these problems are bound to occur in varing degrees at every discussion session. The leader must not expect perfection. Discussion is a difficult technique, because the instructor openly relinquishes a certain amount of control to the group. She must expect some surprises and some disappointments.

Evaluating the Session

How does the leader know whether she has done a good job? After the session is over, take some time to evaluate what went well, what problems arose, and what might be done differently next time.

How many of the group took part? Were the silent ones interested? Bored? If a few people did most of the talking, why?

Did the participants listen to each other and talk to each other? Or was the instructor always the focus?

Did the group grasp the major points? Did it move to a logical conclusion?

Was there hostility? What areas were controversial? Why?

What comments or points did the group make that were unexpected? Should these areas be covered next time?

Did the participants leave the room talking or laughing, and in a good frame of mind?

Teaching through discussion is a skill that grows with practice. The instructor/leader must prepare thoroughly beforehand, school herself in the subject matter, analyze the group, and prepare an outline and questions that move logically and focus on the material she intends to cover.

Conducting a discussion requires flexibility and a feeling of trust in the group’s common sense and basic fairness. The rewards of this hard work come in the deeper understanding and greater commitment of all participants—including the instructor—at the end of the session.

DISCUSSION OUTLINE

Introduction

Instructor introduces topic, gives examples of non-traditional jobs. States general aim of session: what are pros and cons of encouraging women to move into non-traditional jobs; can we help?

Questions

1. What kinds of non-traditional jobs do you see women moving into in your area? (This is a good opening question because it taps experience and is easy to answer. Leader might want to follow up some responses by asking what makes those jobs “non-traditional.” This ensures that the group really has agreed on a definition of “non-traditional.”)

2. What has kept women out of these jobs in the past? (This question will elicit a variety of replies, all true of some part of the elephant. At some point the instructor must generalize and make the point that we have, to a large extent, a segregated job market in the U.S. It might help to list on the blackboard all the reasons given.)

3. Why are women moving into these jobs now? (This question also taps experiences, since the group will know of contract changes, EEO, affirmative action, job posting. Comments will also deal with changing attitudes among women, need to earn money, and the like. Instructor must decide how deeply to discuss these points in view of time limitations.)

4. How does it work out? Is it successful? What are the problems? (The instructor can anticipate some of the comments—some successes, more problems. Problems with male workers or foremen; disapproval of females; lifting; refusal to do dirty work; no training, etc.)

The questions below anticipate possible areas for the group to explore in detail.

a. If males were supportive, how and why? If not, what did union/management do?

b. Do women want these jobs? Why or why not? Should we encourage them or ignore this problem?

c. How does the work force, or the union, handle heavy or dirty work when the problem arises with male workers? Are there alternative ways to solve lifting problems?

5. Do women in non-traditional jobs need support? What can the union do? What can the women already in that work place do? (Hopefully the group by now sees this as more than an individual problem and will move to action.)

Summary

The instructor summarizes the reasons why women are moving into non-traditional jobs, the factors that lead to success or to problems, and what union women can do to help others.

CHAPTER 10

Case Studies: How to Develop and Use Them

By GLORIA BUSMAN

A funny thing happened to me on the way to class . . . .

Many women, returning to a structured learning situation after an absence of several years, do so with a number of doubts and a great deal of apprehension.

. . . . What if I’ve forgotten how to study . . . . What if it’s over my head . . . . What if it’s boring . . . . What if it’s all abstract theory that I’ll never put to use . . . . What if the instructor doesn’t know what it’s like in my real world . . . . What if it’s a waste of time . . . . WHAT IF I FAIL?

Whether the concerns are based on self-doubt or on distrust of schools and teachers, they are real and widespread. The more quickly they are put to rest, the more positive the learning experience will be. The case study method, or reciting actual situations to illustrate a principle or theory, helps bring the subject matter into a familiar and comfortable framework.

All of us—not only instructors—make frequent use of case studies, although we may not so label them. Union representatives whose paths have not crossed for some time will mention how good it was to get together and “exchange war stories.” They could as accurately describe their conversation as “providing one another with recent case studies of typical (or unique) organizing campaigns, arbitrations, or negotiations.”

Advantages of the Case Study Method

People have always relied on “case studies” to provide information or to persuade. Generals study earlier battles fought on similar terrain; parents use examples to reinforce predictions of dire consequences if a certain course of action is pursued; one friend reassures another faced with surgery or a family crisis by detailing personally known or experienced success stories of others who dealt with similar circumstances.

Industrial relations is my field. The people I instruct usually are—or hope to be—directly involved in applying what they learn in a setting that affects not only their welfare but that of others. This intensifies the students’ desire for evidence that what they learn has practical, “real-life” value. I don’t believe, however, that this is unique to my particular subject matter. A sense of relevance, immediacy, and personal involvement is achieved with specific examples in any course of study. A number of years ago, I was part of a group receiving a verbal report describing the results of an investigation conducted by a government commission on the ill effects of racial segregation. The speaker opened with a general summary of the findings. Some heads nodded in accord with most of the specifics; a few eyebrows were raised over new statistics. Interest built somewhat as the results of a survey were reported indicating that of the youngsters tested, a high percentage showed a dramatic increase in I.Q. scores after spending six months in an unsegregated environment. However, it was only when the story of one small black girl was told in detail that the group’s attention reached and maintained a high point of concentration and concern. The earlier generalizations became meaningful, the statistics vitally important: if this had happened to the one child now known and cared about, what of all the others?

If case studies provide interest and a sense of relevance, that alone would seem to justify their occasional use. Most instructors would certainly prefer that their students be interested and find learning an enjoyable experience. But good case studies, effectively used, can accomplish a number of additional purposes. In teaching nearly any subject that has a “how to” factor, examples of situations involving use of the material being taught can not only point up the practicability of the course of study, but can provide a valuable and informal way of testing how well the information is being received.

Suppose, for instance, that an instructor has lectured at length on the importance of adequately interrogating and preparing witnesses prior to calling them to testify in arbitration. A report of an actual arbitration is then presented in which surprise testimony develops under cross-examination. In class discussion of the arbitrator’s award, if students do not bring up the witness’s startling revelation, or if the only response to a question from the teacher concerning the surprise testimony is that “the other side never should have called that witness,” the instructor had better look hard at how she presented her lecture material.

In class discussion, comments, critiques and questions are often more to the point if they center on a problem where every member of the group starts from precisely the same set of facts, and where there is quick and easy access to specifics. Starting with one history of one set of circumstances, such as a case study provides, gives focus and direction to a discussion, but need not limit free-wheeling, creative shifts. Some of the most effective uses of case studies often turn on “what if just that one factor had been different . . . . If it hadn’t been for . . . . Suppose the contract had read . . . .”

Classes seem to enjoy the challenge of pitting their wits against those of fate, an arbitrator, a jury, or the protagonist of a case study. Presenting the material up to the point when all the facts are known but the verdict or result is still unannounced, and then asking a class to predict the outcome, either in written or oral form, can lend excitement to a learning situation.

Student-Developed Case Studies

In teaching students to evaluate data objectively and thoroughly, a more ambitious use of the case study method is to ask each member of the group to develop a case study of her own. In teaching any aspect of industrial relations, this approach offers the class meaningful involvement not only with the subject matter but with practitioners in the field.

In such a project, students would be asked to work within their own union to learn all that they can about an organizing campaign, a set of negotiations, or a grievance resulting in arbitration, for example. They would be assigned to develop and record all data they considered relevant, including preliminary research that was (or should have been) conducted, the approaches used by both sides, and extraneous factors that may have affected the outcome, and then to report and analyze the outcome.

The instructor should have available willing contacts for any members of the class who have difficulty gathering information through their own unions. However, these contacts should be offered as a last resort; the steps involved in gaining permission to conduct such a study is a learning process in itself.

This sort of assignment is equally adaptable to a variety of other themes. Members of a speech class, for instance, might find it valuable to trace what happened from the time a professional lecturer received a request to address a certain group. How does she choose whether or not to accept, and whether or not the topic requested is appropriate for her? Does she begin research immediately, or first take time to gel in her own mind the approach she wishes to take? How does she accommodate the type of audience she will be addressing? What system of notes does she use? Does she plan to use an outline or a prepared text? Does she rehearse delivery? Does she vary her methods of preparation depending on whether the address will be televised and/or the proceedings published? Does she make a conscious attempt to evaluate her performance after presentation?

Assignments such as this have an extra benefit for future classes, as a compilation of case studies is developed for later use.

Elements of the Case Study

What elements comprise a case study that is useful for teaching purposes?

The person developing it should have knowledge of the generally accepted principles of the discipline involved.

She should be aware of whether the situation to be studied fits a common pattern, or is of value because of its unique aspects.

She should have available data dealing with the various perspectives of the participants involved in the case, and should include that data.

She should have access to records or other objective documentation of the events, and should make full use of that access.

She should include in her report details of any unforeseen or unusual circumstances that may have affected the outcome.

The study should include conclusions drawn by the participants—did the project succeed or fail (by whose standards)? What should, or could, have been done differently?

And finally, what can be learned from this particular history by others involved in a similar situation?

For me, as an instructor, the case studies most satisfying to present are developed from situations in which I have been directly involved. The primary advantage of self-conducted case studies is that there has been an opportunity to investigate and to include in the report all relevant aspects. Using other persons’ material, I often find myself most interested in a facet of the study that is mentioned only briefly, or not at all. . . . Did they also explore the feasibility of filing with EEOC? . . . . How did the plant clericals feel about the situation? . . . Why didn’t they introduce the pay stubs in evidence? . . . The list can be endless. In addition to my questions, students often have separate lines of inquiry they’d like to explore. If I have been involved in the material I am presenting, the information, even if not in written form, is readily available.

Next best thing to relying on personal experience is to use that of friends and associates. Sometimes the probing, exploring, and digging can be done while the case is developing, by asking those involved to pursue areas that might not otherwise have occurred to them. If it’s after the fact, at least there is ready access to a participant who may know or be able to seek out necessary additional information.

Another happy circumstance is finding a graduate student who wants to do research in an area where I am anxious to have case studies developed. The combination of my inquisitiveness and access to practitioners with the student’s need for subjects has resulted in fresh, pertinent studies.

Documentary and training films are the most highly sophisticated presentation of case studies. If well done, a filmed dramatization of actual events can have greater impact than written or oral presentation of the same material.

Selecting Case Study Materials

There are, of course, published case studies in nearly every imaginable field. The UCLA library catalogue contains some 250 title cards starting with the magic words “Case Study in . . .” and covering such intriguing topics as “Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare,” “Panchayati raj,” “Modes, Mechanisms and Effects of Failure Phenomena.” Particular care needs to be taken in selecting and using case studies that were not developed for your purposes. One potential problem is timeliness. In industrial relations, where new precedents and policies are set almost daily, a case study that should be appropriate and useful may create more confusion than clarity if it predates a certain NLRB doctrine or a new public employee relations ordinance. Use of dated material can serve a purpose, but only if the instructor makes clear that certain aspects would not apply today. Also, regional differences exist; approaches and policies of different unions and different industries vary greatly.

If the material was not designed to illustrate the precise point to be made, there is a danger of the group being sidetracked or even drawing false conclusions from the study. This is a hazard no matter how appropriate the example used seems to be, even if it is the instructor’s own.

I remember using the story of an actual representation hearing conducted by a regional office of the NLRB, to point up the necessity for organizers to obtain an exact count of the employees in a proposed bargaining unit, and also to know in detail the name and function of each classification of employees. I thought my case illustrated the point very well, since it involved an employer’s attempt to exclude certain employees by claiming they were professional or supervisory. The union had wanted these people included in the bargaining unit, on the basis of actual job content as opposed to title, and had prevailed in its position. The board-ordered election had included among eligible voters employees who, by virtue of job title alone, would normally have been excluded.

In response to a question from one of the students, I reiterated the job titles in question.

A few class sessions later, while setting forth the normal criteria for appropriate bargaining units, I saw some confused faces. A hand shot in the air, and I heard, “But you told us in X vs. Y that those sorts of classifications were included in the broader unit!” I had failed to prevent the students taking the wrong leap from a specific to a generality.

This is a key potential difficulty in case studies: because students find them interesting, they tend to pay closer attention to the stories than to the lectures, and details can be misapplied and over-generalized.

The American Arbitration Association has produced an excellent film version of a case history entitled The Truth of the Matter. It can be a fine tool for teaching the theory and practice of arbitration. However, it is a disservice to students to leave them with the impression that the film portrays a typical arbitration proceeding. In the film, both parties are represented by prestigious counsel. Adolph Koven, the arbitrator, is not only well known and admired by his peers, but is a unique personality who brings his own perspective and style to the arbitration process. There is a great deal to be learned from The Truth of the Matter, but students should not acquire an expectation that what they see is what is to be expected in all (or most) arbitrations.

A viewing of Harlan County, U.S.A. is a meaningful and insightful experience for any student of contemporary labor problems. The dramatic and courageous struggle of a group of southern miners and their wives to achieve dignity through union recognition is honestly and painstakingly depicted. In addition to being an outstanding film, it is an excellent case study. However, if it were the only case study presented, or even if others were used that lacked the emotional intensity of Harlan County, U.S.A., students might well be left with a misconception as to the state of working conditions and labor relations. I am in no way suggesting that dramatic and unique case histories should not be presented. But the case study method is a tool, and, like any tool, it is most valuable when used appropriately, with care and skill.

The Instructor’s Role

Proper use, I believe, involves a great deal of preparation by the instructor. No matter how free-flowing the discussion following presentation of a case study, the instructor should provide direction and focus. Key questions must be asked, and, if the answers are not forthcoming from the group, answered in clear and explicit summary by the discussion leader.

The concepts offered by a case study that are universal or involve basic principles should be so identified. Those that are of interest simply because they are unique should be pointed out as such.

A good case study has much in common with a good short story. The situation must be presented, the problem or crisis identified, action taken toward resolving the problem or crisis, and the results reported. The characters and the situation should have some universality, but they should not be so average as to be boring.

Because a case study is fact, not fiction, and because it is presented to reinforce a principle or illustrate a technique (as well as to entertain), the denouement or wrap-up is longer and more important. An English professor, leading a discussion of O. Henry’s short story “Gift of the Magi” (in which a young, loving wife sells her long hair to buy a watch chain for her husband, while he sells his watch to purchase a comb for her beautiful hair), would not think to caution students against rushing to the hairdresser. By contrast, a psychology teacher presenting the same tale as a case history would undoubtedly discuss the advisability and implications of the couple’s actions, and perhaps point out other examples of generous acts that backfired because of lack of communication.

Case studies enrich a learning situation. They are popular with students; they reassure students that the subject matter is relevant to the real world; they provide an informal means of measuring the effectiveness of teaching. But they do not, except in advanced courses where basic premises and principles have been mastered, take the place of presenting fundamental material essential to understanding the subject. Teachers who use the case study method should be careful to provide a sound base of information, and to use anecdotes (or case studies) to reinforce that base.

Meanwhile, did I tell you about the time when I . . . .

CHAPTER 11

Using Oral History in the Classroom

By ALICE M. HOFFMAN

We had the women students describe their own life story and then we typed it up and put them into mimeographed booklets. . . . Economics was a heavy word to most women working in industry, but they could understand tracing their lives from Russia across Europe and into a loft in New York City and give this wonderful word picture of that. I remember one woman who said, immediately upon hearing her own story [read back], never thinking that it had any importance, “My God, did I come West?” Finding herself in the whole world somehow as a result of this simple . . . [exercise].¹

Oral history did not begin as a teaching methodology. That application was discovered in a variety of circumstances and settings ranging from high school courses in Rabun Gap, Georgia, that resulted in the famous Foxfire series (publications of students’ interviews with residents of their Appalachian community), to graduate seminars at major universities. Oral history was begun at Columbia University by Professor Alan Nevins in 1948. He wished to preserve for future generations sources for written history that he felt were being lost because twentieth-century men and women conduct business either by taking a plane and discussing issues in person or by picking up the telephone, instead of leaving a written record. While archival sources are voluminous with regard to the recent past, they often do not contain much of the real substance of how decisions are made or how personalities interact. Nevins felt that he might use technology to overcome the very difficulties it had created; that is, he might seek out those involved in the development of various institutions and events and reclaim their experiences via the tape recorder. In doing so, he was preserving what some have called “history warm.”

Labor historians found in oral history a valuable resource. First of all, industrial unions developed largely since 1934; individuals important to this development are still alive. Second, it has been a controversial history, and many primary sources for future historians are biased. Finally, those important in the labor movement typically have not written memoirs, kept detailed diaries, or to put into the record of their organizations the specifics as to how these organizations grew.

Thus, just as with black history and women’s history, so with labor history: often the only way of obtaining the information is to seek out the individuals who were there and ask them, “What was it like? How did it happen?”

Oral history is unique, in that it exposes the historian to a source that talks back. The oral history subject can remind the interviewer to ask the most insightful and penetrating question, can argue with the historian’s interpretation of events, and can even question other sources. Because of this dialogue, oral history enables us to revise and expand the nature of history itself.

Conventional labor history conditioned us to think of organizations from the top down. The leader saw a need, developed an organization to meet that need, and was responsible for the organization’s color, tone, and direction. But this view is incomplete and distorted. As we have developed a collection of interviews, it has become obvious that many individuals were responsible for countless important decisions and programs within organizations. Often their names and efforts have gone unrecognized. They sought out the leaders with ideas that the leaders adopted as their own. Their enthusiasm and dedication made possible organizations capable of both taking on the power of corporate giants and responding to the needs and aspirations of workers.

This is especially important in examining the contributions of trade union women. Women have often initiated the first tentative drive for organization around their kitchen tables or in the shops. They have passed out leaflets. They have marched, printed signs, participated in developing strategy. They have been on picket lines, made coffee, operated soup kitchens, set up first-aid stations, supervised ballot boxes, typed memos, run mimeograph machines. But all too often they are missing from the victory celebration picture in the newspaper. Because they were not credited with their efforts, were socialized to withdraw from positions of leadership, and bore the double burden of home and job, women were denied a place in the official histories (except, perhaps, for a passing bouquet to “those wonderful gals who worked so hard”). Thus women lack a past; their particular vision has not been preserved for their daughters. Without role models it is difficult for women to develop self-esteem, to understand how women of accomplishment planned their lives and managed all the demands on their time and energies.

Oral histories with trade union women are beginning to reclaim some of these remarkable lives. The summer 1977 issue of Frontiers is devoted to women’s oral history.² Several articles are of interest to trade union women, including “Anna Sullivan: Trade Union Organizer,” an interview conducted as part of a major oral history project initiated by Joyce Kornbluh at the University of Michigan. The project uses a collaborative model that enlists the cooperation of oral history projects all over the United States to develop a collection entitled “Twentieth-Century Trade Union Woman: Vehicle for Social Change.” The collection admirably fulfills Lynn Z. Bloom’s rationale for a women’s oral history:

Every oral interview with a woman is a means of enhancing not only that woman’s individual place on this earth, but the significance of women generally. The oral historian can raise the self-esteem of the woman interviewed, for in talking about themselves women can recognize the worth of their roles, their efforts, their contributions, their lives. Through the medium of oral history, other women can identify with their sisters, mothers, grandmothers, daughters; men can come to know women better.³

One of oral history’s most exciting possibilities is its use in the classroom with women trade unionists. The concept of “everywoman her own historian” (to paraphrase Carl Becker) occurred to several oral history practitioners at more or less the same time but in different places. Becker meant to justify its value to professional historians. “Mr. Everyman is stronger than we are and sooner or later we must adapt our knowledge to his necessities.”⁴

But understanding the past is not only for those who have purchased credit hours at an institution of higher learning. The oral history process unearths natural historians in diverse settings. Used as a teaching device, it can enhance a woman’s capacity to see the significance of her own past and to communicate it to others. It can enable a person to recover, preserve, and interpret this past, rather than have it interpreted for or imposed upon her.

Nancy Seifer summed it up in the preface to her book of oral histories with working-class women, Nobody Speaks for Me:

I wrote . . . a pamphlet, Absent From the Majority: Working-Class Women in America. The pamphlet apparently struck a sympathetic chord and began to fill a vacuum in women’s literature. I was being invited to speak at conferences . . . about working-class women. I felt ill at ease. It was one thing to advocate the needs of a group and to advocate coalition-building and quite another to assume the role of spokesperson for a group one is not a part of. Still, there was a great void. In the rush of new literature inspired by the feminist movement, there was hardly a mention of working-class women . . . . it occurred to me that a book of oral histories of the lives of working-class women would not only help fill the void in women’s literature, but it could provide an opportunity for women who would never write about themselves to be heard. They could talk about their lives.⁵

The resulting book rings true in a way seldom achieved in writings about working-class women. Excerpts from it might well be used to get trade union women started on an oral history project of their own.

Our labor history courses used to work laboriously through sources that often lacked reference to the lives of women trade unionists. In 1972, Ernestine Friedmann, a pioneer in workers’ education, described in an interview how she had made economic history come alive for her women students in the 1920s. We realized that this taped interview need not simply repose on the shelves of the archives awaiting the pleasure of a researcher, but could be used to teach men and women in trade union education classes. What was more, it would have immediacy and relevancy to our students.

As we began to use these materials, students began volunteering to add their own life experiences to the collection. We began to develop a workshop format in which younger students interviewed older members of their own local unions. In the process of researching old minutes, books, and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings gathering dust in local union files, history became not a subject to be endured but an affirmation of self and community.

This method has enlivened several education conferences for women unionists. It has enabled older trade union women to share their experiences and to talk about the actions and attitudes of their trade union brothers and sisters. They have also talked about their failures and what could be learned from them, and described the responses of husbands and children to their activism. We have discovered that the younger women often make excellent interviewers, asking questions that might never occur to the trained academic historian or sociologist.

Oral history, then, can be used in the classroom in at least two ways. First, transcriptions, tapes, and tape-slide presentations can be brought to the classroom as learning resources; second, a workshop approach can be organized to teach women unionists to collect these memories themselves.

Suggested Outline for a Labor History Course Using Oral Histories

In the first session, establish the class’s average generational span. In one recent workers’ education class, this span worked out as follows:

Your grandparents’ generation: 1877–1919. We provided the students with readings on the Great Railroad Strikes of 1877; the Haymarket Riots in 1886; the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892; the Pullman Strike of 1894; immigration and industrialization; the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909; the 1912 Strike of Chicago Clothing Workers; the Lawrence Strike of 1912; and the Great Steel Strike of 1919.

Your parents’ generation: 1919–1948. Here the topics covered were: the return to welfare capitalism after World War I; the Great Depression; the New Deal; the rise of the CIO; coal mining communities; miners and garment workers; World War II and women industrial workers; post-war reconversion; the Taft-Hartley Act.

Your generation: 1949-the present. The merger of the AFL-CIO; the rise of public employee unionism; the black worker; the woman worker; the United Farm Workers vs. the Teamsters; contest for union office; the United Steel workers of America; the United Mine Workers; the Landrum-Griffin Act; OSHA; pension reform; the Coalition of Labor Union Women.

Students were asked to interview their grandparents and parents, wherever possible. We suggested that they interview their grandmothers and mothers separately from their grandfathers and fathers. The students were amazed at the wealth of material that they collected that related directly to the readings. They also reported that they discovered much about their families they had never known, but particularly about their mothers and grandmothers, some of whom spoke about their work experiences for the first time. One student reported that he had not known that, before and during World War II, his mother worked at the Cluett and Peabody Company, makers of Arrow shirts, and had participated in organizing the plant in 1941. Another found that her grandmother had fed strikers during the steel strike of 1919 and had fled from mounted police while trying to carry a cauldron of hot soup.

The students were asked to play segments of their tapes for the class. These produced lively discussions. Students found a great community interest in sharing these family histories. One student remarked: “My grandparents were Italian immigrants, my grandfather a stone mason, my grandmother a garment worker, my father worked for Westinghouse and my mother was a World War II steelworker, and I’m a public employee. Our family illustrates all of American labor history!”

Suggested Outline for an Oral History Workshop

1. Divide the group by local or international union.

2. Have each group identify sources within the group. It is often advisable to invite specific retirees to join the group on the basis of their knowledge, experience, and willingness to participate in the project. The teacher should conduct a pre-interview to assess topic areas that might be covered and to make sure that the older women understand the project and what will be required of them. They certainly ought not have such a project sprung on them.

3. Conduct a session for the total group to familiarize them with the tape recorder and how to conduct an interview.

4. Discuss sources available on the period under discussion. In workshops with steelworkers at Penn State, we have conducted several sessions in the archives, enabling participants to research the history of their own local before the interviews are begun. Where access to these kinds of sources is not realistic, provide excerpts from published histories of the union or outlines of union history and issues to guide the discussion. (See also the suggested guide to questions for trade union women published in Frontiers, pp. 114–18.) However, do not let the students simply read off the list of questions, or they are likely to get short-answer replies. Point out that they need to be alert to follow up with their own questions when the interviewee is particularly knowledgeable and to be sensitive to the interviewee’s responsiveness.

5. Discuss techniques for asking good questions. Willa Baum’s Oral History for the Local Historical Society contains a useful discussion on interview technique. One of the best questions is “Why?” or “Tell us more about that, please.” The questioner should maintain eye contact with the interviewee. If a subject obviously loses interest, that’s a sure sign of a poor interview.

6. Make arrangements, if possible, to transcribe the interview. See Oral History from Tape to Type by Cullom Davis, Kathryn Back, and Kay MacLean. If transcribing is too time-consuming or costly, at least make a copy of the tape to give to the local union. Either a copy of the transcript or a copy of the tape should be offered to an appropriate library. (See list of oral history projects, below.) Often the local library is collecting tapes on community history; don’t lose the opportunity to have the union’s history preserved where it can continue to benefit students and others in the community.

7. Make arrangements with the interviewee with regard to access to the tapes. Make sure that the interviewee understands exactly where the tapes and transcripts will be kept and who will have access to them. A release should be signed by the interviewee and the interviewers. This understanding should be read onto the tape. Tapes can usually be deposited in a labor archives with the stipulation that they be closed to access for a specified number of years or for the interviewee’s lifetime. This is an essential step that must not be overlooked. Without this release the tape should be destroyed, as it may subject interviewees or interviewers to possible legal damages or embarrassment and harassment. Sample release forms and advice may be obtained from the Oral History Association or from the Pennsylvania Historical Collections at Pennsylvania State University,

8. It is often possible to edit the tape to produce a short tape for use in subsequent classes. Thus, tapes can be made on such topics as child care, maternity benefits, health and safety, sex discrimination, etc. Such tapes, unless they are accompanied by slides, should not exceed ten to fifteen minutes in length. Most school districts have an audiovisual specialist who can help in such a project and often is willing to do so at no cost, providing a copy is made available to the audiovisual library of the school and blank tapes are provided.

Equipment

A great deal could be said on the subject of equipment, and many brands and types of recorders have their ardent supporters. In general, cassette recorders are adequate to record speech, but the generally greater fidelity of reel-to-reel recorders makes them preferable for recording music. Also, reel-to-reel tape is easier to edit. Cassette recorders, however, are more portable and less obtrusive, and cassettes can be inserted with less manipulation. If recorded only on one side, they can also be cut and spliced. The cassette recorder’s fidelity can be greatly enhanced by using an external microphone instead of the internal mike built into the machine. The price of a high-quality microphone—from thirty to sixty dollars—will be amply rewarded in good sound. An omnidirectional mike is required to record multiple voices. If there are just two voices, however, lapel mikes will produce excellent sound and reduce the amount of room noise. Avoid stereo recorders, as they require two microphones, are more expensive and complicated than is necessary, and, moreover, produce tapes that cannot be spliced easily.

Listed below are some features to look for in a recorder:

1. End-of-tape alarm to warn you when the tape must be turned over or changed.

2. A jack to permit use of house current. House current, rather than batteries, should be used wherever feasible, as run-down batteries can impair recording quality. Having an extension cord may save you having to rearrange the furniture where you are recording.

3. Battery level indicator.

4. Recording level indicator and automatic level control.

5. Pause switch, to enable you to stop recording without depressing the off switch, which causes a click on the tape.

6. Digital counter, which greatly facilitates finding material on the tape.

7. Foot pedal for transcribing.

One final note: Buy polyester high-fidelity tapes of not more than 90 minutes in total length (30–45 minutes per side). Longer tapes are thin and easily become twisted and snarled.

RESOURCES ON ORAL HISTORY AND THE CLASSROOM

Baum, Willa. Oral History for the Local Historical Society. 2nd. ed. Nashville, Tenn: American Assoc, for State and Local History, 1975.

Brownlee, W. Elliot, and Mary Brownlee. Women in the American Economy: A Documentary History, 1675–1929. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1976. Pp. 226–40 contain part of an interview with Jenny Matyas, ILGWU leader, originally conducted by the Regional Oral History Office of the Bancroft Library.

Davis, Cullom, Kathryn Back, and Kay McLean. Oral History from Tape to Type. Chicago: American Library Association, 1977.

Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 2, no. 2 (Summer 1977). Special issue on women’s oral history; this is an excellent source, with suggested interview questions, a note on equipment, and several interviews with working women.

Hareven, Tamara K., ed. Family and Kin in Urban Communities, 1700–1930. New York: Franklin Watts, 1978.

        , and Stephan Thernstrom, eds. Documentary History of American Cities. New York: Franklin Watts, 1978.

Hartley, William G. Preparing a Personal History. Salt Lake City, Ut.: Primer Publishers, c. 1976. A step-by-step guide to the preparation of family history.

Hoffman, Alice M. Preserving Your Local Union History through the Tape-Recorder Interview. Pittsburgh, Pa.: United Steelworkers of America, 1972.

Lynd, Alice, and Staughton Lynd. Rank and File: Personal Histories by Working-Class Organizers. Boston: Beacon, 1973. Contains accounts of several women organizers.

Neuenschwander, John A. Oral History as a Teaching Approach. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1976.

Oral History Association. Newsletter (published quarterly), and Review (published annually). Oral History Association, North Texas State University, P.O. Box 13734, NTSU Station, Denton, Tex., 76203.

O’Sullivan, Judith, and Rosemary Gallick. Workers and Allies: Female Participation in the American Trade Union Movement, 1824–1976. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975.

Siefer, Nancy. Nobody Speaks for Me: Self portraits of American Working Class Women. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976. An excellent source to inspire students to conduct their own interviews.

Southern Exposure. Quarterly journal of the Institute for Southern Studies. P.O. Box 531, Durham, N.C., 27702. Frequently publishes oral histories with southern workers, both men and women.

Terrill, Tom E., and Jerrold Hirsch, eds. Such as Us: Southern Voices of the Thirties. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1977. This is a collection of histories by the Federal Writers’ Project.

Tilly, Louise A., and Joan W. Scott. Women, Work and Family. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1970.

Union Maids. Filmed interviews of three union women, combined with archival footage and stills. New Day Films, P.O. Box 315, Franklin Lakes, N.J., 07417. 16mm; black and white; 45 min.

Wasserman, Manfred. Bibliography on Oral History. Rev. ed. Denton, Tex.: Oral History Association, 1975.

Wertheimer, Barbara M. We Were There: The Story of Working Women in America. New York: Pantheon, 1977.

Westin, Jeane. Making Do: How Women Survived in the Thirties. Chicago: Follett, 1976. Includes an interview with Genora Johnson Dollinger, who organized the women’s brigade in the UAW strike at Flint, Michigan, in 1936.

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade. 16mm film available from the Women’s Labor History Film Project, 1735 New Hampshire Ave. #402, Washington, D.C., 20009. Color; 45 min.

SELECTED ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS

California. Willa Baum, Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California/Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal., 94720. Major Topic: the wine industry, trade-union women.

Georgia. Les Hough, Archivist, Southern Labor Archives, Library, Georgia State University, 104 Decatur St. S.E., Atlanta, Ga., 30303. Major topic: southern labor.

Hawaii. Edward D. Beechert, Director, University of Hawaii, Pacific Region Oral History, Department of History, 2550 Campus Road, Honolulu, Haw., 96822. Major topics: labor history of Hawaii, development of statehood, and social history of Japanese and Filipinos in Hawaii.

Illinois. Elizabeth Balanoff, Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 111., 60605. Major topics: labor history in the Chicago area.

Iowa. University of Iowa, Center for Labor and Management, Phillips Hall, Iowa City, Io., 52240. Major topic: communication workers.

Michigan. Robert M. Warner and Joyce Kornbluh, Michigan Historical Collections, Oral History Program, University of Michigan, Rackham Building, Ann Arbor, Mich., 48104. Major topics: industrial unionism in the 1930s and 1940s; life and times of Frank Murphy; the University of Michigan and local history; and trade union women.

        . Philip P. Mason, Director, Wayne State University, Archives of Labor History and Urban Affairs, Detroit, Mich., 48202. Major topics: unionization of automobile industry; civil rights movement; blacks in the labor movement; Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

New York. Louis M. Starr, Director, and Elizabeth B. Mason, Associate Director, Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, Butler Library, New York, 10027. Major topic: public affairs—literature, law, medicine, journalism, music, architecture, painting, sculpture, business, labor, and pure science are represented, in a collection designed to provide source materials on twentieth-century American life, with emphasis on its leaders.

        . Herbert Finch, Archivist, Cornell Program in Oral History, Cornell University, 502 Olin Library, Ithaca, N.Y., 14853. Major topics: innovation and diffusion of ideas, practices, and technology, institutional studies, family decision making, NLRB, railway labor.

        . Joshua A. Fishman, Director, Yivo Institute for Jewish Research, Inc., Oral American Jewish History, 1048 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10028. Major topic: history of the Jewish labor movement and Yiddish and Hebrew culture since the beginning of the century.

North Carolina. Jacquelyn Hall, Southern Oral History Program, Department of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C., 27514. Major topic: southern labor.

Ohio. Dennis East, Division Chief, Archives-Manuscripts, The Ohio Historical Society, Ohio Historical Center, Columbus, O., 43211. Major topic: Ohio labor history.

Pennsylvania. Alice M. Hoffman, Director, Oral History Program, Historical Collections, Pattee Library, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa., 16801. Major topics: steelworkers, printers, teachers.

. Frank Zabrosky, Curator, Archive of Industrial Society, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. Major topic: electrical workers.

Tennessee. Charles W. Crawford, Director, Oral History Research Office, Memphis State University, Memphis, Tenn., 38111. Major topic: regional historical events.

Texas. Director, Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Library, University of Texas at Arlington, P.O. Box 19218, Arlington, Tex., 76019. Major topics: Chicanas, Texas labor history, migrant workers.

Wisconsin. F. Gerald Ham, State Archivist, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, Wis., 53706. Major topics: Wisconsin history, biography and reminiscence, ethnic groups, industry, conservation and forestry, and Jewish archives; National mass communications, public relations, theater, civil rights, labor.

NOTES

1. Ernestine Freidmann, describing her experiences as Director of the Barnard School for Women Workers, about 1928. Transcribed interview, Feb. 14, 1972, p. 6 in PSU Historical Collections.

2. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 2 (Summer 1977), no. 2. Special issue on women’s oral history.

3. Ibid., p. 2.

4. Carl L. Becker, Everyman His Own Historian (New York: F. S. Crafts, 1935), p. 252.

5. Nancy Seifer, Nobody Speaks for Me: Self-portraits of American Working Class Women (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976), p. 25.

CHAPTER 12

Games and Other Exercises

By ANNE H. NELSON

Any single teaching method has its limitations, and choosing one is always a trade-off. Recognizing this, most labor educators develop a mix of methods, using some to impart information, some to illuminate general concepts, and some to build skills or challenge attitudes.

Since learning proceeds best when instruction relates to the personal experience of students, we try to relate the topic to their lives. Nevertheless, we are tempted, in teaching courses heavy with important information, to cut short the process and try to fill that empty vessel—the student—with our distilled wisdom. Games and exercises help us resist this temptation. They help to establish a tempo that permits learning. For us to think that what is learned is what is taught, is to overlook the analysis and practice students need to make knowledge their own.

Games and exercises build on the principle that skills, new information, and new concepts are assimilated best if students participate actively in the learning. As labor educators, we want our students to discover the meaning and the governing principles of their experiences in order to use that understanding to shape future experiences.

A game is stimulating and involving. It builds skills, permits experimentation with different ways of handling situations, and reveals what information is relevant. Games help the instructor focus on the learning process. They provide fresh insights to both the teacher and the taught.

Use of Games and Exercises

Labor law, collective bargaining, union administration, urban problems, safety and health, discrimination, can all be taught by methods that require active participation of the student. But because there is so much content to these courses, teachers too often assume more responsibility for the learning than is effective. Aware of how much needs to be learned, they forget that new ideas take time for an adult to add to the accumulation of many years.

One rule of thumb many instructors use to guard themselves from over-teaching is to divide class time into alternating periods: lectures to provide information, and class discussion or exercises to reinforce it. Discussion is a favored method, but good discussion is difficult to conduct and easy to terminate; use of it often leaves unfulfilled the goal of student responsibility for learning. One advantage of games and exercises is that they take control out of the teacher’s hands for at least a portion of the time, and place it directly in the students’. As the instructor helps integrate what happened into a broader theoretical framework, she does it at a time when student interest to learn is high.

Although every subject benefits from use of these techniques, they are natural for teaching leadership skills and interpersonal concepts such as team building; decision making; leadership styles; goal setting; action planning; communication; problem solving; conflict resolution; and strategies of power. This chapter provides a range of methods for assisting students to examine facts, values and attitudes, then to help them go on to practice integrating what is learned into their behavior.

Conducting the Game or Exercise

Games and exercises must be part of some other continuum, must fit into some context, exemplify some principle. That context should be discussed before the game begins, and the game should flow smoothly from the discussion. For example, a game that explores the problem and responsibility of union leadership to award recognition might be preceded by a discussion of why recognition is important, where it fits into other leadership responsibilities, and what the consequences are of equal and unequal recognition. An exercise in collective bargaining might be preceded by information on management prerogatives and Section 8 (d) of the National Labor Relations Act, which defines what subjects are bargainable.

In conducting a game, the instructor needs to have the right materials well organized. Once the game begins, the instructor keeps track of the time and, if necessary, reminds students when time is running out. The instructor introduces the game, ends it, and ties together what happened. As she does so, she restates and draws attention to the major points that came from the experience, relates them to theory, and discusses their implications for future activity. She encourages students to try out skills and ideas they do not yet handle well. She sets a climate of flexibility, openness, and warmth, and backs it up by being trustworthy and responsible. Finally, the instructor has fun and shows it.

A Typical Session

The class session that utilizes a game or exercise typically takes the following shape:

1. The teacher sets the stage for the exercise by conducting a mini-lecture and discussion on the subject of the session. This highlights information the teacher wants to convey and allows students to describe their attitudes toward the issue before they experience the exercise.

2. The exercise or game is introduced. The teacher explains its purpose, outlines what will happen, and describes the specific skills or concepts with which students will be concerned.

3. The exercise is conducted.

4. When the exercise ends, students discuss what happened, how they felt, and what conceptual insight they received.

5. Students give the teacher direction in conceptualizing what the exercise meant. The teacher assists by presenting appropriate theory or information that will help students understand what happened and construct frameworks within which to organize their new knowledge. She builds on student statements and student curiosity.

6. The teacher moves the class to a discussion of how the knowledge or skills can be applied in work or union situations.

7. The success of the exercise in achieving its purpose is evaluated. Evaluation helps the teacher in her future use of this exercise. It may even lead her to reject the exercise, or use it for different purposes or with other kinds of audiences.

8. Conclusion. The ending may be a summary, an anecdote, or warm good wishes for success as students try out their new skills at work, in the union, or at home.

All exercises should be reviewed for the instructor’s competence to handle the outcomes. Be sure you have a grip on what you are doing. Think about your relationship to the students, and their relationship to each other. No exercise should be undertaken that will undermine mutual trust or expose a student’s behavior as a failing.

Check for a logical flow of experience, reflection on it, formulation of principles based on it, and development of students’ personal theories that can be tested and practiced in new situations.

Role Playing

Role playing is probably our strongest tool for providing insight into personal interaction. It provides an imaginary situation in which students can practice skills and identify effective and ineffective behavior. It is rewarding for teachers, since the situation is not rehearsed and its outcome varies each time it is used. Students find it useful because they can try out new ways of handling situations without risking anything in their real lives.

Role plays can be simple or elaborate. As a starter, the simpler the better, since many students have trouble with the more elaborate. Stage fright and the need to master a role combine to undermine the effectiveness of formal role plays for both players and audience. Elaborate situations work better after simple, more spontaneous exercises have given students practice and assurance.

An exception to this rule is role play by teams, as in a bargaining game, where the team focuses on its strategic response to the situation. Instructors experienced with this teaching technique agree, however, that bargaining games are more successful when students are assigned individual roles to play within the negotiating situation.

Six Spontaneous Role Plays

Spontaneous exercises can be integrated within a lecture or discussion format. For example, the instructor can say: “What would you do? Jean, you’re the steward, Joe, you’re the operator. You have had it up to here with getting docked for every extra minute you take for wash-up. Tell her what you think.” Simple role plays can be used in quick succession to make your point and to familiarize the class with the method, or to see whether one response works better than another. Each exposes critical needs for tact, for analysis of other people’s agendas, or for understanding unrecognized fallacies in thinking.

The instructor cuts the action after a few minutes and opens the situation to discussion. What was good about the presentation? How might it have been more effective? What else could be done to accomplish the goal?

Several of the following spontaneous role play situations have been used successfully in working women’s training programs. They can be adapted for other groups, or used as presented here.

1. You see an article in the local union newspaper reporting that the international wants each local to set up a health and safety committee. You know your local has a committee, but it is pretty dead and there are no women on it. You think a woman should be on it because a great many health and safety problems relate to pregnancy. You go to the president with the news clipping, say you think it is a great idea, and that you would like to work on this. He says, “That’s right. That’s really important. But right now we have got layoffs and the state legislature is trying to cut back our pension rights. I don’t really have time to get this going. After things settle down we can do something.” What do you say?

2. A friend you respect is running for shop steward and you are helping her. You have just told another worker that you think your friend will do a great job. She says, “I don’t think a woman could stand up to the foreman. I know Helen would care about the things that go on here, but I just don’t think any woman can handle the job.” What do you reply?

3. All of the auditors in your department are men, and for the period of time you have worked for the state, always have been. You work as a secretary in the department, have been going to school at night, and have almost completed your degree in accounting. You ask the boss to be considered for the next opening. He tells you that you have to take the examination for the title and that your experience won’t count, since it is clerical. Besides, he can’t have women in the department because the job involves travel. What do you say? What do you do?

4. The local union president has appointed you to chair the human rights committee. You want to run a story in the local newspaper asking people who are interested in serving on the committee to get in touch with you. The president says, “It’s okay to announce the committee, but I see you want people to volunteer to serve on it. You can strike that line. I know exactly the right people.” What do you say? What do you do?

5. You are at a union meeting where layoffs are being discussed. One member says, “Women who go to work are simply taking jobs away from men.” What do you get up and say?

6. Same situation, new player: Feelings are running high, and as you talk, some of the men start yelling: “Go back to the kitchen.” “Why don’t you sit down?” “Barefoot and pregnant.” “What’s the matter? Can’t you get a man?” How do you handle this? What do you say?

Small-Group Involvement in Role Plays

The flexibility of the role playing technique also makes it useful for group briefings and group strategizing. Below is an example of a role play used to prepare students for involving workers in the union.

Break the class into three groups. Describe to each group one of the workers below. The group is to develop a strategy for recruiting that worker for some union activity. It also is to choose a “recruiter” who will use that strategy in approaching the worker. The teacher selects three people to play the worker roles and gives them their parts to study while the group develops its approach. The recruiter has the last word. Following the role play, class discussion focuses on the strategy, and on the recruiter’s ability to follow up on favorable or unfavorable responses from the worker.

1. Rita, a young woman. This is your first day on the job. When you started you were told that there was a union but you did not have to join. That’s OK with you. You think that unions have outlived their usefulness and believe that when institutions are outdated, they should fade away. You plan to help the union fade away by not joining. You are already active in civil rights and other organizations that you think are more vital today than unions, and you plan to stick to them.

2. Evelyn, a ball of fire. You have challenged management on a lot of bad practices. But you have never gotten anywhere and you are frustrated. You are impatient with the union, but you have courage and people do listen to you.

3. Tony. You have two years of college and are recently divorced. You find yourself at loose ends these days; the children are older and don’t need or want a hovering father. You are thinking of going to night school with the idea of moving into management.

Bargaining: The Most Elaborate Role Play

In a well-developed role play that requires preparation over one or more sessions, students combine many learning experiences: analytical problem solving, information collecting, practice in oral communications and interpersonal relations. Most bargaining games create a labor-management negotiation for students to work out. In those games, the instructor usually has to apply pressure to induce students to work toward a settlement, because the management team (composed of real unionists) loves to take a hard line. If urging by the instructor does not work within the time limit, a paper might be assigned on the topic: “What Issues Prevented Settlement?”

If the group is inexperienced at negotiating, the game will be more successful if the bargaining problem is close to its experience and special interests. In the case of more experienced negotiators, bargaining games are more helpful if the situations are unlike their own. Experienced students will feel freer in a simulation that lacks the pressure or threats of the problems they face every day.

The game presented here was developed for the collective bargaining course that is part of Cornell University’s Trade Union Women’s Studies. Because so few women have served on bargaining committees, the game is played not between labor and management, but between the women’s caucus and the union negotiating committee. The women have a demand they want the committee to put at the top of the list for the coming negotiations.

The case presented can be simplified or expanded. New elements can be introduced that are appropriate to your student body. Where a class consists of both men and women, a role reversal situation might be productive.

The Bargaining Game

You work for Cornell Manufacturing Company in New York. This company employed an almost totally male work force until 1968. From then until now, the percentage of women employees has grown from 3 percent to 33 percent today. There are nine job classifications for hourly workers. These are:

Step 1. Entry level—portering, cleaning, and light maintenance.

Step 2. Packing and labeling.

Step 3. Machine loader.

Step 4. Warehousing: shipping, carrying, loading, and unloading heavy packages. This job involves an element of strength, and is still largely manual—the employer has not brought in claws, fork lifts, etc.

Step 5. Machine operator (not highly skilled).

Step 6. Machine operator (skilled).

Step 7. Inspection.

Step 8. Maintenance mechanic (machinery repair).

Step 9. Process planner (non-production job).

Everyone in the manufacturing end of the company has entered at Step 1, and has progressed up the ladder as far as he or she was able to go. The tradition of learning the work sytematically, step by step, is seen by the senior members of the work force as being the “only way to do it.” Clearly it is accepted by new job applicants, too; the company has always had a long waiting list of applicants.

There is, however, growing unrest among the women in the plant because of their inability to be promoted above Step 3. It is clear that Step 4, which requires considerable strength, is a big stumbling block for most women, although a few have managed it.

Women now number approximately 132 out of a workforce of 400. Some women have decided to form a women’s caucus. Their aim is to press for increased promotional opportunities for women. They believe the way to accomplish this is to convince the union negotiating team to bring their proposals to the bargaining table and to fight for them. This is the first time this issue has been raised.

The Negotiating Team

You know that a women’s caucus has been formed to press the union to develop job opportunities for women. Your team is meeting to discuss strategy in dealing with this new group.

There are approximately 268 men out of the 400-member work force. The average seniority of the men is 15 years; most are above Step 4 level. The majority of the men oppose changing the current classification system. However, a number of the younger men would support changes.

With this in mind, prepare within your group: A new job classification system acceptable to the membership as a whole; and the arguments in support of the present system as well as of your new proposal.

Larry Simon, First Vice President. You have worked for Cornell Manufacturing Company for the past 18 years. You are currently a Step 8 maintenance mechanic, and work on the floor full time. You have served as vice president of the union for the past 10 years, coming in on the union slate led by Steve Maxwell.

Your long-term goal is to get released time to work for the union full time. You are viewed as Maxwell’s natural successor, and you feel you deserve the president’s job as a result of your years of service to the union.

You are an easygoing person. You don’t make waves and don’t like people who do. The women’s caucus poses a threat to you and your union. If Maxwell loses the fall election, you lose too.

Steve Maxwell, President. A 25-year employee of Cornell Manufacturing Company, you have been union president for 10 years, a full-time union job. Because you like your position and don’t want to go back to the shop, you are concerned about this “insurgent group,” which may represent a lot of votes. You are up for re-election in the fall and suspect that several candidates may challenge you for office.

You are caught between the women who want change and the men who want to maintain the status quo.

Lance Peters, Shop Steward. You have worked for Cornell Manufacturing Company for the past 4 years. You are currently a Step 4 warehouses You are shop steward for your unit and have been selected by them to serve on the negotiating team.

You are aggressive and have no difficulty in defending workers to the boss. Your long-term goal is to become union president. You see women and young men as your natural constituency.

You don’t have much respect for your union president, Steve Maxwell. You believe that he has lost touch with how it feels to work on the floor. You feel that the time has come for a new president, but realize that it is too soon for you to make your move.

Betty Washington, Secretary. You have worked for the Cornell Manufacturing Company for the past 9 years. Currently a Step 3 machine loader, you have no ambition to move up within the company. Rather, you are devoted to the union. Unmarried, you spend most of your non-working time in union activity. You see your future within the union structure.

You rarely express an opinion of your own within the union hierarchy. On the issue in question, you are unsure of your feelings.

Harry Wilson, Second Vice President. You have worked for Cornell Manufacturing Company for the past 23 years and are a Step 9 process planner. You have risen to the top of the structure and have no interest in becoming a supervisor. You do have ambitions to become union president, but realize that your chances are slim. You are a crusty person, and others find it hard to get along with you.

You see the women’s caucus as an attempt by upstarts to undercut the union. You believe that they should be stopped now, before they create problems in negotiations.

The Women’s Caucus

Your problem is to meet with the other women in your unit, and hammer out proposals. You are determined that this time your demands are not going to be taken off of the bargaining table. You are also aware that you must gain the support of the negotiating team and the union membership to be successful.

With this in mind, prepare the following within your group: A proposed job classification scheme; the arguments you would use to convince the negotiating team that your proposal has merit; if you are unsuccessful in achieving support for your proposal, a design for an acceptable alternative.

Gail Martin. You have been employed by the Cornell Manufacturing Company for a little over one year. You are a Step 1 porter, 20 years old. This is your first job. You were selected to serve on this committee despite your inexperience because you are outspoken and have had one year at the local community college.

You represent the new young woman entering the work force who grew up during the liberated 1960’s. You are not willing to sit back and wait for change. You feel that there are at least 50 other women who feel as you do.

Hattie Johnson. You have been at the Cornell Manufacturing Company for the past 10 years. Currently, you are a Step 7 inspector. You have made it by hard work to the position of inspector and you strongly support the present classification system. Your goal is to be promoted to Step 9 to show management that women need no special privileges. You don’t believe you’ve ever been discriminated against.

Although you have taken no active role in the union, you have been selected to serve on the women’s caucus because you are the highest-ranking woman in the plant.

Barbara Winters, Spokesperson. You have worked at Cornell Manufacturing Company for 7 years. You are a Step 5 machine operator. With in the union, you have held the position of grievance committee person for the past three years. You intend to run for a union office when elections take place this fall. Your long-range goal is to be the first woman president of your local.

You have a personal commitment to advancing the cause of women in the work force. In addition, you see women as the force to help you achieve your personal goals.

Gladys Street. You have been employed by Cornell Manufacturing Company for 5 years. You are a Step 3 machine loader. You have never played an active role in the union; you pay your dues, but rarely attend meetings. You have never been involved in a union election campaign or an outside political campaign.

Most of your non-working time is devoted to your family. Everyone is fond of you because of your sympathetic personality. You are excited and a little awed at being selected to serve on this committee.

Tina Richards. You have worked at Cornell Manufacturing Company for the past 5 years, are a Step 3 machine loader, hold the position of women’s shop steward. You were appointed to this position for three years. You quickly rose to Step 3 but have been unable to be promoted because of your physical inability to perform Step 4 work.

You are a loyal union member, loyal to your president, and have supported him in every union election. However, you have been pressured by women to do something about the lack of promotional opportunities at Cornell. Increasingly over the past year you have become frustrated over your own inability to move up within the company and can identify with the feelings expressed by the women you represent.

The Empty Chair Exercise

The Empty Chair exercise permits discussion of an issue within the framework of a group small enough to underscore interpersonal relations skills. It demonstrates the value of gathering maximum information.

The exercise can be adapted to a mock negotiating session, or to other role plays where individuals represent or speak for a larger group. It is particularly useful in a classroom situation where a few class members are chosen to speak for the views of a group too large to make discussion practical.

An inner circle is formed for six students who represent their individual points of view or perhaps two team views. Members of the inner circle are asked to refine ideas or strategies suggested in preliminary discussion or to represent the position of their team.

Although six students sit in the inner circle, there are seven chairs. The rest of the class sits outside, preferably in an outer circle. Inner circle members volunteer; or, if representing a team, are chosen by it.

Persons from the outer group may join the inner group, one at a time, and sit in the seventh chair when they want to contribute information they think the inner group needs. No other outer group member may speak. Those who join the inner group stay there only long enough to make their point. The teacher may have to enforce this rule in order to keep the seventh chair vacant for other contributors.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is part of the problem-solving process. It is used to generate many ideas quickly and to involve the whole class. It is not used to bring about agreement on a course of action.

Brainstorming builds on the concept that creative ideas are sparked by the thinking of other people as long as diversity is encouraged. It is especially useful in neutralizing domineering students, and in overcoming patterns of silence other students may have developed from fear of ridicule.

Here are the ground rules for brainstorming:

1. A problem is presented and the class suggests ideas for solving it. The focus is on a single problem, not a multiple or complex issue; for example, how to increase attendance at a membership meeting.

2. As many ideas as possible are expressed without any thought to their practical considerations. Several ideas may be combined into a new one. There is no class evaluation or analysis of any suggestion.

3. Make sure all students contribute.

4. Set a relaxed tone. The session should be congenial and interesting, not feverish.

5. Record all ideas.

After fifteen minutes, the brainstorming is stopped. In the next fifteen minutes, all the ideas are categorized and the class evaluates them. As students look for workable solutions, some of the wilder ideas may fit into practical measures that could be taken. Priorities are chosen for the best ideas for action.

When the priorities have been chosen, the class discusses the exercise and the results of brainstorming. Did it generate interesting ideas? Did it help discover practical solutions?

Other Creativity Warm-Ups

Here are a couple of quick exercises to stimulate student thinking and build on the thinking of others.

1. The class sits in a circle. Some problem is chosen for the focus. The student nearest the door starts by proposing some solution. Go around the circle with each student proposing a solution that uses as many ideas as possible of the person before her. If a student can’t add anything, she may pass. Continue until the problem has a plan that is generally acceptable.

2. The class sits in a circle. A problem is chosen for group focus. The student nearest the door proposes some solution to the problem. The next student states why she disagrees with the first. The third, why she disagrees with the second. Continue until all have spoken. If there is time, go around the circle three times. The point is that conflict can generate ideas that work. Discuss class reactions to the exercise and how they felt while it was happening.

Identification Ballot

An exercise in the critical skill of problem-solving is the Identification Ballot. The purpose of this game is to teach students how to build a structure that permits conflict as a resource, and how to look at the larger aspects of individual ideas. It emphasizes the need for shared participation in decision making.

The ballot can be used to identify either problems or solutions. Each problem or proposed solution is evaluated against an appropriate matrix or list of questions.

The example cited here can be adapted easily to other issues. It was developed for Cornell University’s Trade Union Women’s Studies course, “Social Behavior and Work.”

1. Divide the class into groups of four.

2. Distribute a ballot to each student. At the top is the question on which they are to vote: What are the three best steps your union can take this year to eliminate discrimination against women in employment?

3. Each student records up to five ideas, then evaluates them against the following questions: Is the idea politically acceptable in your union? Does the union have the authority to take this step? Is the step financially feasible? Will it receive support from the community? From the employer? Can the step be accomplished in one year?

4. Each student reduces her proposals to the three that best meet these criteria.

5. When the student finishes, she folds the ballot and places it in a secret ballot box. She does not sign her name.

6. The ballot box is opened and all suggested ideas are consolidated into one master list. A reader and a recorder are chosen to do this. If the same step is suggested more than once, do not record it a second time. When all ballots have been recorded, tear them up.

7. Each team now reduces the master list to the three best steps. Again suggestions are measured against the evaluative questions.

8. When each team has identified its three best steps, combine two teams and ask them to reduce their six suggestions once more to three.

If there is enough time, the process can be repeated until only two teams are left—half the class in each. The instructor then asks for a report on the final six suggestions and helps the class reduce these to three.

Enough time must be left to discuss what happened. The instructor should cut off balloting and decision making a half hour before the close of class, and ask each group to report the three steps they have chosen. Students are asked to describe what they did when it looked as though their own anonymous ideas would be rejected. Does the class consider that the final reports satisfactorily identify the best steps? What did students learn about each other and the process of decision making? Was it valuable to receive each other’s thinking?

The Action Window

Setting priorities among a host of possible actions is another problem-solving skill. The Action Window helps a group decide which actions they should undertake first. The example given can be applied to helping committees or executive boards move toward specific goals. It builds morale and enables a group to choose actions that can be successful in the short run and at the same time identify those actions that will take longer or may never be accomplished at all. Large sheets of paper will be needed for each “window.”

1. List as many situations as possible that you could deal with as a member of a committee. Brainstorming might help here.

2. Decide whether each situation helps or hinders you in reaching committee goals.

3. For each situation, decide whether or not the union is willing to move in that area.

4. Enter each situation in the appropriate window.

Force Field Analysis

This exercise can be applied to situations similar to those in the Action Window game. It is particularly useful for carrying on the analysis required to change an existing situation when the union is willing to change (Window B), or to change the union’s resistance to a situation that exists and is favorable to committee goals (Window C).

The Force Field Analysis helps students select realistic action steps and assures a review that requires the participation of all committee members.

1. Choose an action objective.

2. List on one side all the driving forces that work for your objective.

3. List on the other side those forces that resist.

4. Cross out any forces on your list over which you have no control.

5. Assign a number from one to ten to each remaining force, indicating the strength of it.

6. Develop a plan that will reduce resisting forces and increase driving forces.

Example: Your committee has determined that many young mothers would come to membership meetings if child care were available. You want to encourage the participation of these women.

Objective: Persuade the union to provide child care at membership meetings.

Cross out the Driving Force, “The union voted a dues increase this year.” There is nothing you can do about that one way or the other.

Cross out the Resisting Force, “Men just don’t like kids at a meeting.” You cannot control how people feel.

Assign strengths to each force. If young mothers feel very strongly about the issue, give that force a 10 strength for you. If no one cares much about attendance at meetings, give that force a weaker 3 strength for you. Your analysis might look like this after the committee has discussed it.

You have 13 points for you, and you have 13 against. You want to change that balance and win. Develop a plan that will increase Driving Forces and reduce Resisting Forces. In this example, the young mothers and your committee can mount a campaign to demonstrate that they really are interested and that their interest could be translated into votes. You will need some information on the other points and an education effort.

Rumor Clinic

The Rumor Clinic can be used either as a visual or an oral game. Its purpose is to demonstrate the failings of one-way communication, and to explore how people’s attitudes screen out reality, or adjust reality to fit their screens.

The classic example of screening is that of the law professor who staged the sudden entrance into the classroom of a criminal, the police, and bystanders, who then engaged in an encounter. They left as suddenly as they came, and the students were asked to describe what had just occurred. The diversity of accounts was astounding.

One type of screening and one-way communication used in our classes relies on a projector and a slide. The slide is of a scene that challenges common stereotypes or depicts incongruities. If a slide cannot be used, photocopies of a suitable picture may be substituted.

The picture in our example was of a woman, a black man, and two white men in a work situation. The woman was behind a huge executive desk. The black male appeared to be a client speaking on the phone in an authorative manner. One of the white men was offering a cup of coffee, and the other was taking notes. Instructions for conducting the game:

1. Explain that you wish to demonstrate certain aspects of the communication process as it applies to organizational behavior.

2. Ask for five volunteers and send them out of the room. Choose as “teller” someone who is alert and observant.

3. Explain that you are going to show a picture for one minute and you want the class to observe it closely. The teller will have the special job of describing the picture as completely and accurately as possible to the first volunteer who enters the room.

4. Throw the slide on the screen for one minute, or let the class turn over the photocopy you have distributed and study it for one minute.

5. Call the first person back into the room. Introduce the teller as a person who is going to describe as completely and accurately as possible the picture she saw.

6. Each listener in turn becomes a teller for the next person who returns to the room.

7. The last person tells the class as completely and accurately as possible what she heard.

8. The instructor leads the class in a discussion of what changes took place between the version of the original teller and the one the class just heard. A blackboard is useful for quickly writing down all the changes that are mentioned.

9. Then the instructor asks the class to look again at the true picture. Students observe either the slide or their photocopy.

10. Discussion: What changes occurred in the description? Why did these changes take place?

Other Class Participation Techniques

The examples of games and other exercises in this chapter have not touched on some of the more familiar techniques that also are useful adjuncts in placing responsibility for learning directly on the student.

1. Panels. The more structured, the better. Assignments that require students to present the side of an issue with which they disagree may open their minds to the problem better than those that follow their natural biases.

2. Scrapbooks. Maintaining a sharp eye for parallel issues in the daily newspapers can bring home the relevance of the principles students are learning in the classroom.

3. Student Summary of Previous Session. Some teachers find summarizing not only helps student learning but also increases ability to make public presentations. Assign one student each session the job of reporting to the next class meeting what occurred at this session.

4. Audience Reversal. This exercise requires students to present the same idea to different audiences. It builds skills and provides the stimulus for learning more about the views they espouse or oppose.

5. Worksheets. Using a series of worksheets will help students learn to map the steps needed to accomplish their goals. The exercise extends over several class sessions, for each of which students complete structured worksheets that analyze one or two steps in the goals process. Spacing the assignments permits students to learn how to break out tasks into small, discrete units and to solve those before moving on to the next step.

6. Questionnaires. Questionnaires are used to test attitudes or information on particular subjects. The questionnaire is administered to the class. Results are compared and discussed.

7. Particular skills, such as those needed for time management, career planning, or assertiveness training, are built through exercises and games contained in numerous popular paperback books. The exercises suggested in those books can be adapted for union use.

8. Mock Meetings. These are useful for practicing parliamentary procedure and the task and maintenance functions of a smaller group, such as an executive board or education committee.

Conclusion

For learning to occur, adult students should be confronted with real problems over which they can practice making decisions. Active involvement is the key if students are to become more accomplished and responsible individuals. The use of games and exercises in classroom situations provides students with opportunities to practice decision making and to see their daily experiences as learning situations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolles, Richard. What Color Is Your Parachute? Berkeley, Cal.: Ten Speed Press, 1972.

        . The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get out of Them. Berkeley, Cal.: Ten Speed Press, 1978.

        , and John C. Crystal. Where Do I Go from Here with My Life? Berkeley, Cal.: Ten Speed Press, 1978.

Jakubowski, Patricia, and Arthur J. Lange. The Assertive Option: Your Rights and Responsibilities. Champaign, 111.: Research Press, 1978.

Jones, John E., and J. William Pfeiffer. Structured Experiences in Human Relations Training. Vols. I–VII. La Jolla, Cal.: University Associates, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979.

Lakein, Alan. How to Get Control of Your Time and Life. New York: Signet, 1973.

Lippitt, Gordon, and George A. Ford. Life Planning Workbook for Guidance in Planning and Personal Goal Setting. Fairfax, Va.: NTL Learning Resources, 1972.

Mackenzie, R. Alec. The Time Trap: How to Get More Done in Less Time. New York: AMACOM, 1972.

Scholz, Nellie Tumlin, Judith S. Prince, and Gordon Porter Miller. How to Decide: A Workbook for Women. New York: Avon, 111.: 1975.

Simon, Sidney. Meeting Yourself Halfway. Niles, 111.: Argus Communications, 1974.

Strayhorn, Joseph M., Jr. Talking It Out. Champaign, 111.: Research Press, 1978.

PART III

SUBJECTS AND MATERIALS

The book turns next from methods and techniques in labor education to subjects and materials. The range of subjects taught in classes for workers, and more recently in special programs for working women, is too great to be covered in one brief volume. However, a representative selection has been made, and labor educators who have developed a special expertise or innovative program in these areas have been invited to contribute chapters.

The first four chapters of Part III describe subject areas and course content. To the extent possible within the limitations of space, course outlines, case examples, or sample program formats have been included.

Labor history comes alive through field trips, a method expanded on in Chapter 13. After reading about how these programs have been successfully funded, educators will want to watch for opportunities to apply for State Humanities Council funds for projects in this area, where their states make grants available.

Women workers need to understand the political process in order to act in it effectively. Chapter 14 discusses several ways to teach this subject, and suggests some useful course structures and formats as well as topical material to include. The goal is increased involvement of women in the process at every level.

The chapter that follows focuses on grievance handling, a subject widely taught in labor education. The author uses several cases drawn from her own experience as a union leader, and indicates both the need for providing training for women stewards, and some problems unique to women workers that can be remedied through union grievance procedures. These make rich course material.

A field of growing concern to all workers is that of occupational health and safety. Women workers, the authors of Chapter 16 find, are more likely to open up and discuss their concerns in this area in courses, workshops, or conferences where women participate in substantial numbers, which means where special efforts have been made to recruit them and to address their needs. Several formats for structuring programs around women’s OSHA concerns are suggested.

Chapter 17 turns to ways of using union structures themselves to develop education around union efforts in affirmative action. The authors analyze how women’s departments in two major international unions are integrated into overall union affirmative action policies and how education programs are shaped to carry these out. University labor education centers can reach out to assist wherever possible in the programs that unions such as these develop. Affirmative action, more than a contract clause that, when enforced, advances women on the job, also increases women’s participation in the union at a variety of leadership levels.

The next chapter discusses how to choose and use materials in education for women workers. In combination with the Appendix on resources, prepared by the same author, this provides the reader with a wealth of suggestions and information immediately practical, utilitarian, and applicable to a multitude of program needs and situations.

Chapter 19 deals with an essential subject: how to handle controversial issues. It provides a program model based on the issue of the Equal Rights Amendment, and takes up as well the question of how to integrate women’s issues into ongoing union programs and concerns.

CHAPTER 13

Labor History through Field Trips

By WILLIAM ADELMAN

Seeing is believing! Labor history comes to life through field trips, films, and slide presentations, or combinations of these.

The field trip approach to courses in labor history provides an effective and natural way to include women as part of the story. It develops a sense of identification for the women in these classes and educates the men about the role—so often ignored—that women have played in the country’s social, economic, and labor history. I began this process with the history and materials available right in the home territory of the workers who are the students in the class. However, I have found that it is not only trade union groups that are interested in labor history, but also women’s clubs, elementary and high school teachers, and such organizations as the League of Women Voters and the National Council of Christians and Jews.

The field of labor history is closely related to other fields: black studies, women’s studies, ethnic history, urban anthropology, ethnic literature, and urban problems. The need for new materials for effective teaching has been my incentive. About twelve years ago, unable to find good materials ready-made for my work in the labor education programs of the University of Illinois, I began to package my own. In this chapter, I will discuss some of my experiences in preparing these materials. At the end of the chapter I list those materials available for sale or rent. Because of my close connection to Chicago, that city serves as the case example here. However, I urge readers to uncover the histories and resources of their own cities in a similar way.

The Chicago Labor Education Program of the University of Illinois is located in a metropolitan area rich in labor history and a tradition of militant unionism. In the 1880s, one-fourth of all organized workers in the United States lived in this area.

Today the home of the Circle Campus of the University of Illinois is the former site of Hull House, a center for women’s activities from 1889 until the death of Jane Addams in 1935. Many early unions were organized on this site, such as the teachers’ union, clothing workers, glove workers, restaurant workers, and Chicago shoeworkers. A number of ethnic neighborhoods and old buildings still exist, providing an ideal place for labor history field trips. Pictures of the old buildings are the basis for slide programs. Other urban and rural areas are equally rich in labor history, for example, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Paterson, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Detroit, and New York. They are ready subjects for exciting films, slide shows, and field trip tour guides. Mining areas and southern textile mills have been scenes of tragic strikes and industrial accidents. Rural areas have seen demonstrations of farmers and migrant workers. All these stories need to be told.

Getting Started

A serious problem in producing tour books and audiovisual materials is funding. In Illinois, this was solved with the establishment of the Illinois Labor History Society (ILHS) in 1968, which set up an educational publication fund.

From the start, the ILHS had a strongly labor executive board, including rank and file union members, labor attorneys, union staff, former Wobblies, early C.I.O. members, and labor educators, as well as academics. It is important that an organization like this be broad-based and offer a variety of programs. The ILHS has lasted so long and become a leader among state labor history societies because it developed this base.

Known at first as the Haymarket Memorial Committee, its activities centered around the significance of the 1886 “Haymarket Affair” to labor history, to freedom of speech, and to workers’ right to organize. One of its first programs, a dinner on May 4, 1968, honored the great teacher and early member of the American Federation of Teachers, Lillian Herstein, born in the year of Haymarket. Following the dinner, the group made a pilgrimage to Haymarket Square and placed a wreath honoring the workers who died there. Newspapers and TV were notified of the program and covered the event.

Honoring Lillian Herstein was the perfect way to launch our program, because of her long association with the labor movement. Among her pupils have been Studs Terkel, author of Hard Times and Working, and Arthur Goldberg, former secretary of labor and Supreme Court justice. Every community has its pioneers who could be honored. Events like this bring together people who hold different political persuasions. Eventually many joined the ILHS, while unions and individuals began to make tax-deductible donations to the educational fund in honor of such labor leaders as Ms. Herstein. This provided funds for other projects.

Next Steps: Packingtown: U.S.A.

Even before this fund was established, I became interested in The Great Meat Strike of 1904, which is the focus of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. What is not generally known, however, is that the real force behind this strike was Mary McDowell, known to workers of the area as “The Angel of the Yards.” Upton Sinclair lived at her settlement house during the strike and she provided him with much of the information in his book.

McDowell moved to the Packingtown community around the stockyards on Chicago’s southside following the rioting that accompanied the Pullman Strike of 1894. A social worker and close friend of Jane Addams, she directed the University of Chicago’s McDowell Settlement House until her death in 1936.

Quite by accident I discovered an article she wrote for the July 29, 1904, Chicago Daily News, “Live on Higher Plane—Unions a Peace Factor.” I began to use this article in labor history classes, and was amazed at the reactions of black and white workers alike. The article describes how in 1904 black workers were being used as strikebreakers and women were being exploited as cheap labor. Everyone could see how events in 1904 related to those of the late 1960s, when the civil rights movement was at its height. I became interested in learning as much about Mary McDowell as I could.

I found that she had helped to found the first women’s local of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union, Local 183. At her urging, the president of the Meat Cutters, Mike Donnelly, came to Chicago. Of his visit she said:

The organizing of the packing trades by Michael Donnelly . . . prevented a race feud between black and white workers, broke down prejudices between different nationalities and has established a fellowship of workers. As one of the working women, a warm-hearted Irish girl, said, “It is different now: we feel that we are all brothers and sisters.”

McDowell also pointed out that while the men had lost faith in the future and were drowning their sorrows at “Whiskey Corner,” the women were fighting so that their sons and daughters might have a better life.

The police captain of the stockyards district says: “The girls of the yards are behaving with dignity during the strike. It is due to their organization, for they were never so before.”

The girls are a distinct influence for order and sobriety. The Union men have spoken to them, begging them to use their influence to keep the idle from drinking.

After using McDowell’s article in classes for about a year, I discovered that the Chicago Daily News was going to give thousands of old glass plate pictures to the Chicago Historical Society. Many of these pictures turned out to be photos of the very events that McDowell described. It was then that the idea for a film was born, a movie that would use these pictures together with the words of Upton Sinclair, Mary McDowell, and Mike Donnelly, and contemporary newspaper accounts.

The Amalgamated Meat Cutters funded the project; they saw in it a valuable tool for educating their own members. Students in the Motion Picture Production Center of the University of Illinois, Urbana, offered their help. The film, called Packingtown: U.S.A., took eighteen months to make and cost $5,000 in cash and another $5,000 in time volunteered by students.

The film has proved one of the most popular ever produced by the University of Illinois. It is used by women’s studies programs, junior high school and high school classes in history and literature, black studies courses, labor education programs, ethnic studies programs, and courses in labor-management relations. The army purchased a number of prints to show soldiers as part of a basic training human relations program. Black workers never fail to comment on how white workers in Packingtown once had the same experiences with discrimination that they have had.

Hidden away in communities all over the country are other collections of old photos, waiting to be discovered, in the picture files of newspapers, union halls, and local historical societies. While we have some motion pictures of strikes and demonstrations that date back to the 1920s and 1930s, the only way to recreate earlier events, particularly those involving women workers, is through photos, paintings, and old sketches.

Several additional projects grew out of Packingtown: U.S.A., including a film for educational television titled Stockyards: End of an Era. This incorporated some footage from Packingtown with current community scenes. A high point of this film is an interview with Sophie Kosciolowski, who as a small child worked in the stockyards. She dramatically recounts the horrors of those early days. In 1971, the stockyards closed. Just prior to the closing the ILHS held a dinner to honor many of Chicago’s labor leaders. Film of this was later included in Stockyards.

Building a Program around Historic Labor Sites

Examples of three of the field trips and walking tours developed by the Illinois Labor History Society are described briefly below as “how-to” projects that labor history associations, unions, or the Coalition of Labor Union Women (to name a few possible sponsors) could initiate. The material is there, waiting to be uncovered.

The Pullman Company

The Pullman Community, now a part of Chicago, provided a unique opportunity to develop walking tours to augment labor history classes. During a 1971 sabbatical leave from the University of Illinois, I developed a slide show and wrote the guide Touring Pullman, which describes the 1894 Pullman strike and the men and women who figured in it.

At the same time that the book was published, residents of the Pullman Community were lobbying for landmark status. In 1973, the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the federal government joined in declaring the area a historic district. The Illinois Labor History Society testified that “Pullman is dedicated to all the men and women involved in the Strike of 1894 who fought for democracy on the job and within their community.” Today the area, a “midwestern Williamsburg,” contains over 750 pieces of property. However, unlike Williamsburg, Pullman is still a working community of small-home owners. Touring Pullman allows families or individuals to tour Pullman in two hours on their own, and to learn the often-neglected labor point of view about the community and the strike.

Although some history textbooks recount the role of Eugene Victor Debs in the Pullman strike, no book mentions the part played by the young Methodist minister, the Reverend William H. Carwardine, whose book The Pullman Strike exposed the feudal character of Pullman’s “model town.” No book mentions the women involved. Yet in researching Touring Pullman, I found that Jennie Curtis, a Pullman Company seamstress for five years, was a strike leader and president of Girls’ Union No. 269 of the American Railway Union (ARU). A member of the grievance committee that called on George Pullman and Vice President Wickes to protest the wage cuts of 1893–94, she pointed out that women workers had had their wages cut even more than the men’s. The message need not be lost that labor history has its heroines, too.

Indeed, Jennie Curtis, a spokeswoman for all the Pullman unions, became a symbol of the strike. It was she who addressed the delegates to the American Railway Union Convention meeting in Ulrich’s Hall on Clark Street in Chicago on June 12, 1894, pleading with the reluctant Debs and the convention delegates to support the cause of the people of Pullman, saying, “Come along with us because we are not just fighting for ourselves, but for decent conditions for workers everywhere.”

During the strike, Jennie Curtis and a delegation of other women workers greeted Jane Addams, who was investigating the strike for the Chicago Civic Federation. The name of Jane Addams is also left out of textbook accounts of the Pullman Strike.

Mary Alice Wood, who worked in the electric department at Pullman, was another active striker. She and Jennie Curtis testified before the U.S. Strike Commission on August 18, 1894. Wood, reporting how her family was treated by the Pullman Company, told about the injuries her father sustained at work, how he died, and how she and her younger sister eventually were fired and evicted from their homes because they took the case to court.

The homes of Mary Alice Wood, Reverend Carwardine, and Jennie Curtis are still standing. A field trip to this spot, using Touring Pullman, is far more than just a study of architecture and town planning.

Another book that deals with Pullman is the autobiography of Dr. Alice Hamilton, a founder of the field of industrial medicine. Her autobiography, Exploring the Dangerous Trades, now is out of print, but the ILHS hopes one day to reissue it. One of America’s first woman doctors, Dr. Hamilton died in 1971 at the age of 101, after working for women’s rights for nearly 80 years. In 1910 she investigated the health facilities at Pullman at the request of Jane Addams and Hull House. She found that 109 out of 489 men in the paint shop had serious cases of lead poisoning. The Pullman Company claimed the men were alcoholics, because a victim of lead poisoning shows the same symptoms.

“Dr. Alice,” as she was called by the thousands of workers who knew her, took her case to another great lady, Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen. Mrs. Bowen, a friend and supporter of Jane Addams, was a major stockholder in the Pullman Company, and used her votes at a stockholders’ meeting to force Pullman’s Board of Directors to correct some of the unsafe conditions. Workers at Pullman Standard, who today belong to the United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, still benefit from the militancy of these two women, yet many young union members have never heard their names.

Since 1972, Touring Pullman has tried to bridge this gap. It has become popular with labor groups meeting in Chicago, women’s clubs, teachers, and, recently, the National Convention of Librarians. In 1973, CBS-TV produced a television show on Pullman, showing both members of the ILHS and representatives of the more pro-management Historic Pullman Foundation. The show proved exciting: members of the ILHS argued the cause of the workers and Debs, while the Historic Pullman Foundation took George Pullman’s point of view. Once again an historic question came alive—to the delight as well as education of thousands of viewers.

The Miners’ Cemetery and Mother Jones

In 1972, the ILHS reissued The Autobiography of Mother Jones (originally published in 1925), in cooperation with Charles H. Kerr and Co. It seemed that everyone had forgotten Mother Jones. A letter written to the Secretary of the Interior requesting landmark status for her monument and grave in the Miners’ Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Illinois, drew the reponse: “Who is Mother Jones?”

How could we make union members aware of the importance of Mother Jones? To do this the ILHS twice moved its annual meeting to Springfield and Mt. Olive, Illinois. At the first of these two meetings, folklorist Archie Green played songs connected with Mother Jones, and the meeting concluded with a visit to her grave. The second meeting was the occasion for a dramatic presentation based on oral histories from the 1930s strike of the Progressive Miners, a union with which Mother Jones had worked. The Women’s Brigade of the Progressive Miners marched to the program in their sparkling white uniforms and later joined the ILHS at Mother Jones’s grave.

Today, Mother Jones has been rediscovered. Her grave is a National Historic Site. In 1974, Dale Fetherling published a new biography, Mother Jones: The Miners’ Angel. A magazine now bears her name, and in 1978 a play about her toured the country.

Haymarket Revisited

In 1971, the ILHS held its annual memorial program, not at Haymarket Square, but at the gravesite of the Haymarket Martyrs some ten miles west of the square. The next year, on Sunday, May 2, the ILHS was officially given the Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument (plus the graves of Emma Goldman and Lucy Parsons) by the former trustees, the Pioneer Aid and Support Society. It now became important to produce a walking and bus tour centered around Haymarket.

The beautiful Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument in Waldheim (Forest Home) Cemetery became the symbol of the ILHS.

In 1976, Haymarket Revisited appeared. This book covers 124 sites. Since it takes six hours to visit all of the sites, the book is divided into four mini-tours: “Protest Meeting and the Bomb” (Haymarket Square); “Trial and Execution” (Hubbard and Dearborn Streets); “The Funeral” (a tour of the homes and neighborhood of the marytrs); “Burial and Dissenters Row” (Martyrs’ Monument and the graves of 24 other labor leaders).

Haymarket Revisited includes not just labor history, but also architecture and information on ethnic neighborhoods, churches, and restaurants. The book has been adopted as a text by a class at Northeastern Illinois University. In Chicago, the book is sold by the Architectural Center as well as by the Chicago Historical Society.

Although individuals can visit the sites by themselves, using a foldout map in the tour book, groups have been requesting guided bus trips, demonstrating the versatility of and wide interest in field visits.

The Cultural Center of the Chicago Public Library was the first to request a tour. In response to an announcement in local newspapers, over 150 people signed up for the fifty-passenger bus! A second tour with two more full buses was conducted, participants including labor union members, senior citizens, social workers, teachers, architecture students, and history buffs.

The National Council of Christians and Jews (NCCJ) decided to include Haymarket Revisited in its training program in urban problems and human rights. A grant funded the training of five groups of community leaders, each of which took part in a specially conducted tour. These groups included black community leaders, police department human relations personnel, army personnel from nearby Fort Sheridan, and representatives of numerous women’s groups.

The day-long NCCJ program began with a slide presentation in the morning, providing an overview of the Haymarket Affair. The group then was bused to Haymarket Square and the site of the trial and execution. Lunch at a Polish workers’ restaurant in the martyrs’ neighborhood was followed by afternoon visits to Jewish, German, and Polish neighborhoods. Throughout the trip the group had relived the struggles of ethnic workers, concluding that little had changed. Today’s ethnic and racial groups are different, but the struggles and problems remain.

Problems in Researching Field Trip Material

The research for Haymarket Revisited and its tours was difficult. Many street names have changed, and in 1912 the entire city’s street numbering system was altered. However, thanks to a WPA research project of the 1930s, a list of the street and address changes was available. Newspaper accounts contemporary with the Haymarket Affair gave many old addresses and even sketches of buildings and homes that proved valuable in locating the old sites again. So did books, pamphlets, and private papers that deal with Haymarket from a labor viewpoint.

Several descendants of the Haymarket Martyrs still live in the Chicago area, including members of the Neebe and Parsons families, who were interviewed. A visit to Waldheim (Forest Home) Cemetery thus becomes the story of continuing struggles of human beings.

Lucy Parsons: A Biography Emerges

Lucy Parsons, a black with American Indian blood, was born a slave in Texas in 1853, married Albert Parsons, one of the Haymarket Martyrs, and died in Chicago in 1942. She spoke brilliantly in both English and Spanish. In 1885 she led a “Poor Peoples March” up Prairie Avenue and by the homes of George Pullman and some of the richest people in America, to demand food and jobs. On January 31, 1915, she was arrested for leading a “Hunger March” up Halsted Street by Hull House. (This march marked the first singing of Ralph Chaplin’s song, “Solidarity Forever.”)

In 1976, Carolyn Ashbaugh’s biography of Lucy Parsons was published, the first ever written about this important black woman {Lucy Parsons: American Revolutionary). This has led to still further interest in the Hay-market Revisited tour, since Lucy’s grave is next to that of her martyred husband Albert.

New Program Areas: View of Today

The funding for Touring Pullman, Haymarket Revisited, and (in part) Lucy Parsons: American Revolutionary came from the ILHS education fund, which is now known as the Ralph Helstein Fund, honoring the former president of the United Packinghouse Workers. By 1976, union and individual contributions made some $20,000 available. As books are sold, profits are returned to the fund for use in new programs.

Using these funds for matching purposes gives the ILHS leverage to obtain additional grants. The largest of these was for a project called On the Job in Illinois: Then and Now. Nearly $100,000 was received from the Bicentennial Commission, the Illinois Humanities Council, and several other agencies.

On the Job in Illinois involved shooting about five thousand pictures of men and women workers. Following in the tradition of Louis Hine and Jacob Riis, these pictures will be a valuable resource for future generations. Eventually all the pictures will become part of the collection of the Illinois State Historical Society.

The On the Job exhibit of 250 of the best pictures was still touring Illinois universities, libraries, and shopping centers at the end of 1978. In addition, a portable exhibit including 120 pictures was made available for rental, and a booklet that includes many of the photographs was produced.

Slide Show on Working Women

One of the most difficult programs to research was the slide presentation Women and the Labor Movement. Again and again groups came to me to borrow these slides of famous women trade union leaders; the growing demand for this type of program was evident.

An early slide presentation, Labor History Rediscovered, traces the history of American workers from colonial times to today, and includes the names of famous women connected with the labor movement. Some of them, like Grace and Edith Abbott, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Florence Kelley, Sophonisba Breckinridge, and Ellen Gates Starr, worked with Jane Addams at Hull House.¹

Many of the Hull House women later moved to key positions in social welfare programs across the country. Several wrote useful books, for example, Edith Abbott’s Women in Industry, available through Arno Press.² Women and the Labor Movement is now linked to a trip to the restored Hull House and adjoining Dining Hall, where so many historic events involving women workers took place.

Program Impact

CBS-TV, in cooperation with the ILHS and other groups interested in ethnic and labor history, has now broadcast close to fifty morning television shows on these topics. The response has been overwhelming, and has led to an increased demand for slide presentations and field trips.

In a period when Americans are seeking to know more about their roots, field trips and slide shows make these vivid and real. Early immigrant workers had to struggle to survive. Later generations became obsessed with status, with material possessions. Today, however, working people want a sense of identity.

For women workers especially, field trips, slide programs, and films that discuss their role in labor history can provide a link to the struggles of the past that help to build a foundation for their growing participation in the labor movement of the future.

RESOURCES

For materials listed as available through the Illinois Labor History Society, write to: Illinois Labor History Society, Book Department, P.O. Box 914, Chicago, 111., 60690.

Films

Memorial Day Massacre of 1937. Produced by Les Orear and the staff of Columbia College. Contains the original uncut Paramount newsreel plus a discussion with a steelworker who was there. Black and white; 17 minutes. Available for rent or sale, from Illinois Labor History Society.

Packingtown: U.S.A. Written by William Adelman and produced by the Motion Picture Production Center of the University of Illinois. Using over 250 historic pictures and the words of Upton Sinclair, Mary McDowell, and others, the film tells the story of the Great Meat Strike of 1940. Black and white; 35 minutes. Available from University of Illinois Visual Aids Service, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, 111. Phone (217) 333–1360.

Stockyards: End of an Era. Produced by Les Orear and the staff of WTTW-TV, Chicago. A history of the stockyards and the ethnic neighborhoods around it. Color; 55 minutes. Avaialable for rent from the Amalgamated Meat Cutters, 2800 Sheridan Road, Chicago, 111., 60657. Phone (312) 248–8700.

Books

Adelman, William. Haymarket Revisited. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1976.

        . Pilsen and the West Side. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1977.

        . Touring Pullman. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1977.

Ashbaugh, Carolyn. Lucy Parsons: American Revolutionary. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1976.

Brommel, Bernard. Eugene V. Debs: Spokesman for Labor and Socialism. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1978.

Carwardine, Rev. William. The Pullman Strike. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1972.

Jones, Mary. The Autobiography of Mother Jones. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1972.

Orear, Leslie. Cry for Justice. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society. Contains 52 illustrations of Chicago wall murals, and their addresses.

        . On the fob in Illinois: Then and Now. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1976. Contains 99 of the 5,000 photos taken as part of the 1976 Bicentennial Project of the Illinois Labor History Society.

Wheeler, Adade, and Marlene Wortman. The Roads They Made: Women in Illinois. Chicago: Illinois Labor History Society, 1976.

Displays

On the fob in Illinois: Then and Now. A small version of a bicentennial exhibit. Contains 120 8 × 10 ″ pictures mounted on 11 × 14 ″ display boards. Will be sent through the mail in three boxes of forty pictures each. Available for rent from Illinois Labor History Society.

Slide Presentations

Labor History Rediscovered. By William Adelman. Contains two trays of 80 slides each. Gives the history of the American worker from Colonial times until today. Available for rent from Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, 504 East Armory, Champaign, 111., 61820. Phone (217) 333–0980.

Women and the Labor Movement. By William Adelman. Contains one tray of 80 slides. Through paintings, sketches, and photos, the story of women workers is told from Colonial times until today. Available for rent from Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, 504 East Armory, Champaign, 111., 61820. Phone (217) 333–0980.

NOTES

1. Hull House’s research library proved a valuable source of information. Special thanks to Mary Lynn McCree, Manuscript Librarian and Curator of Hull House, and Mary Ann Johnson, Administrator of Hull House.

2. Perhaps the most useful guide to books on working women is Martha Jane Soltow’s Women in American Labor History, 1825–1974 (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976).

CHAPTER 14

Training Women for Political Action

By DONNA MOBLEY

Is politics too controversial for a short course conducted by a university labor extension program? Not if it deals with how the political process works and how working adults can become more involved in it. If there is a special need for classes that increase citizen participation, there is an even greater need for such classes designed to involve more women.

Although the labor movement has a reputation for great political clout, until recently most of the knowledge, experience, and power rested with the top leaders. Recently the AFL-CIO and a number of unions and employee associations have turned to more sophisticated operations, using computers to reach members by election district and building member activity across union lines. The fact remains, however, that the average unionist does little more than vote, and many do not even do that.

Except for the recent labor law reform campaign and state right-to-work referenda, few issues of importance to the labor movement touch members in ways that elicit significant mail to elected officials. Politicians complain constantly: “I receive a hundred letters from the other side for every letter from a union member.” It is not easy to understand how the political system functions; workers believe that what they think doesn’t matter. They do not know how to affect the political process, because it appears to be run almost entirely by the men at the top.

The operative word is men, in politics as well as in the labor movement. One would be hard pressed to decide in which system women are more poorly represented at the highest levels. A few statistics illustrate the point. Twenty-five percent of all union members are women, yet they hold as few as 7 percent of the top offices in national unions. And these are not the largest unions or the most influential posts. A report of the National Women’s Education Fund, issued in 1976, revealed that while women comprise 53 percent of the voting population, they hold only about 8 percent of all public offices.¹ From 1776 to 1976, eleven women served in the U.S. Senate (compared to 1,715 men); 87 were elected to the House of Representatives (9,591 men); and 5 were chosen for Presidential cabinet posts (507 men).

But women are moving up, in both politics and labor unions. Almost every local union has a political action committee, and one of the areas in which women are increasing their participation is on this committee. Recognizing women’s growing role in the labor movement, the AFL-CIO recently changed the name of its Women’s Activities Department (WAD) of the Committee on Political Education (COPE) to Volunteers in Politics (VIP). Women in unions will no longer be relegated to a separate committee to make phone calls and do mailings.² In order to be most effective, however, women (and men) must understand how the system works, where unions can exert influence, and where the talents of union members can best be used.

This chapter describes several short-course formats through which union women can develop a greater understanding of the political process. However, any course in political participation can be adapted to meet the needs of working women and to encourage their involvement. The instructor should include legislative issues of special interest to women to illustrate how the legislative process works; women in elected office and women who hold campaign staff positions should be among those invited to speak to the class; instructional materials must include articles about women in politics.

Course Objectives

A course in the political process aims to increase the political participation of the students by developing their knowledge and understanding on the one hand, and their skills and self-confidence on the other. When the students are women, it is especially important to strengthen their awareness that women can—and must—be part of the political process.

If the course is offered by a university labor extension program, the instructor must achieve all of these objectives within a neutral framework, without taking a partisan position. Luckily, maintaining such neutrality is not as difficult as one might suppose, as the instructor discusses political parties, candidates, and issues in terms of the process itself. Where the course is taught in and by a union, it can be assumed that the union will let class participants know of official positions, recommendations, and endorsements.

Course Content

Flexibility in course design and content is necessary in order to reflect the needs of participants and to focus on what is happening politically while the classes are in progress. But this is not to say that certain basic elements are not common to each course.

Introductory Session

An introductory session on politics includes how political decisions affect a woman’s life; why individual participation is important; how and why unions have been involved in political action; how unions and other interest groups decide which candidates to support; how campaign activity affects a group’s influence on legislative issues; and why getting out the vote is so critical. In this first session, the instructor learns which students have never voted (in some cases, never registered to vote), and which students are more experienced in political activities in their unions or perhaps in their communities or state party structures.

At this session, each student should be helped to identify her elected representatives and, using voting records and rating sheets, the class should rate some of their legislators.³ This is an invaluable technique to teach students how to check on the political positions of their representatives, as well as to indicate why unions and other organizations endorse certain candidates and how, in turn, those endorsements may affect a representative’s vote.

The introductory session is basic; the subject matter of successive classes varies. For example, if an election is coming up, the instructor might describe political parties and their structures, how campaigns are organized, and typical pre-election activities. If the state legislature is in session or federal legislation of special interest is pending, the class might turn first to the legislative process, examine how bills are passed, and role play how to lobby.

Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections

The excitement of this part of the course mounts if an election campaign is in progress. This is when a local union, hoping to inspire its members to lend a hand in its political activities, is most likely to agree to sponsor this course.

Before discussing what goes on in a campaign and what is involved in an election, background should be supplied on the structure of the major political parties, which offices are appointed and which elected, how candidates are chosen, what groups and individuals hold political power and to what degree, and how individuals and unions can work within this organized political structure.

Since in most states registration is necessary to participate in politics, clarify voter registration procedures, the importance of registering union members and their families, and the need to get out the vote.⁴ Such a discussion leads naturally to analyzing political campaigns. Depending on the interests of the group, the class might examine how campaigns are staffed,⁵ what jobs are available for volunteers, and how to volunteer. Discuss both money and services as important campaign contributions that unions and other organizations make. Stress the importance to unions and to individuals of participating in political campaigns.

Students should learn to ask who and what the candidates seeking their support represent. What are their backgrounds? What groups are behind them? Why? If there is no campaign in progress, the teacher can refer to candidates in a recent election. Women (and workers in general) need to understand not only why they are underrepresented but also how directly this affects them.⁶

The discussion of election procedures, like that of campaigns, should provide as much information as the class needs. Where students are not regular voters, review what happens when the voter goes to the polls. Who does she meet there? Since many local unions play their most active political role on election day, discuss what these activities are likely to be and encourage students to volunteer to take part.

Legislation Lobbying

The legislative process operates differently at the local, state, and federal levels, and time constraints will determine how much the teacher concentrates on one or another process. Whichever level is the focus, two subjects that need to be covered are how a bill becomes law and how appropriations are made. These should be illustrated through examples of legislation of particular interest to the group.⁷

To get a clear picture of the process, students must know how legislative bodies are structured, how legislative committees work, and how decisions are made at each step. Only then can they grasp the importance of elected officials hearing from their constituents, and the impact of lobbying.

The amount of time devoted to examining the job of the paid lobbyist depends on the group’s level of information and the number of course sessions you have to work with. The roles of the individual as a constituent and of union members as an interest group need explanation.⁸ Demythicize politicians, and encourage union women to think of themselves as having the responsibility as well as the right to inform their representatives about how they feel on political issues.

Because unions can lose through legislation what they gain through collective bargaining, they constitute an interest group whose members will understand the importance of acting in concert, whether through letter-writing campaigns or visiting elected officials. When, in addition, the students are women or members of a minority, their participation and voices are doubly necessary.

Variations

A course in the political process must accommodate the needs of the local union, the political calendar, and the students’ interests. It can be taught in many formats: four two-hour sessions or six ninety-minute sessions, or it can be included in the curriculum of legislative institutes and summer schools. If the teacher is fortunate and can adapt it to as many as eight sessions, time can be allocated for role plays and other exercises to reinforce the students’ self-confidence and political sophistication.

To illustrate the flexibility of form and content, one local union requested that the course inspire its new political action committee as it taught the basics of the political process. Therefore, I recast the course to devote more time to the techniques of building a COPE committee and to its role in the union.⁹ Another course, designed for a regional women’s summer school where participants came from different states and a wide range of unions and labor associations, covered less specific material about local and state procedures. Since participants had been active politically, more time could be devoted to discussing campaign roles and lobbying techniques.¹⁰ Two of the women in the group, elected local officials themselves, made important contributions to the class, particularly in the encouragement they gave to others.

Teaching Methods

Some lecturing is necessary, but I suggest keeping it to a minimum, eliciting as much class discussion as possible. When the subject is politics, there is seldom a problem getting students to participate.

As time permits, it is useful to include role-play exercises, particularly in lobbying. This seems to work best when the instructor assumes the part of the legislator. Depending upon the size of the class, students practice lobbying as individuals or as committees, each of which provides an enjoyable as well as effective exercise.

Outside speakers can be a useful resource, time permitting, particularly if they are elected officials who can describe their role in the legislative process, or union staff involved in lobbying and political action who can give specific illustrations of how and why unions work in politics.¹¹

An important exercise is writing a letter to an elected representative about a legislative issue. Although students often do not expect outside assignments in a not-for-credit course, most are ready to do some homework, especially if it is as brief as writing a letter or preparing an argument on an issue for a role play at the next class session. If a campaign is in progress, students can begin without delay to participate in political activities sponsored by their unions or as individual volunteers, and report back to the class on their experiences. The local union referred to above immediately involved the students in literature distributions and election-day activities, and was delighted with the response.

Another example of “instant involvement” is the class of department store workers that met when the state senate was debating whether retail stores should be closed on Sundays. Some class members attended a committee hearing, reporting back on the testimony of union representatives and that of the opposing forces. Such activities make the legislative process vivid and real. A useful simulation exercise groups the class members into legislative committees that act on proposed legislation as if they were elected officials.¹²

The teacher’s goal, whatever the method, is to familiarize class participants with how the political system works and at the same time build confidence in the possibility of affecting that system.

Controversy

Because the subject is politics and because discussion is encouraged, the teacher must be prepared for disagreements among class members. Plan to focus on the process rather than on issues or candidates. But no matter how neutral the instructor, political debates occur. In such cases, point out the diversity of opinion even among people who share the same basic interests. The class is a microcosm of voters in general, and neither unions nor women are a monolithic group. If partisans of both sides are of equal ability in articulating their arguments, assign them positions in a role play that requires them to think through the opposite point of view. Does it increase their understanding of what those arguments are?

It is important to avoid the hostility and hardening of positions that inevitably follows when anyone is placed on the defensive.

Follow-up

The political action course (described above) provides a model for follow-up activities. The local’s officers used the teacher as a consultant on how to further the committee’s activities, and invited her to conduct a special briefing session when committee members traveled to the state capital to meet with their representatives. Initially, the committee met on a monthly basis. This was a useful tool for developing the local’s program of political involvement, but regular meetings were difficult to sustain, and have been sporadic over the long run.

Another kind of follow-up was a post-course “speak out on politics” put on by a local the week before a major election. Members who had participated in the course conducted the meeting, spoke knowledgeably about candidates and issues, and effectively explained to the assembled group the impact of politics on their lives.

As a side effect of developing and teaching this course, I have had the opportunity personally to assist union women’s political involvement in a number of ways: through phone calls to me requesting information or seeking encouragement, as well as through my own active participation in the political process. What is true of adult education in general holds for this action-oriented course in particular: it is addictive. A little leads to the desire for more, in this case for advanced courses that build on the knowledge and experience gained in the basic program.

Success Stories

Former students are now volunteers for political candidates, are members of their unions’ COPE committees, and work on the legislative committee of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. When the Democratic party held its convention in New York City, several women from the first political process course conducted by Cornell’s Institute on Women and Work took part in activities sponsored by the National Women’s Political Caucus, along with other women from all political parties. Women from these courses now write letters and speak on issues important to them. One former student has run for her local school board, and another has been a candidate for the state legislature.

A high point I will never forget, perhaps my greatest “success story,” occurred during a course on Union Women and the Political Process. The student involved was a man who was attending with his wife. The class happened to meet on the night following the 1976 Presidential election, and he announced to everyone that both he and his wife had voted for the first time in their lives the day before, only because of what they had learned in class about the importance of political participation. Here is a course that encourages students to use the knowledge and skills acquired through the classes immediately and directly. It brings results.

SIX-SESSION COURSE: UNION WOMEN AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS

Each session meets for ninety minutes.

Session 1: Your government and how it works

This session focuses on governmental party structures, emphasizing the influence and participation of unions at various levels. It looks at the systems for selecting delegates to the national political conventions and at the conventions themselves.

What officials are elected at the national, state, and local levels? When? How long do they serve?

Who “runs” the Democratic, Republican, and other parties in the state?

What is a district leader? County leader? Party leader? How are they elected or appointed?

What is a political club? Should you join one? Should you start you own? How would you do it?

How will the next President be selected? How are delegates chosen to attend the conventions? What happens at a political convention? Why are they held?

What does all this have to do with unions? With union women?

Sessions 2 and 3: Running for office

Political campaigns are the subject, with case examples of women running for office, their campaign needs, and the jobs that need doing (the role of volunteers). It includes how to assess candidate qualifications, looking at candidates’ records, weighing issues. Where possible, a woman who has been elected to office or directed a candidate’s campaign will speak at Session 3.

How do unions choose the candidates they support?

What can a union do to help its candidates? What can individuals do?

Who should run for office? What office? Where do you begin?

What are the requirements? How do women with jobs and families find time for politics?

Looking at candidates’ records: questions to ask.

Sessions 4 and 5: After the election—how government works

These sessions focus on the legislative process and the points at which union women (and unions in general) can impact on that process. Lobbying and how it works, with simulation exercises. Current legislation of special interest to unionists and to women workers will be discussed in relation to lobbying and letter writing.

How are bills introduced? How do they become laws? How much influence does your candidate have after she or he is elected? Committee structure and how it works.

How do unions work to get bills passed?

What is lobbying? Should you be doing it? How? What do you need to know before lobbying? How do you testify before committees?

Session 6: Where do you fit in?

The final session centers on student involvement in the political process. A poll will be taken to identify issues of importance to members of the class, and results announced. Discussion will be based on how students can participate in their union’s political and legislative activities. At least one union leader will be invited to talk with the group about labor’s concern with working women’s issues.

What issues are important to you as a woman? As a union member?

What are some ways to work through your union and through the Coalition of Labor Union Women on issues important to working women?

How can union women get male leaders more interested in women’s issues?

THREE-SESSION WORKSHOP: UNION WOMEN AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS¹³

Each session meets for two hours.

Unionists know that gains made at the collective bargaining table can be lost at the voting booth or through adverse court decisions. This workship seeks to sharpen the skills of union women for effective participation and influence on the political scene at the local, state, and national levels. Participants will discuss how the political process works and how to influence it through lobbying, running for office, and helping to elect candidates concerned about labor and working women’s issues.

Session 1: The political process

How the political process works

A. Political Parties

B. Nominations

C. Elections

Where women are in the political process

A. In elected office

B. In political action

C. As the silent majority

How bills become laws

Session 2: Lobbying

What lobbying is

Eight ways to lobby

A. Monitoring bills

B. Attending legislative committee meetings

C. Testifying at public hearings

D. Visiting legislators

E. Writing letters

F. Petitions

G. Telephone, telegraph

H. Other methods (more direct action)

Session 3: Electing good women candidates

Should more women run for office?

A. What women office holders say

B. Gains when women are elected

Qualities to look for in candidates

Special problems of women candidates

A. Money harder to raise

B. Support and backing of regular organizations often lacking

C. Other

Some advantages of women candidates

A. Women know their communities better

B. Women are readier to start at the grassroots political level

Where to begin

A. Get involved: the precinct level as step 1

B. Help run someone else’s campaign

C. Read

D. Build a support network

E. Develop self-confidence; encourage others

NOTES

1. As reported in “Women in Office,” Parade Magazine, Aug. 27, 1978, p. 10.

2. While WAD was regarded as the ladies’ auxiliary of COPE, both men and women members are encouraged to participate in VIP programs. One labor leader explained to me that the name was changed so that men wouldn’t be embarrassed, since they were taking part in WAD activities.

3. In New York City, the League of Women Voters sells the inexpensive They Represent You, which can be used to identify representatives. The league is one of the best sources for information and materials. If there is no office listed in your telephone directory, contact the national office at 1730 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

Instructors can make up a simple form for students to use in filling district numbers and representatives’ names. Voting records and ratings can be obtained from the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (815 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006), some unions, and many special interest groups.

4. AFL-CIO COPE (address above) publication no. 7C, Voter Registration Data, Registering the Unregistered, and Getting Out the Vote, includes good information on election day activities as well as voter registration.

5. The Manhattan Women’s Political Caucus produced an excellent campaign manual, How to Work in Politics: Women’s Political Jobs in a Political Campaign. For New York City residents, it also explains the political party structures and gives information about elections.

6. The Center for the American Woman and Politics of the Eagleton Institute of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. 08901, has some good materials on women in politics, including a quiz, “Women Holding Office.” This usually generates enough class discussion so that the instructor doesn’t risk losing her neutrality. Timely newspaper and magazine articles serve the same purpose.

7. Many unions have prepared simple handout sheets that show how a bill is passed on the federal level. In New York, brochures illustrating the legislative process on the state level can be obtained from any legislator. This may be true in other states as well. The League of Women Voters is another good source for such material, with brochures showing how the process works on the local level.

8. Information on lobbying is available from a number of sources, such as the League of Women Voters and various unions. The AFL-CIO Task Force on Labor Law Reform (same address as COPE, above) has published a booklet, Labor and Grass Roots Lobbying: A Manual for Congressional District Coordinators, that contains much useful information.

9. Do It: Organizing a Local Union COPE Committee (COPE publication no. 5C) is available from AFL-CIO COPE; and ACTWU Action, “Congressional District Committees: Blueprint for Action,” is available from the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, 15 Union Square, New York, N.Y. 10003. ACTWU and the AFL-CIO Education Department (same address as COPE, above) have additional information on organizing committees and keeping members interested.

10. Linda Joy, The Majority Wins: How to Build a Program for Legislative Change (available from Majority Wins, P.O. Box 954, Lansing, Mich. 48904), is an excellent manual for groups involved in promoting legislative programs.

11. In New York City, we are fortunate in that we have women elected officials who are willing to take the time to come and speak to our classes. For example, then-Senator Carol Bellamy explained to one class how the New York State legislative process works. She served as a role model, and also described how a bill is passed as only an insider could. She emphasized the importance of messages from constituents in influencing a legislator’s vote.

12. Ralph Johnson of Indiana University’s Division of Labor Studies, TROM5, Room 53, 2101 Coliseum Blvd., Fort Wayne, Ind. 46805, has prepared a six-session course in which participants simulate a senate legislature, playing the roles of senators, lobbyists, and members of the press. Don Dodd and Jack Rabin, “The Equal Rights Amendment: A Simulation” (available from CESCO Press, P.O. Box 43411, Birmingham, Ala. 35243) is a game in which participants play the roles of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee of the fictional state of New Columbia.

13. Based on workshop materials prepared by the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, for the First National Women’s Conference of the Communications Workers of America, September 1978.

CHAPTER 15

Grievance Handling for Women Stewards

By IDA TORRES

More than a decade ago, a department store worker wrote about her job as a shop steward:

I have the problem of being two people at the same time, a worker and a union representative. When acting as a union representative I must understand the traditions of the union, know what I am fighting for, use common sense and have an awareness of my rights and the rights of those depending on me . . . . As a steward I must think, act and talk like management’s equal.¹

The steward’s job is not much different today. It remains central to the local and to the union’s strength on the plant floor or in the office, and critical to how the individual feels about the union as a service organization. It is still how members should be able to complain without jeopardizing their jobs, and obtain fair solutions to their problems.² It is the contract in action, the day-by-day extension of the collective bargaining process. It makes the union agreement come alive.

Most shop steward training courses deal with grievance handling from this point of view, and many good course outlines and manuals are available (several of the better ones are listed at the end of this chapter). Specific content varies, of course, depending on the needs of the union and the stewards in the class. The teacher will want to deal with the roles and duties of the steward; the problems of recognizing grievances and maximizing contract provisions to deal with them; the investigative process and written grievance forms; interpersonal relations; the skills stewards need; basic information concerning labor laws (some courses include material on the three newest laws that are increasingly important for stewards, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, and the Pension Reform [ERISA] Act of 1974);³ and the steward’s vital role in building the union.

Most manuals and course outlines are designed for male stewards. One apologizes “to the ladies” for using the pronoun “he,” stating that the manual is addressed to stewards of both sexes but that most stewards are male. James Wallihan, in his manual, makes a concerted effort toward sex-neutral language.⁴ But neither the texts nor illustrations of most manuals have been revised or adjusted to accommodate the increasing number of union women who are becoming stewards and taking on responsibilities at every level of union administration.

Since steward training materials abound, this chapter will not take up grievance handling topics in general. What it will set forth is, first, the rationale for teaching grievance handling to women stewards; second, some cases of women’s issues that have been solved through careful use of grievance procedures; and third, some suggestions on structuring grievance handling for women stewards. In view of the growing number of women in the work force and in unions today, it is hoped that labor educators will want to sensitize all stewards on issues that relate to women workers.

Why Courses for Women Stewards?

There are 44 million women in the work force, making up 43 percent of all workers. The Department of Labor estimates that, by the end of the century, one-half of all employed adults will be women. In the last decade, three out of every five new jobs have been filled by women. In terms of union membership, the total number of members in organized labor has been steady, but more than half of all newly enrolled unionists have been women, who now make up some 27 percent of all union and association members. This is despite the fact that only one in eight working women, little more than 6.5 million altogether, belongs to a union.

Not only are women entering unions in growing numbers, but their length of stay in the work force is approaching that of men. The average woman can expect to spend 25 years at a paying job, while the woman who is single and a family head averages the same 45 years as men. Thus her interest and stake in her job and union is long term. It is no surprise to find that women are showing increased participation in their unions. More women than ever are shop stewards. But as most women are clustered in primarily female occupations (for example, the garment industries, department and retail food stores, offices, libraries, nursery and elementary school teaching, and the service trades), programs to train stewards address women representing women, using materials designed for men.

Women have unique problems that may make new demands on the steward. They still carry dual responsibilities, at home and on the job. They have traditional fears of failing, especially if they are new entrants to the work force. Often their economic situation is shaky: they hold the lowest paid, least skilled jobs, but often they are single heads of households or are returning to work because of the pressures inflation has placed on their family. They may be new to the work world, and unused to the particular pressures of their job. They may face hostility from other workers, particularly if they take a non-traditional job. There is guilt over leaving their traditional role as nurturer and homemaker.

Because stewards may be asked to deal with problems stemming from concerns like these, it is important for them to know when to refer a member to another office or service of the union for help, or to a community organization.

Union and contract-related problems of special concern to women include maternity/paternity leave, pregnancy disability, equal pay, rights to job training and advancement, “crisis” leave to meet family needs, and other problems related to job health and safety. How one union handled some of these under its grievance procedure is discussed below.

Grievance handling for women stewards should also address the needs of those who represent both men and women on the shop floor. These stewards may have special problems of acceptance. In their study on the barriers to women’s participation in labor unions, Wertheimer and Nelson found that women stewards felt supervisors did not take them as seriously as they did men in the same posts.⁵ This was especially true in predominantly female unions. Stewards’ courses can structure role playing to deal with this, simulating experiences that give women stewards both techniques to use and a chance to practice them before trying them out in a work situation.

A course for women stewards should discuss discrimination and equal employment law, including how to work through the union to eliminate discriminatory practices and how to begin to implement the concept of equal pay for work of comparable worth. While a session on this subject is recommended for all steward training classes, it rarely is included where women are not an overwhelming majority—and then not unless students request it specifically.

Finally, a course for women stewards should build self-confidence in three ways: by providing specific knowledge of what grievance procedures are and how they work; by developing personal leadership skills for using this new knowledge effectively; and by providing practice in using these skills in the supportive environment that other women provide. In mixed-sex classes, women traditionally take a back seat, deferring to the men as more experienced (which they often are) or more knowledgeable (which they often are not). In classes for women stewards, participation is encouraged. The women share experiences and assist each other.

Ways in which grievance handling is a natural avocation for women can be pointed out. They are traditionally arbiters in disagreements among their children, or between their children and their father or grandparents. Women are practiced in the art of negotiating with shopkeepers. They bargain with family members, encouraging them to help with household tasks, for example. To save loved ones from danger, women have learned since time began how to live by rules and regulations. They teach their children to respect other people’s opinions. All these are grievance handling skills.

The listening and communicating skills stewards need can be discussed and practiced. The context may be new for the women, but the skills are familiar ones turned to a new use. The steward’s role in daily educating fellow workers is merely a new application of old skills.

Thus women emerge from the course stronger and more secure in their steward roles. The skills they discuss and practice will be useful if and when they decide to pursue other union leadership positions.

Settling Women’s Issues through Grievance Procedures

As vice-president of the United Storeworkers, I am responsible for solving the complaints of workers in one of New York City’s major department stores, where 88 percent of the members are women. I have selected seven examples from my experience, and suggest them as case studies for class discussion for the instructor to develop as formal role plays. Also included are questions designed to supplement the traditional classroom analysis of how the grievance was handled.

Breaking the Barrier of Job Segregation

In this department store, as in most, tradition dictated that women worked in the lower-paying departments, while men handled sales in furniture, rugs, men’s clothing, appliances, and other high-commission sections. With the commission rates in these departments running at 5 to 6 percent, men earned between $15,000 and $47,000 a year. Even after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and much consultation with management, only one woman had been promoted into a sales department historically reserved for men.

The union designed a two-pronged approach to this problem. First, it put the full weight of union commitments behind the contract’s anti-discrimination clause, and insisted that women be promoted to these jobs. At the same time, it designed support efforts to ensure the success of women who did move up. Second, the union negotiated a different method of compensation for women in traditionally female departments where work could be comparable to that performed by men. This was inaugurated in the better quality women’s clothing departments, where merchandise is comparable in quality and price to that sold in the high-commission men’s clothing departments.

To implement the frontal approach and move women into formerly male departments, the union needed to: (1) Search out women willing to accept the challenge of working next to and competing with men. Commission work means “hustling.” (2) Educate the men in those departments, who were bristling on the reasons for and justice of the changes to take place. It was essential to ensure that they would give the same initial help to the women that they gave to the men transferred into their departments. This included teaching them the stock, the language special to that department, customer relations, how to establish a customer file for future reference, and so forth.

Total support from the union for the women moving into these new jobs was a priority. They needed reassurance, encouragement, someone to talk with when depression and panic set in. As the people closest to the member on the job, shop stewards received special briefings on their support role.

The Search for Comparable Worth

In another case, the union negotiated a new method of paying women who had never been involved in “aggressive selling.” In their mid-forties, most were the product of a traditional upbringing. They earned between $140 and $170 a week, plus one-half of 1 percent commission on all sales, less returns. The new method proposed a flat 6 percent commission on all sales, less returns.

To deal with worker insecurities, the union won a guarantee that participating salesclerks would receive no less than their earnings of the previous year plus the general increase that the union negotiated for all workers that year.

Next, the union had to help workers in the departments undergoing this major change to develop rules to limit competition that would increase job stress unbearably. For example, a customer might telephone for a particular saleswoman, indicating that she was ready to consummate her purchase of a $400 dress. Could the salesclerk answering the phone resist the temptation to inform the customer that the original saleswoman was not there and complete the sale herself, thereby earning the commission?

To determine the best way to establish rules of behavior, the union surveyed the salesclerks in the men’s clothing and other men’s departments. This provided a working guide for the women to discuss. When the company complained that the women did not have the necessary expertise for commission selling, did not know how to keep follow-up files, and would not put forth the extra-service effort that this kind of selling demanded, the union responded in two ways. It indicated that in the future the major responsibility for training should be the company’s. But because this had not been provided for, the union designed a seminar in which male shop stewards experienced in such sales coached the women and gave them specific suggestions about how to function in this new situation.

The first year that saleswomen worked under the 6 percent commission arrangement, they earned from $17,000 to $28,000, at least tripling what they had earned the preceding year. The second year brought their earnings up from $20,000 to $33,000. For this local, equal pay for work of comparable worth was an idea whose time had come.

Some Questions to Discuss

What are some ways that stewards could smooth the transition—for both women and men—when women move into traditionally all-male job areas?

What are some methods that would prepare women for commission work? How would you enlist the cooperation of the men? Would it work? Why or why not? Discuss any doubts that stewards may have; out of these could come ideas for a realistic program.

Discuss the comparable worth issue in general. How can what the Store-workers did in this instance be applied to other industries and occupations?

The training responsibility that the union assumed is a useful enlargement of the letter of the contract. Discuss other examples where the stewards in the class have seen this done.

The union developed a way to enlist the cooperation of workers in a particular section in developing a set of rules for all of them to follow. What are some other ways to achieve this goal?

Leave of Absence for Child Care

Gloria C. was a keypunch operator whose husband had been moved from the night to the day shift for a three-month period at the company where he was employed. Thus he could no longer stay with their five-year-old daughter while Gloria worked. He was not willing or able to refuse this shift change. Gloria then requested a three-month leave of absence for child care, which the company refused. Based on past practice, the union appealed the refusal, proving that leaves had been granted in the past for other, equally personal and less serious, purposes: honeymoons, trips to Europe, and the like. The leave was granted.

Some Questions to Discuss

Why is Gloria C.’s case more than a woman’s issue? Discuss it in terms of protecting the principle of past practice and of extending applications of the principle to leaves for care of family members who are ill, for example, or crisis leave.

Use this case example to encourage stewards to act out different approaches and arguments for different kinds of supervisors.

Act out appeals procedures under the contract, taking this case all the way to the appeals board. What are the differences in procedures for the steward in preparing a case on appeal? What kind of necessary back-up data is needed?

Discuss some of the pressures on Gloria C. in this situation. Is there anything else that the union could or should do to assist her? How does this case relate to the issue of child care? To the union’s involvement in legislative issues? To the position of candidates for office on the subject of child care, and the union’s participation in political action?

The Cause behind the Symptom

When Yvonne B. was called to the personnel office for a review of her lateness record, she explained that her mother had died recently, making her surrogate mother to her younger brother and housekeeper for her father, who left the house early each morning to get to his job. Yvonne could not start for work before the school bus picked up her brother. Her own transportation to work was complicated, involving a bus, a commuter train, and a subway. Her home commitment plus her dependence on three modes of public transportation prevented her from guaranteeing that she could get to work on time every day. She requested transfer to a job that required a later starting time.

The personnel officer agreed that she needed such a transfer, but failed to act immediately on the request. Meanwhile, the pressure on Yvonne built up and she became nervous and short-tempered. When she continued to come in late she was placed on “warning” by the company, with a notice of this sent to the union. The union suggested she come in to the local’s office to discuss the problem, but when she came in she failed to mention any of the reasons behind her lateness, dismissing the problem as “all my fault.” When Yvonne returned to the union the following week for the name of a doctor who could treat a cold she had developed, the union representative took advantage of the occasion to talk with her further about what really was the matter. When the situation was fully understood, the union called the company to protest the warning; obtained a company agreement to an immediate job transfer as soon as Yvonne returned following her cold; and talked with Yvonne about how she could approach her father to share responsibility for the care of her brother after school, since she would now be leaving later in the morning but working later in the afternoon.

Some Questions to Discuss

Solving this kind of problem, some stewards say, is the part of their job that gives them the most satisfaction. Discuss the role of the union, over and above the letter of the contract, as protector of the worker as a person with off-the-job problems. How do these relate to workers’ ability to perform effectively?

This case underscores the need to bring problems to the steward when they first arise. How can stewards encourage members to do this?

How can stewards be more sensitive to behavior changes of the members they represent? What are some approaches to getting at the whole story when problems like Yvonne’s arise? Act out several, through spontaneous role plays. Reverse roles. Discuss.

How far does a steward’s responsibility go toward union members? When is meddling not meddling?

An Equal Pay Issue

In the department store world, as in other occupations and industries, the problem of men and women competing for the few better-paying jobs is a real one. Heavy and semi-heavy jobs, when they open up, pay well. Men are accustomed to scrambling for them. Historically, too, the department store union has viewed these jobs as a way for minority men to advance.

Warehouse work is one of these job areas. Job titles useful in establishing higher-paying non-selling jobs were tied directly to warehousing duties. Thus stock clerks who worked in selling departments that had stock in the warehouse received a ten-dollar pay differential, that is, the warehouse rates.

Female stock clerks were excluded from this differential and these jobs; automatically they received less money. For years no one noticed this discrepancy. However, a careful examination by a collective bargaining unit revealed that four women had been moved into departments with stock in the warehouse without receiving the mandated salary increase. They had replaced men who had been receiving the higher rates. Through grievance procedures the union brought up the issue and was able to achieve the proper job classification for the four women, the proper rate of pay for the classification, and back pay for past services.

It did not end there. Upon investigation, the union verified that women could perform warehousing jobs equally with men; these had become to a large extent mechanized and involved driving high-low equipment, counting stock, or packing merchandise. The union put in a formal request that women be offered transfers from the store to the warehouse at the higher pay level when openings occurred. It took time and many meetings, but it succeeded. Not long afterward, an initial twenty women were offered—and accepted—such transfers. As a spinoff useful to the union, these women have become increasingly active members. Today one of them leads the warehouse section of the local.

Some Questions to Discuss

What is the importance to men of equal pay for women? Discuss the implications for men if the same job can pay less when women hold it.

What is the steward’s role and responsibility on the first day that transfers from sales to warehouse jobs take place? Discuss or act out in spontaneous role plays what he/she might do. What could be done to prepare both women and men?

How do the classification and pay sections of the contracts that stewards are enforcing read? Are there any situations similar to the Storeworkers case that need investigation?

Two Mini-cases for Spontaneous Role Plays

Two shorter cases are included here as examples of situations useful for informal or spontaneous role plays. Teachers will have others that readily come to mind. These are from Indiana University’s excellent publication, Grievance Representation Manual for Stewards and Officers.

1. Over a month ago, a worker in your office decided to handle her own grievance. Now she comes to you, her steward, and tells you that the personnel manager has denied the grievance. She wants you to represent her in the grievance procedure. What difficulties are involved in this situation? How would you handle the case?

2. Your contract requires that employees be notified of shift changes at least 72 hours before they take effect. On Friday your supervisor asks you to take over Sundays for the next month, starting two days hence. You refer to the contract, and say no. The supervisor replies, “O.K., so I can’t require you to work this coming Sunday, but I’ll have to put a notation in your file about your unwillingness to cooperate.” What happens next? What should happen?

Summary

Beyond the specific issues lie the broader dimensions of the problems illustrated in each case. What are the implications for women moving into non-traditional jobs? What do their schooling and home environment prepare them for, compared to the training men receive? What kinds of pressures do women often bring with them to their jobs? What role assumptions are made about women? With each case, discussion should heighten sensitivity, particularly if male stewards are in the class as well, and should bring out (and, through role playing, try out) new approaches to the problem.

Women need information about their job rights. Too many cases still come up based on such issues as firings for pregnancy, mandating specific periods of pregnancy leave, denial of seniority for women following such leave, refusal of applications for apprecticeship programs, and sex segregation by department or category—despite laws and court decisions around each of these. Not only do many women not know their rights, many more are reluctant to do anything about violations. The special functions of the woman steward are to educate rank-and-file women on their legal and contractual rights; to develop a women’s support network in the shop or office; and to indicate how the union can help women move toward equality on the job.

Training programs in grievance handling should discuss why these goals are important and how they serve to build the union. For building the union is another job of the steward. As part of this role, she/he is responsible for encouraging members to participate, attend meetings, join committees, or take responsibility for some activity. The strength of the union lies in the number of volunteers who give to it the most valuable thing they have—their time.

A woman’s participation often begins with a personal approach, perhaps when the steward signs her up as a new member, invites her to her first union meeting, introduces her to others. Today we are seeing a renaissance of the brotherhood and sisterhood concept on which early unions were built. And sisterhood is important. Women stewards carry it forward when they build a support network on the shop floor; in union committee work; and in all aspects of union life. For some women, often those who hold full responsibilities for their families, the support role of the union is critical. It means not only grievance assistance, but also legal and family counseling, family health and medical benefits, consumer advice, summer camp programs, and a multitude of other services. For some it becomes a surrogate family. For other women, who may be locked into dead-end jobs with little chance to realize their capabilities through their work, unions offer opportunities for growth and development, the chance to return to school and complete long-delayed educational goals, or to use their leadership talents in ways that their jobs do not permit.

Stewards’ classes should discuss ways to reach out and include women in union activities. Unions need all the leadership talent they can get, and increasingly look to women members to provide it. The future for women in leadership roles in unions should be a bright one. Stewardship is a first and a vital step along the way.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AFL-CIO. A Teaching Guide for AFL-CIO Stewards. AFL-CIO Department of Education, n.d. Accompanies the AFL-CIO Manual for Shop Stewards, and includes among many good features a listing of films available through the AFL-CIO Department of Education, and “Twenty Ideas for Steward Meetings.” The Manual includes an excellent eight-page summary of key labor laws passed since 1932.

Doherty, Robert E. Industrial and Labor Relations Terms: A Glossary. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Bulletin no. 44, 4th ed., 1979. Write to: Publications Division, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., 14853.

Sell, Rose. Grievance Handling for Effectiveness. New York: Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, 1974. This manual for teachers and students includes all essential course readings, and is especially designed for women stewards. Material on EEO law, women’s issues, and Duty of Fair Representation is included.

University of California, Los Angeles. New materials in preparation (well worth writing for), will include role plays based on women’s grievances. Write to: Gloria Busman, Coordinator of Labor Programs, Center for Research and Education, Institute of Industrial Relations, Los Angeles, Cal., 90024.

U.S. Department of Labor. A Working Woman’s Guide to Her Job Rights. Washington, D.C.: Department of Labor—Women’s Bureau, Leaflet no. 55, 1975 (rev.). Write to: Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C., or your regional Women’s Bureau office.

Wallihan, James. Grievance Representation Manual for Stewards and Officers. Bloomington, Ind.: Labor Education and Research Center, Indiana University, 1977. Includes special section for public employees, numerous work sheets, questionnaires, and grievance forms, all attractively presented. Especially good section on analyzing grievance cases. The Instructors Guide that accompanies the manual is also excellent.

NOTES

1. 1966 Leadership Training Course, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University.

2. See Rose Sell, Grievance Handling for Effectiveness (New York: Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, NYSSILR, Cornell, 1974), a six-session course on grievance handling for women stewards.

3. See James Wallihan, Grievance Representation Manual for Stewards and Officers (Indiana University Labor, Education, and Resource Center, 1977). This is the single best resource for teaching stewards that we have found.

4. Ibid., p. 1.

5. See Barbara Wertheimer and Anne Nelson, Trade Union Women: A Study of Their Participation in New York City Locals (New York: Praeger, 1975), p. 102.

CHAPTER 16

Occupational Health and Safety for Women Workers: Some Teaching Models

By JANET BERTINUSON and ANDREA M. HRICKO

The passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 guaranteed workers the right to a safe and healthful work place. The law made employers responsible for furnishing jobs and places of employment “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration within the U.S. Department of Labor was assigned the responsibility for enforcing this law, while many state governments enforce the health and safety laws within their own states. But workers still must know what their rights are and how to ensure that they are enforced. Basic to this is education and training on how the law works, how to use it, and what the hazards are in specific work places. The role of educating in this field usually falls to the unions and to labor education centers, although some employers do provide training in certain (primarily safety-related) areas.

As an increasingly large component of the work force, women need this type of training for a number of special reasons. First, jobs that traditionally employ large numbers of women have unexplored, unstudied hazards. Second, information on known hazards (for example, emissions from copying machines) often is not made available to them. Third, women are moving into non-traditional jobs where they may be exposed to a number of toxic materials. Fourth, certain chemicals women (and men) work with are now known to have detrimental effects on reproductive capacity Finally, as more women become involved in their unions and take more active leadership roles, they should be provided with information on enforcing health and safety job regulations, since it is a growing concern of workers in all industries and occupations.

This chapter discusses our experiences with four models for training women workers in occupational health and safety. It also supplies basic information on resources and groups involved in this area of training.

1. Short Presentations at Union Meetings or Conferences

Objectives: To increase women workers’ awareness of the job hazards they face, and to begin to explore the tools available for correcting job hazards.

Training model: A half-hour presentation with a half hour for discussion and questions from the floor.

The two-and-a-half-day Trade Union Women’s Summer School held at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1978, is a good example of this teaching model. This conference was co-sponsored by UCLA’s Labor Center, the California Federation of Labor, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Health and safety was one of a number of topics covered at the conference, which was attended by about a hundred union women. In the hour on health and safety the speaker focused on stimulating the women’s interest in surveying their own work places for possible hazards and in learning how to begin to combat those hazards (for example, forming union committees, filing OSHA complaints, and testifying at hearings). Instances of how women had used these tools were given as an incentive for the women in the audience to become more involved. Examples of serious job injuries such as amputations suffered by women in California during the previous year, as well as statistics on occupational illnesses among women, demonstrated the problem’s seriousness.

To reinforce interest, the summer school coordinator incorporated health and safety issues into simulation exercises later in the conference. A class on organizing was given a role-play exercise that included information about skin disorders from exposure to a chemical used in a part of a plant that was the union’s campaign target.

The same model can be used when speaking at union meetings, but here the speaker should become familiar with the particular needs of the union in order to discuss hazards specific to the members (for example, the hazards of video display terminals for clerical workers or newspaper employees). Highlight successful methods used by other unions that might be applicable, such as experiences in establishing health and safety committees. A brief (fifteen- to twenty-minute) movie or slide show can stimulate union interest at this kind of meeting.

In-depth discussions about using OSHA, or specifics of occupational diseases, are not recommended for these sessions, unless the group has had considerable prior experience in considering OSHA-related issues. The purpose of the session is to stimulate interest. Developing expertise should follow in later sessions with the same workers or with union representatives.

2. At Residential Union Conferences or Schools

Objectives: To introduce women workers to the field of occupational health and safety, explain their rights under existing laws, and acquaint them with how to exercise these rights. To provide a general introduction to occupational disease. To teach recognition and evaluation of hazards in the work place and methods of control.

Training model: The optimum time frame is six to eight hours, for example, two to three hours a day in a three-day conference format. Additional time, however, would allow more active participation, learning how to fill out complaint forms, writing to elected officials, conducting a mock inspection. At the 1977, 1978, and 1979 Northeastern Regional Summer Schools for Union Women, students could elect a four-day workshop on health and safety. The following topics were covered:

A. Introduction to Law: Why the law was passed; who is covered; rights and responsibilities of employers and employees under the law; state programs; filing complaints; the inspection process; post-inspection follow-up; discrimination complaints. Resources for this session: How to Use OSHA: A Workers’ Action Guide to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cambridge, Mass.: Urban Planning Aid, 1975); The Shop Accident, a film from the Wisconsin School for Workers.

B. Occupational Disease: How the body functions and defends itself against disease; how the body is broken down by work place hazards, with examples of common chemical and physical hazards. Resources for this session: slide show on noise developed by the Labor Occupational Health Program (University of California, Berkeley); various network TV shows (for example, 60 Minutes video on Kepone); “All in a Day’s Work,” a slide show by Urban Planning Aid, Boston, or “Your Job or Your Life,” Institute for Labor Education and Research, New York.

C. Recognition and Control of Work Place Hazards: Common symptoms of occupational exposure to hazardous materials or agents; doing a work place survey; keeping a health and safety log; examples of controls for various work place hazards. Resources: occupational health survey form developed by the Labor Occupational Health Program; the list “Common Occupational Health Disease Symptoms,” available from Urban Planning Aid, Boston.

Developing an Effective OSHA Committee in the Local: We consider the optimum size for a group working intensively on this subject to be fifteen to eighteen students. While basic information can be presented in a large group, it limits individual involvement. Specific questions may be inhibited, and opportunities for in-depth discussions vanish. We suggest dividing large groups into sub-groups by occupational category. Clerical workers can then handle stress problems, for example, while industrial workers can learn more about controlling hazardous exposure to chemicals.

3. A One-Issue Conference for a Cross-Section of Working Women

Objectives: To acquaint working women with their rights under existing health and safety laws; how to use these rights; how to use collective bargaining to improve work place conditions; how to form a health and safety committee.

Training model: Here the agenda from a 1978 “OSHA for Union Women” conference co-sponsored by the California State Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, and the Labor Occupational Health Program (University of California, Berkeley) is presented to indicate the basic information to include in a one-day, one-topic format.

8:30 | Registration
9:30 | Conference opening
9:45 | Introduction to health and safety problems faced by women workers (with information on jobs commonly held, health hazards, stress)
10:15 | Speak out: participants discuss health and safety complaints on their jobs and their efforts to correct them
10:45 | Identifying work place hazards: noise, stress, toxic chemicals, reproductive hazards
11:15 | How to use OSHA effectively: employee rights and employer responsibilities
12:00 | Luncheon; guest speaker
1:30 | How to get results on health and safety problems: case examples
1:45 | Health and safety as an organizing tool; using collective bargaining for health and safety; importance of health and safety committees
2:45 | Workshops: what hazards are you facing and what are useful strategies for correcting them. Three concurrent workshops, with head of state OSHA program circulating throughout to answer questions or hear complaints:

| 1. Producton workers—hazards of asbestos, carbon monoxide, noise, toxic chemicals
| 2. Clerical workers—hazards of stress, noise, falls, poor ventilation, poorly designed seating, use of video display terminals, copy machine chemicals
| 3. Service workers, public employees, and others—hazards of noise, lifting, slips and falls, stress, security problems, under-staffing, pesticides, and other toxic substances
4:00 | General session and address; reports from workshops
4:45 | Remarks
5:00 | Adjournment

The “speak out” is one of the most important sessions in this kind of conference. It gives women a chance to articulate problems they are having and to define for themselves some of the hazards they face. Where possible, co-leaders for the workshops are a good idea and augment the information available to members of the group. In any event, provide guidelines for each group leader to ensure as similar a format for each workshop as possible. A good recorder in each group makes the report-back session at the end of the day more valuable.

A common problem at OSHA conferences where men who work in production jobs are present (as they were at the conference outlined here) is that they are forthright, even aggressive, about sharing their experiences with industrial accidents. The women, often less familiar with the issues, defer to the men, thus losing the opportunity to come forward with their concerns about job stress, reproductive hazards, and other issues that seem “tame” in comparison. Care must be taken to brief discussion leaders about giving equal time to the less experienced members of the group to voice their concerns.

Special mention should be made of the session for clerical workers, which proved especially productive. White-collar workers from a variety of unions shared concerns about the same issue: fatigue from video display terminals. Because of this common interest, and because they felt that the state agency on occupational health tended to overlook this issue, they decided to form a coalition of members from a variety of unions to draft a new set of state standards on the use of this equipment. After the conference, they followed up this move, developing a survey questionnaire for union members in industries and companies where terminals are in use.

A valuable part of the conference was the resource packet prepared for all participants. This included background materials and newspaper and scientific articles in four areas: (1) Job hazards, stress, noise, varicose veins, video display terminals. (2) Reproductive hazards. (3) How to take action: using OSHA and your union procedures, a chart of the California OSHA program, sample work place surveys and questionnaires, suggestions for keeping committee minutes, lists of useful books and publications. (4) Issues of the Labor Occupational Health Program newsletter on electronics, hospital workers, and drycleaning establishments.

This conference model was replicated in Honolulu, where the Labor Occupational Health Program was invited to come in as co-sponsor with the Hawaii State Federation of Labor, the University of Hawaii Labor Center, the Hawaii Commission on the Status of Women, the Hawaii State Department of Industrial Relations, and federal OSHA. Such joint sponsorship establishes valuable liaison among organizations with a common concern and commitment both to occupational health and safety and to women’s involvement in it.

The Honolulu sessions drew some 170 participants. Most were not represented by labor unions or associations, but came in response to a newspaper advertisement. This recruiting technique worked well and demonstrated the widespread and growing concern about the subject.

Other public interest organizations have recently held similar day-long conferences for working women on health and safety issues. The Chicago and Philadelphia Committees on Occupational Safety and Health each conducted conferences that drew more than two hundred women. Co-sponsorship at these events involved area local unions, university groups, women’s organizations, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women.

A word of caution to those who teach at women’s conferences such as these: questions from the floor often pertain to issues involving under-staffing and stress, while most experts in occupational health and safety are more comfortable suggesting solutions to problems involving toxic chemicals. We recommend that you pay special attention to determining ahead of time whether there have been workers’ compensation claims for stress in your state, and whether federal or state OSHA programs have responded to complaints that involve stress or understaffing. OSHA generally will not act on stress complaints unless health effects are well documented. Therefore you might emphasize how to document hazards in this area, an increasingly important one for unions organizing in the white-collar field.

For the “action” sections of these one-day programs, we consistently try to use case examples of women filing OSHA complaints where positive changes have resulted, and of women’s involvement on health and safety committees, to provide role models for participants.

4. Workshops or Classes on Specific Hazards

Objective: To provide in-depth training to union representatives with health and safety responsibilities for resolving OSHA complaints.

Training model: A two-day health and safety conference for the twenty health and safety committee members of a flight attendants’ union.

Advance research is necessary into the particular hazards faced by the occupational group coming in for training. Here, for example, sessions centered around jet lag, middle ear problems, varicose veins, back problems, nutrition, flying’s effects on pregnancy, and ozone. There are jurisdictional problems between the Federal Aviation Administration and OSHA that needed discussion at the conference and prior investigation by teachers. A pre-conference literature search was conducted, and a public health nutritionist was invited to teach a special session on diet.

These four models are examples of how information on one major subject, health and safety, can be integrated into labor education. Program designers and labor educators can adapt the models to fit their own situations. The integrative aspect is vital, for health and safety is increasingly an issue in collective bargaining. Working conditions are subject to union grievance procedures, and membership on health and safety committees is often an important first step for workers, especially women, to become more active in their labor unions or associations. We see programs on occupational health and safety as multi-purpose, a clear reason why they should receive more attention from educators.

RESOURCES

Keeping current on changes in health and safety legislation and the latest research on work place hazards is essential and difficult. Instructors of labor classes on health and safety should know the basics of the subject. Some materials that have been found especially useful have been referred to already. The following list provides a more complete review of resources that should prove helpful both to instructors and students of health and safety issues. Many are available at bookstores or through the publisher. For those published by unions or other groups such as the Labor Occupational Health Program, order directly from the organization. Asterisks indicate: * a good introduction to the field; ** a good information source on issues and hazards particularly relating to women; *** a good information source on a particular issue, for example, asbestos.

*** Ashford, Nicholas. Crisis in the Workplace: Occupational Injury and Disease, a Report to the Ford Foundation. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1976.

***Brodeur, Paul. Expendable Americans. New York: Viking Press, 1974.

***         . Microwaves: The Deadly Radiance. New York: Norton, 1977.

*** Davis, Morris. California Negotiated Clauses for Occupational Health and Safety. LOHP, 2521 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal. 94720, 1976.

* “"’Guidelines on Pregnancy and Work.” The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1 E. Wacker Dr., Chicago, 111. 60601.

**Hricko, Andrea, and Melanie Brunt. Working for Your Life: A Woman’s Guide to fob Hazards. LOHP, 2521 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal. 94720, 1976.

*Mancuso, Thomas P. Help for the Working Wounded. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, 909 Machinist Building, Washington, D.C. 20036, 1976.

*Page, Joseph, and Mary-Win O’Brien. Bitter Wages. New York: Grossman, 1973.

**"Proceedings of the Conference on Women and the Workplace.” The Society for Occupational and Environmental Health, 1714 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, D.C. 20036.

*Scott, Rachel. Muscle and Blood. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1974.

***Solomon, Steven, and Willard Randall. Building 6. Boston: Little, Brown, 1977.

**Stellman, Jeanne. Women’s Work: Women’s Health. New York: Pantheon, 1978.

***        , and Susan Daum. Work Is Dangerous to Your Health. New York: Pantheon, 1973. (This particularly useful resource includes an encyclopedia of materials and how they can affect the body.)

*Wallick, Franklin. The American Worker: An Endangered Species. New York: Ballantine Books, 1973.

In addition, you may want more specific information on particular substances, and how to keep exposures within safe or acceptable limits. Two very good industrial hygiene resources are:

International Labor Organization. Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety. New York: McGraw Hill, 1972.

Sax, N. Irving. Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials. New York: Van Nostrand, Reinhold, 1975.

Finally, you might find the following publications useful for keeping track of what’s going on in the field, what standards are being set, and what other worker groups are doing in the area of health and safety. Several, for example Survival Kit and Occupational Health and Safety Newsletter, offer good fact sheets on particular hazards.

Cacosh Health and Safety News. Published monthly by the Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safey and Health, Room 508, 542 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago, 111. 60605.

IUD Facts and Analysis. Published monthly by the Industrial Union Dept., AFL-CIO, 815 16th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006.

Lifelines Health and Safety News. Published monthly by the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, 1636 Champa Street, Denver, Colo. 80202.

LSHI Guides. Published periodically by the Labor Safety and Health Institute, 377 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y., 10016.

Monitor. Published bi-monthly by the Labor Occupational Health Program, 2521 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal. 94720.

Occupational Health and Safety Newsletter. Published monthly by the United Autoworkers Union Social Security Department, 8000 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, Mich. 48214.

Safer Times. Published monthly by the Philadephia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health, 1321 Arch Street, Room 607, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.

Survival Kit. Published bi-monthly by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, Box 17236, Back Bay Station, Boston, Mass. 02116.

Women’s Occupational Health Resource Center Fact Sheet. Published monthly by the center, School of Public Health, Columbia University, 60 Haven Ave. B-l, New York, N.Y. 10032.

SLIDE SHOWS

“All in a Day’s Work.” An introductory slide show on occupational health produced by Urban Planning Aid and sold through Mass COSH (address above, under Survival Kit).

“Are You Dying for a Job?” 30-minute slide show that introduces occupational health hazards and methods of prevention. Available from Western Institute for Occupational/Environmental Sciences, 3009 Hillegass Ave., Berkeley, Cal. 94705.

“Asbestos—Fighting a Killer.” Produced for the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union by Bonnie Bellow and Nick Egleson. Available from OCAW, 1126 16th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

“Your Job or Your Life.” 25-minute slide show that examines problems facing working people, especially health and safety. Available from Institute for Labor Education and Research, 853 Broadway, Rm. 2007, New York, N.Y. 10003.

FILMS

The Shop Accident. How to use OSHA and follow through on an OSHA safety inspection, for rent or sale from the University of Wisconsin School for Workers.

Song of the Canary. Directed by Josh Hanig and Dave Davis, distributed through New Day Films, 660 York Street, San Francisco, Cal., this is primarily about DBCP and brown lung.

Working for Your Life. 55-minute color documentary on the often overlooked hazards faced by women on the job. Interviews interwoven with footage of women at work. Based on book (same tide) by Andrea Hricko and Melanie Brunt. Available through Labor Occupational Health Program, University of California at Berkeley, 2521 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal. 94720.

Working Steel A film about foundry workers, produced by the Labor Occupational Health Program under the direction of Ken Light; available for sale or rent from LOHP.

Several television stations have carried excellent documentaries on occupational health, although these are often available through the station on a purchase basis only. We recommend Kepone, a CBS documentary shown several years ago on 60 Minutes; in only twenty minutes it surveys occupational health issues more effectively than any other short film we have viewed.

ORGANIZATIONS

A number of groups around the country are active in health and safety issues. Several labor education centers within universities have set up occupational health programs, and new centers started programs in fall 1978, following funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, conducts a college credit program at night for in-depth training of union leaders and representatives on issues of health and safety. Contact: Frank Goldsmith, Cornell University, 3 East 43 Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.

Numerous labor organizations have developed or are launching education programs for their members on health and safety. In addition, one group in New York City, the Women’s Occupational Health Resource Center, is a research arm and clearinghouse for information on women’s occupational health concerns. Contact: Dr. Jeanne Stellman, School of Public Health, Columbia University, 60 Haven Ave. B-l, New York, N.Y. 10032.

The Labor Occupational Health Program (University of California, Berkeley, 2521 Channing Way, Berkeley, Cal. 94720) provides technical expertise on health hazards faced by workers, conducts educational training sessions, and produces written and media materials designed to reach women workers.

CHAPTER 17

Education for Affirmative Action: Two Union Approaches

By GLORIA T. JOHNSON and ODESSA KOMER

Being political organizations, unions must be responsive to their memberships. In heavy industry, where unions remain largely male in composition, many leaders are cautious about seeming to favor one group of members over another. Yet increasingly leadership recognizes that women must be brought into the mainstream of union life. Unions need—and seek—their participation and support. With the law behind them, women are moving into more visible positions on assembly lines and in the skilled trades. In addition, the union is obligated by law to work toward eradicating discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it equally liable for violations unless it can demonstrate its good faith efforts to comply with the act’s requirements.

What can unions do to effect affirmative action within their own ranks? How much dues money should be allocated to train one group—and a minority of members at that—over another? While programs to encourage women’s participation and provide them with information and leadership training are necessary to build their self-confidence and increase their effectiveness in a wider union sphere, will a union-sponsored women’s program box in the women, keeping them from involvement in the more basic bargaining, grievance, and other committees that often determine union policy and that are the real ladder to union office?

Both the industrial unions whose programs are described here view special efforts to bring women into the mainstream as part of their affirmative action efforts. The International Union of Electrical Workers is 36 percent, and the United Automobile Workers is 10 percent female. These are not the only unions with special departments or divisions devoted to women’s programs and concerns. However, these are two of the most longstanding, predating the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These are unions that must deal daily with the needs and concerns of increasing numbers of women members at the same time that they interpret these concerns to the male majority in the union. Developing new programs that help the unions do this on a local as well as national level, increasing the sensitivity of their predominantly male staffs, provides a continuing challenge for the university as well as the union labor educator.

The International Union of Electrical Workers

Background

The first constitution of the International Union of Electrical Workers, founded in 1949, guaranteed the right of membership to all workers in the industry:

All persons whose normal operations are in the electrical, radio and machine industry are eligible for membership in the IUE, regardless of skill, age, sex, nationality, color or religious belief.

As early as 1952, convention delegates passed resolutions calling for equal pay for equal work and the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Recognizing the importance of the enactment of federal equal pay legislation, the union joined other groups to form the National Committee for Equal Pay, working from the early 1950s until the Equal Pay Act became law in 1963.

Today the International Union of Electrical Workers has 280,000 members in the United States and Canada, 36–38 percent of whom are women. Its stated policies on equality predate the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The union carries on a continuing, accepted, and nationwide education program to implement those policies. This chapter describes the step-by-step development of its program. For the labor and adult educator it is especially interesting to observe how the initial steps to carry out union policy led from national to district to local commitment, from efforts to comply with and implement equal employment law in the plant and on the job to programs designed to increase the involvement of women in the life of the union itself. Using union structures became the most effective tool for affirmative action within the union itself.

First Steps

At first, what women’s activities the union sponsored originated in its Research Department. One of the earliest examples was a series of questionnaires on wage-rate comparisons by sex that this department developed, distributed, and summarized.

Perhaps the women’s program dates from 1957, when the IUE held its first National Women’s Conference. Some two hundred women members gathered to discuss three issues: (1) Equal pay for equal work; (2) promotional opportunities on the job; and (3) increasing participation of women in the union. The conference agreed to present specific recommendations to the international union’s Executive Board for action. It urged a continuing fight for legislation, for an adequate child care bill, for increased educational and training opportunities for women, and for the development of a program to encourage more women to become active in the union. In short, it asked for union-based affirmative action.

The 1965 Policy Statement

Following the enactment of the Equal Pay Act and of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (banning discrimination in employment, including for the first time sex discrimination), the union determined that it had a twofold responsibility: to make all members, especially women, aware of the provisions of these new laws, and to find out where discrimination existed so that the union could act to eliminate it.

In 1965 the union issued its Policy Statement on Equal Employment Opportunities, calling on local unions to look at their plant practices and labor-management agreements to determine where and what kinds of discrimination existed.

Women’s Program Emerges

The following year, the International Executive Board proposed that a National Women’s Conference be convened every second year as a step toward bringing IUE women into contact with each other and ensuring that members in each district had up-to-date information on new laws and rulings affecting women members.

The first conference was held in 1967. Its theme was “the status of the IUE woman, her responsibilities, contributions and goals.” Workshop topics denote the seriousness of purpose of those attending; three examples are sex discrimination and Title VII, women members and the union, and women in politics.

The conference highlighted the fact that, as a foundation for affirmative action, those planning women’s activities needed to know more about women in the IUE: where they were, their degree of involvement, what union offices they held, and their special interests and concerns. Later that year, therefore, the union distributed its first questionnaire to retrieve this information, summarizing the results in a publication, “Women in the IUE.” The survey indicated that women were underrepresented as local union officers. If they held local office, it tended to be as stewards, local secretaries, or trustees, infrequently as president, treasurer, or secretary-treasurer.

Two years later, the survey was updated to assess the impact of the 1967 National Women’s Conference on local unions, and to discover what changes might have resulted from Title VII and the union’s efforts to implement it. This second survey revealed women moving into formerly male jobs, an increased number of women serving on union committees that had been all male, and a growing number of women running for union offices. For example, in 1967 there were 890 women in key union positions in their locals; in 1969 the number had risen to 1,467. In the 40 percent of local unions responding, there were 17 women presidents, 76 secretaries, 130 trustees, and 391 executive board members. The survey pointed to some of the obstacles to women’s advancement in the plant and in the union. Women needed to know more about their job rights; they needed encouragement to become more involved in the union, to overcome fears of personal failure, and to build their self-confidence.

These were the issues addressed at the second National Women’s Conference in 1969. At the same time, districts were urged to sponsor regional women’s conferences in order to reach a larger number of IUE women.

Social Action Department Formed

The next step in developing the international’s affirmative action was structural and functional. The Department of Civil Rights was renamed the Social Action Department, reflecting the wide range of social programs of major concern to the union. District committees, taking cognizance of the name change, became either Social Action Committees or, in some cases, Human Relations Committees. The jurisdiction of the new department included civil rights, youth, older and retired workers, education, legislation, community services, and women’s problems and concerns.

The union underscored the department’s focus at its 1970 convention with a policy resolution that stated in part:

Those of us in the IUE must continue to develop the type of Affirmative Action programs that will insure freedom and equality for all. A necessary step in this direction is the establishment of an effective Local Union committee, which will oversee and make sure the members of the Local understand and appreciate the many issues and problems responsible for the current national trend. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: (1) That each District and Local Union establish a Social Action Committee patterned after the structure of the International Social Action Department.

These changes elevated women’s programs, issues, and concerns to equal status with other union programs, and ensured that they would receive the same attention as other social action concerns. One example of this integration that is particularly relevant to labor educators is a district social action program on national health insurance that investigated the impact of rising health costs on women members. Similarly, programs on legislative issues have incorporated the special concerns of working women, making it possible to increase women’s participation on political action and legislative committees, as well as to involve them in planning district-sponsored education programs.

Two additional benefits derived from the structural change. First, since most districts choose to hold their social action programs immediately prior to or in conjunction with their regular district council meetings, more members are present to take part in these sessions, which formerly were heavily male in composition. Second, as more locals become familiar with the social action committee structure through these district programs, they have moved to set up social action committees to operate year-round. Indeed, in 1977 the IUE Constitution was amended to require local unions to have social action chairpersons.

Women’s Program of the Social Action Department

The Social Action Department operates through an International Social Action Committee made up of representatives from each district and every conference board and council in the union. Meeting at least three times a year in two-day sessions, it reviews new materials and films, assesses new program resources, and shares information on union policy, national issues, and legal cases in which the union is involved on the affirmative action front. Essential to each meeting is the exchange of program information—what each district is doing and how the local committees are functioning. From these meetings flow specific recommendations to the International Executive Board.

Since 1972, when a Women’s Department was set up within the Social Action Department, there has been a special liaison between the women’s programs in each district and local, and the national office. The director of the Women’s Department meets with district and local representatives, oversees the publication of materials, assists in conference planning, and represents the union at educational and governmental meetings. She works closely with other departments of the IUE, linking them to the women’s programs in a variety of ways useful for their development and support.

A specific instance of this close cooperation is illustrative. In 1973, the International Executive Board made it union policy to review every plant contract and practice to see what instances of discrimination, if any, continued to exist. This went considerably further than the survey undertaken in 1965: this time a check list was developed by the union’s Legal and Women’s Departments to guide the locals.

Further, a team from these two departments conducted briefings in each IUE district to review the program and provide locals with an update on Title VII and other equal opportunity legislation. It met with field staff charged with implementing the board’s policy. The team examined the reports from the locals, following up to be sure they came in, noting how problems reported were being resolved—sometimes through negotiations, sometimes through filing charges—and assisting wherever necessary. As a consequence, numerous gains have resulted for IUE women, in the form of equal pay, back pay, and promotions. (For a summary of anti-discrimination cases initiated by the IUE, write to Gloria T. Johnson, c/o IUE, 1126 K St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.)

The Women’s Department is further integrated into the structure of the union through its close cooperation with the Department of Organization. Many unorganized workers within the union’s jurisdiction are women. Through the development of organizing materials and education sessions with the union’s organizing staff, the Women’s Department helps to increase the effectiveness of union organizing efforts, including the ability of organizing staff to understand and reach potential women members.

New Directions for Affirmative Action

In addition to education programs, the IUE has pioneered using union structures to effect changes that advance its affirmative action goals.

1. In 1972, the membership adopted a constitutional amendment establishing an IUE Women’s Council consisting of a representative from each IUE district and IUE Conference Board. The chair of the Women’s Council sits on the International Executive Board with voice but no vote, to advise the board and obtain support for women’s issues. This has proven an effective means of getting support from districts and local union involvement on such issues as ERA and comparable worth, as well as on other aspects of affirmative action. Recognizing women’s increasingly important role in the IUE, this council sponsors a special women’s activity or program at each IUE convention, thus increasing women’s visibility not only to each other but to the men in the union as well.

2. Early in 1979, the international’s Executive Board approved a revised model constitution for all new IUE locals. Two key changes are designed specifically to increase the numbers of women and minorities in decision-making roles on the local level. The local executive board will consist of five persons (formerly ten), president, secretary, treasurer, chair of the Social Action Committee, and chair of the Health and Safety Committee. Since the posts of secretary and chair of the Social Action Committee usually have been held by women, this revision helps to elevate women to central roles. As the number-two officer of the local, the secretary assumes the presidency if that office becomes vacant, and chairs board meetings if the president is absent. Elevating the chair of the Social Action Committee to the board also emphasizes the importance of this function.

3. A questionnaire has been readied to go to all locals to determine how many have instituted women’s committees, where these have been set up, and what they are doing or plan to do. The future of the IUE’s program for women lies in the local union, and the International plans to give as much help as possible to locals in developing women’s committee activities.

4. Six educational bulletins especially designed for these committees will be issued shortly, on the Equal Rights Amendment, pregnancy disability, equal pay for work of comparable worth, setting up effective committees, and resources (books, films, people, etc.).

5. A National IUE Women’s Conference was called for January 1980, to focus on issues of central concern to women members and on ways to build women’s skills, including those needed to set up and carry on the work of Women’s Committees in the local union.

Future Tasks for the Women’s Department

Most important to any effort to improve women’s status is the union’s high-level commitment to those goals. This has been IUE policy from the start.

But the union considers its job has only begun. New methods and techniques are needed to reach members with information about their rights and how the union can ensure that they are obtained. For example, the union has issued guidelines for women in apprenticeships; women must know what these are. The next step is to enlist their support in making sure the regulations are enforced and that women seeking to enter apprenticed jobs know how to apply.

The Women’s Department seeks to develop a strong communications network linking all levels of the union and ensuring input from and outreach to rank-and-file women as well as union officers and staff representatives. Through this network, relevant materials and information can be supplied that reflect the immediate problems and concerns of women members, while applicable programs are developed.

To multiply its effectiveness, the IUE is looking increasingly to university and college labor extension services to meet some of the specific education demands placed on its growing program. Cooperation and communication between union educators and university workers’ education specialists is essential in both planning and implementing university services to trade unions. These should emphasize programming for women and involving more women, particularly minority women, as teachers. As unions seek to develop new approaches and incorporate new ideas to make equality a reality, labor educaton and educators will be primary resources.

The United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America

Background

The United Automobile Workers (UAW) is one of the two or three largest unions in the country, with 1,510,390 members in the United States and Canada. Of these, 153,593, or approximately 10 percent, are women. Workers who belong to the UAW make automobiles, auto parts, agricultural implements, planes, and, to a lesser degree, work in related industries. Two special divisions serve skilled trades workers and the technical, office, and professional workers who are UAW members.

The union is divided into eighteen regions, each headed by an elected regional director who also serves on the union’s executive board, together with the International’s president, secretary-treasurer, and vice presidents.

Women first entered the UAW in substantial numbers during World War II, when blue-collar defense jobs opened to them and “Rosie the Riveter” became a famous symbol. In 1944, a Women’s Bureau was established in the union’s War Policy Division. When in 1946 delegates to the union’s International Convention passed a resolution calling for a Fair Employment Practices Department (FEP), the Women’s Bureau became part of the FEP.

As the war came to a close, women’s jobs and seniority became an issue. Despite the union’s efforts, large numbers of women workers were laid off. But the problem did not die, and in 1955 a resolution calling for Job Security for Women Workers was reported out at the union’s fifteenth International Convention. It was debated, sometimes hotly, for two hours, but when the vote was taken the overwhelmingly male delegates voted in favor of the resolution. The resolution called for:

1. Reaffirmation of the principle that all members are guaranteed full protection without discrimination based on sex or marital status.

2. Regional directors to disapprove any contract that discriminates against women workers.

3. Seniority of women workers to be protected fully and equally with the seniority of all other members.

4. Local unions to negotiate “equal pay for equal work” clauses in all contracts where they are not yet carried.

5. Local unions to continue to work toward eliminating discrimination against women in hiring, training, and promotional opportunities.

6. Inclusion of the “model maternity clause” in all contracts.

7. Support of state and federal legislation for equal pay for equal work and improved work standards and equal opportunities for women, in the U.S. and Canada.

8. Opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, which “would outlaw hard-won state laws protecting women’s special needs as workers and mothers.” (The UAW today, however, is a strong advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment. Note that this resolution preceded Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which made point number 8 obsolete.)

9. Government agencies, commissions, and departments charged with enforcing non-discrimination regulations on government work to forbid discrimination because of sex and age as well as race, creed, color, or national origin.

That same year, the union’s executive board elevated the Women’s Bureau to department status under the office of the president, and a staff for the department was authorized. Its main focus throughout the 1950s remained equal pay for equal work, ending discrimination in hiring, promotion, and training, and full and equal seniority protection. While numerous contracts contained clauses prohibiting discrimination based on sex, these proved difficult to enforce.

The Role of Women in the UAW

Perhaps the first self-study by a union of women’s participation was conducted by the UAW in 1962. It found that, of its approximately 150,000 women members, some 800 (or little more than 5 percent) held elective office, although several thousand others were active as elected or appointed committee members. At the local union level today, approximately 981 women, or 16 percent, hold one of the four top offices, while some 4,700 women serve in other offices or as members of standing committees.

Since 1966, there has been a woman member on the union’s International Executive Board. The members of the International Executive Board have made a greater effort to have the staff of the UAW more representative of the membership. There is an increase as of 1980 of 58 over the 11 women staff representatives in the union in 1967. Because the union is so heavily male in membership, as well as in staff, it might be of interest to look at the specific jobs the 42 International Representatives hold:

1 Vice President of the International Union

1 Admininstrative Assistant to the International President

1 Director of the Family Education Center

1 Coordinator of the Consumer Affairs Department

1 Assistant Director

37 International Representatives involved in collective bargaining, organizing, benefit plans, education, community action programs, Women’s and the Conservation Department, etc. To qualify for the classification of International Representative, you must have been a member of the UAW (in good standing) for one year.

In addition to the 42 International Representatives, there are 15 women on the Job Development Training Staff and a woman member of the Solidarity House Security Staff.

There are an additional 10 women on the technical staff who are not members of the UAW:

6 Technicians

1 Public relations staff member

2 Lawyers

1 Pension staff (actuary)

The total number of women now on the staff is 69.

The Women’s Department: Preparing Women for Leadership

At the time of my election as vice president in 1974, my areas of responsibility included the Technical, Office, and Professional Workers Department, Consumer Affairs, Conservation and Natural Resources, and Recreation and Leisure Time. I requested additional collective bargaining responsibilities which, three months later, were assigned to me. I knew that until women could prove their ability at the bargaining table, the offices they held were tokens. In January 1975, when I was assigned, in addition, responsibility for the Women’s Department, I made it a priority to convey the importance of a bargaining role for women members to UAW women.

In every union, but particularly in the UAW, where competition for union office on the local level is so keen, women must be prepared and qualified in order to run for an office. This focus, together with my beleif that women should never forget that collective bargaining is at the heart of all unions, constitute the cornerstones of the education for affirmative action sponsored by the Women’s Department.

The Women’s Department must prepare UAW women for leadership roles at every level of the union. They need the same skills as men. They should know how the union works, its political structure, and how to operate within that structure to become involved and attain positions of responsibility.

The UAW’s main education arm is its magnificent facility near Onaway, Michigan, the Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center. Two percent of union dues money goes to support this $25-million center. Family scholarships are awarded during the summer for two-week periods, but the center is utilized year-round for residential education programs. As part of the union’s affirmative action program to train women members, I recommended that one week be set aside each year for a women’s institute. The chance to develop leadership skills would provide women with more of an equal opportunity in local union elections and on various local union standing committees.

Article 44 of the UAW Constitution provides that local unions shall have standing committes on

Constitution and Bylaws, Union Label, Education, Conservation and Recreation, Community Services, Fair Practice and Anti-Discrimination, Citizenship and Legislation, Consumer Affairs, and a Local Union Women’s Committee.

These provide a wide range of opportunities for member participation. The majority of UAW regions have established most, if not all, of these committees, including Women’s Committees that sponsor Regional Women’s Conferences with which the International’s Women’s Department cooperates.

Women’s Committees provide women with the opportunity to learn how committees work and to practice the leadership skills necessary to function effectively within a committee structure. However, some of the other standing committees of the local union tend to bring rank-and-file members more into the union’s mainstream. The roles of such committees as Education, Fair Employment, and Bylaws are part of what the week-long women’s conference examines.

As many women staff as possible take part in these schools, so that women delegates can see and talk with women in leadership in the union. Since few union representatives are appointed, and the political rough and tumble determines union position, the women’s conference stresses how to run for election—and the important point that losing an election does not mean rejection forever by the membership.

Since these week-long conferences were inaugurated in 1975, more than 1,000 UAW women have attended, or about 250 per year. Morning sessions focus on issues: women’s concerns, union policy, and national issues. Afternoon skill workshops offer participants a wide choice, but each workshop focuses on building the ability to function effectively within the local union. Subjects range from collective bargaining and steward training to occupational safety and health, women’s rights under the law, parliamentary procedure and public speaking, time study, and the psychology of union leadership, to name a representative sample.

Because of the school’s popularity and the demand for the training it provides, a policy of “no repeaters” had to be adopted in 1979 so that as many women as possible could attend. The Women’s Department seeks to spark mini-conferences in each region on at least an annual basis to encourage UAW women to participate more fully in the union and to build their skills to do so. As more women move on to assembly line jobs and enter the skilled trades, their voices must be heard as effective leaders. They will be elected by the workers around them, men as well as women, because they are capable, qualified members of the UAW who happen to be women. Education for leadership can help them to do it.

The Role for University Labor Extension

The programs described here deal increasingly with issues central to women in blue-collar jobs: equal pay for work of equal value, opportunities for training and advancement, making jobs safe for all people, child care, and comprehensive national health insurance, for example. These programs, and the information and leadership skill training they provide, often mean the difference between a woman’s election or defeat, between her being competent or not, between her having self-confidence and fear to try.

Wherever possible, the IUE and the UAW use their own staffs in their training programs. Women staff serve as role models as they provide instruction rooted in experience. However, there is a growing role for university and college labor educators. Union programs for women members are so popular that, to staff them properly, additional labor education experts are often necessary. This is particularly true where a university extension faculty includes women who have taught unionists and other working women, have assisted at regional summer schools for union women, and are familiar with women’s growing role in the labor movement.

Unions sometimes utilize the facilities and physical plants of universities for regional or area-wide schools. Indeed, both the unions reporting here have already done this from time to time. This is another opportunity to develop cooperative links.

University extension faculty can offer the school’s resources to union education staff in preparing course and conference materials, especially those that deal with such specialized subjects as lead poisoning, or how to develop effective health and safety committees. They can suggest course designs that break skill subjects into the right number of sessions for the particular conference or time span the union has in mind.

Increasingly, university labor staff are working with local chapters of the Coalition of Labor Union Women in planning and conducting statewide or citywide conferences or short courses for CLUW members. In highly industrial areas, a large proportion of CLUW members will be blue-collar workers, many from unions with heavy majorities of male members. Labor education can provide useful input on a wide range of subjects, from how to plan a campaign and run for office to how to deal with sexual harassment on the job.

Finally, women on university labor staffs can often suggest new course areas for unions to explore, especially courses of interest to women members. These might include an oral history workshop to begin to record the early struggles of women in the union; or courses on working women and money; on women in labor history; or on working women in the coming years. In the area of programming for women, unions need all the help they can get. We have seen that this is not a new idea, that unions like the IUE and the UAW have been evolving such programs for some time; but many unions are still brand new to the idea, and others are just starting out.

Union programs for women are dual purpose, serving affirmative action both within the union and on the job. University labor education is uniquely suited to help unions initiate, develop, and carry out programs that further these goals.

CHAPTER 18

How to Choose and Use Materials in Education for Women Workers

By JAMES WALLIHAN

In selecting materials, designers of programs for union women face a dual task: they must draw from the the general domain of workers’ education, while addressing the special needs of women. Locating appropriate resources and using them effectively is not always simple, but it is possible. The job is made easier when one knows what to look for, how to approach the search, and how to determine the most effective uses for different types of materials. Fortunately, the variety and quality of suitable materials has increased markedly in recent years.

Other contributors to this book have described development strategies, formats, methods, and subjects important to programs for women workers in particular and applicable to worker and adult education in general. This chapter focuses on teaching aids and seeks to clarify why the content and use of materials cannot be considered apart from the audience, goals, and methods of a program.

In their landmark assessment of workers’ education, published in 1968, Rogin and Rachlin addressed the development and availability of materials in the field. They wrote that existing materials were fragmented in form, content, and location among individual unions and university labor education centers. With some exceptions, they stated, “there are very few standard materials that incorporate the best experiences so that they can be generally available,” adding that “there has been little experimentation in the form of labor education materials.”¹

Today we are in a period of dramatic change, and programs for union women lead the way in innovation and development of new materials. Something like an explosion has taken place. This is not to say that fragmentation has been eliminated. The emergence of a single font of wisdom and quality materials would be a sure sign of stagnation. In women workers’ education, as in any emerging field, creativity is essential to the development and use of materials. Persistent searching and the ability to adapt material has made it possible for the adult and workers’ education specialist to find a variety of films, handouts, graphics, and that relatively recent staple of classroom education, the commercially published paperback, for use in programs for or about working women.

Why this development? To say that the impetus is women on the move is a truism. The movement both precedes and results from action, legislation, and increased attention by major institutions. It has created an incentive and a market. Programs and materials for union women need to draw on sources inside and outside traditional workers’ education. If workers’ education is “education directed toward action,” as Rogin and Rachlin state, this is nowhere more true than of education for union women, which combines research, education, organization, and action, with social, economic, and political drives. The resulting instruction and materials both draw upon and enrich many of the traditional subject areas of workers’ education.

In addition, technical advances and market changes have placed many audiovisual and print methods and materials within the means of groups with modest budgets, thus contributing to the development and use of new resources in many fields. Videotape equipment, for instance, is widely used now in courses and conferences. Less costly and more accessible are overhead projectors and sophisticated slide projection systems. The diffusion of filmmaking to individuals and groups of relatively modest means, largely a phenomenon of the past decade, has resulted in more and more innovative films. While production of a quality 16 mm film remains costly, anticipated advances in Super-8 mm sound systems should further this trend.

Even more widely utilized are advances in print technology. Photocopying and offset printing are eliminating reliance on the less adaptable mimeograph machine. Assembling handouts and manuals can now be accomplished by copying originals, cutting up or retyping, and then pasting up a master. Varied type styles can be used for text and headlines, choosing from “stick-on” letters or from a variety of styles marketed for ball-type typewriters. Multiple copies of a relatively attractive page are then run at low cost.²

Another advantage of offset is realized when it comes time to revise the material or correct a sentence or two. No longer is it necessary to type an entire new mimeograph stencil, or messily change the old one. The changes can be pasted in on the original page, or the page can be cut and pasted. This makes it much simpler to keep printed materials accurate and up-to-date.

Choosing Materials: Audience, Purpose, Methods

Materials and instructional aids can be matched to many audiences, purposes, and methods. Properly used, they enrich education and learning. Their purpose is not simply to entertain or relieve the instructor of the burden of preparing, although this is too often ignored in practice.

Perhaps the most thoughtless misuse of resources occurs when an instructor says, “I don’t know what to do today, so I guess I’ll show a film.” No attention is paid to the audience’s needs, the program’s goals, or how the film contributes to learning. Another, less obvious, problem is the teacher who runs her favorite technique or teaching aid into the ground, despite the fact that other resources are available. At the opposite extreme is the over-mixing of media and materials, resulting in “media clutter.” Again, the outcome is an obscured message. To be effective, media and materials should be chosen carefully and coordinated effectively. Properly coordinated media produce a synergistic effect in which each unit enhances the others, resulting in a total impact greater than the effect of each part.

In selecting materials, look ahead; how will they be used and who will be using them? Test against the program elements mentioned above—audience, goals, and methods—in terms of the basic principles of adult learning:

1. We learn what we want to learn.

2. We learn with our five senses. Involving more than one sense usually contributes to improved learning.

3. Different individuals learn in different ways and at different rates.

4. Adults frequently have a greater need to apply what is learned (workers’ education is education geared toward action).

The Audience

Even with a specialized program, different individuals are likely to attend for different reasons. How many and how different are these reasons? A “profile sheet,” handed out at the beginning of a program, can include questions on what participants want to get out of the experience and what special concerns motivate their attendance. Individuals bring to the program different communications skills and educational levels. Even in America, some come with serious reading handicaps. The materials mix for such a group should avoid lengthy printed matter and include more audiovisuals than would the mix for a group of teachers.

Related to the “different ways, different rates” principle is the fact that individuals differ in their information processing styles.³ Some are active learners who seek out information; others are passive and wait for knowledge or information to be presented. Some are quick at getting the main idea, but slow on mastering detail. Others are just the opposite. Thus a method or aid might be the primary learning vehicle for some, while it only reinforces a point for others, who might learn more effectively with a different method.

Perhaps the most thorough way to engage the five senses is the field trip. One cannot experience a chemical plant simply by viewing a film about it. The senses of touch and smell are engaged only when we approach the plant and get inside.

In choosing materials, keep in mind what the audience wants to learn and why different members of the audience want to learn. Experience has shown that working women coming to school after a day on the job and with family responsibilities waiting for them at home are especially motivated and goal-oriented. The instructor needs to demonstrate how the program’s content plugs into their ongoing concerns, how the applications of learning will be useful.

Equally important is the format and sequence of the content. An exercise or demonstration might be conducted near the outset of the program rather than put off to the middle or the end. This could tap the style of those participants who have a high need to apply and see the early consequences of what is learned.⁴

The selection of materials is governed to some extent by the goal or goals that a program is designed to achieve. A program can help learners acquire facts, information, or knowledge. It can be designed to change attitudes or priorities (and as a result, perhaps, behavior), or it could emphasize mastery of new skills and behaviors. Or it might lead to increased creativity.⁵

In practice, of course, several of these goals should be built into each session. A program designed to familiarize participants with the provisions of equal employment opportunity legislation (information), might also help them develop a perspective (attitude) on their situation and the possibilities for improving it, demonstrate concrete ways to use the law to advantage or to convince others to do so (skills), and adopt an approach that leads to the invention or discovery of new strategies appropriate to each participant’s situation (creativity). Each of these goals lends itself to a different type of instructional aid.

Methods and Techniques

An array of different instructional methods may be effective for a single audience and purpose. We want to synchronize methods with the other elements, and avoid a sole reliance on films, for instance, in a program whose goals make it important for participants to engage actively and manipulate the subject matter and material. Similarly, lengthy texts are not appropriate for a one-day conference on skill development. Participants can better spend the time doing what is best done in the company of others, reading the materials later on their own time.

There are two ways to view the interaction of audience, goals, and methods in the selection of materials. One is to see each element as establishing successively narrower limits within which to choose materials. The other, more useful, view is to look at these elements as an orienting framework within which to try new sources and types of materials that will enrich a program.

Much can be said about letting course content guide materials. But the labor educator should review the group’s sophistication: can it cope with the materials? Is the material accurate? Is it credible? Is it in any way misleading? Questions like these should be routinely asked for each program.

Using Materials

Materials must be seen as integral, essential, and vital to the instructional task. Where available, quality materials should be used to present and to amplify the course content. Their effectiveness depends on instructor attitudes, on the thought that goes into selecting them, on the skill with which they are utilized, and on the extent to which they enable the teacher to develop class involvement, without which learning may not occur.

Preorganized aids are those that are locked into a format of more or less fixed duration. The user cannot normally mix in other techniques or aids until the “run” is completed. These include films, film strips, audio tapes, many slide presentations, and other such aids. Because they are preorganized, these aids often relieve the instructor or designer of putting together the feature element of the presentation. In turn, however, they impose other tasks. The user must be familiar with their content and must take extra care in arranging appropriate facilities and equipment.

Often there is no opportunity to interrupt the presentation cycle. It is essential, therefore, to orient the audience in advance in order to maximize the educational experience. A brief description of purpose and content, followed by a suggested list of questions, is a widely used technique. This structures audience perceptions and experience. Follow-up exercises, discussion, or other methods can relate back to the initial questions. For many working adults, material on or about union or other employed women is new; ample time to react to and discuss it is essential.

Films are widely used in workers’ education, but the person who participates in several programs may end up having seen most of the good ones. Classic grievance-handling films such as Shop Steward and Grievance are dated and limited in their usefulness for women workers. Recent films of excellent quality, such as Union Maids, With Babies and Banners, and Maria help to fill some of the gaps. Films offer vicarious experience in a subject. The limits are in the availability of good films and in their misuse.

Such other audiovisual aids as videotapes and slide shows are finding wider use, especially as more portable, inexpensive equipment becomes available. Some of these aids permit decent quality self-production, and offer the additional advantage that presentations can be interrupted either by instructor or participants. Manual-advance slide presentations and videotape recorders with a “pause” feature are examples. Include in this category such video aids as the overhead projector, often a good replacement for the blackboard in lecture or discussion settings.

Audio aids such as the tape recorder and even the telephone can be used to bring interview material to participants in courses and conferences, as well as to individuals. Recorded music is highly appropriate in certain situations.

Graphic Materials

This category encompasses much of what labor and adult educators rely on in education programs. Narrowly conceived, graphics are written or pictorial representations—print materials. But the word itself suggests vividness, and this should key us to keep open possibilities for displaying or projecting graphics with video equipment.

Printed materials come in many shapes and sizes, with a number of uses. Length often suggests, and sometimes limits, their use. Brief materials can illustrate lectures and enrich discussion, and are suitable for direct use by participants during the program. Lengthier materials should serve primarily as take-home reference items. Often these are combined in the same set of materials. In some situations printed materials serve as a permanent record of what was covered, and may substitute for note-taking. This is useful where the program presents new information or organizes information in a new framework.

Materials can mix outline and text segments. The outline and selected text might be appropriate for in-class use, with the major portion of the text reserved for individual use back home. As a general rule, texts should be read sparingly in class, perhaps to review technical subjects, contract clauses, and the like. Even here the benefits are questionable, although it can be argued that group reading facilitates later word recognition and understanding when the participant needs to refer back to the material. A preferred practice is to discuss assigned readings in class, focusing on aspects students found confusing, or with which they disagreed. This underscores the importance of the subject and the material and stimulates interest in it.

The skills required to use print materials vary with the form. Coordination, required for multiple handouts, is made simpler with advance planning, numbering systems, and so on. For programs using more than token materials, the advantages of arranging handouts so they can be place in a looseleaf notebook, with a table of contents, are obvious. Color coding handouts or manual sections simplifies in-class directions for their use.

Printed materials serve as discussion guides, mind joggers, checklists for later reference, and so forth. They should be designed for each specific program. This takes into account the capabilities of instructor as well as student. Where several instructors will be using them, it may be necessary to build some standardization. Overly rigid instructor guides may even indicate exactly how many minutes to spend on each point. On the other hand, some materials are so vague that discrete topics may emerge as one and the same when presented by different people.

Materials should include instructions to help less experienced teachers vary their methods. Examples are sections in manuals headed “case study,” “discussion question,” “film,” “group exercise,” and “game.” Unless the teacher totally ignores the materials, the fact that participants will also see these headings creates an expectation that the method will be used. If it is not, participants can suggest its inclusion.

Three guidelines for relating visual and verbal elements in the teaching message should be stressed.⁶

1. Maintain visual simplicity and verbal clarity. Use simple visual illustrations. Seek simplicity and economy in word choice. Material should be written for listening, not reading.

2. Consider visual-verbal relationships. Choose visual elements carefully. Eliminate the extraneous; strive for harmony and balance. Lettering style should suit the purpose and context. All elements should communicate the main ideas. Words should supplement and reinforce the visuals without adding too much information. Use related elements and relate the elements you use.

3. Organize elements of the message for visual-verbal flow. Position the elements to guide the attention of the audience. Emphasize pattern or logic in visual and verbal elements.

Over 60 percent of the information we absorb is visual. It is important not to distract from our verbal message with visual “noise,” or to distract from the visual message with unrelated verbal clutter.

Conclusion

The use of materials is limited only by the interests and imagination of those who develop and take them to the classroom. John Bennett, a co-worker of mine, has amassed a large collection of union badges and buttons going back to the days of the Knights of Labor. He uses his collection to teach the history and organization of the labor movement.⁷ Here is a concrete example of creativity in the use of materials in workers’ education.

As women participate more fully in education programs, in the work force, and in labor organizations, it is important to incorporate information about working women into course content. In the past their role, needs, and concerns have been omitted. The materials are at hand to remedy this. It is up to the educator to ensure that in the future they are utilized.

NOTES

1. Lawrence Rogin and Marjorie Rachlin, Labor Education in the United States (Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Labor Education, 1968), pp. 230, 235.

2. Offset technology and changing markets have also hastened the spread of neighborhood “quick-print” shops, which employ few workers and are difficult to unionize, although some are organized in certain areas. This can be a dilemma for the voluntary group or the unit required to use in-house facilities. The big no-no is going to a non-union commercial printer for typesetting, layout, or printing where a thorough search would turn up a union printer with a union label commonly termed “the union bug.” If you do your own typing and layout, or if it is done with “labor donated,” it may still be possible to have the work printed in a commercial union shop. The quality is usually as good or better, and the price reasonable. Unfortunately, the choice presented is often one of running the material in-house and non-union, or not running it at all.

3. Patricia A. McLagan, Helping Others Learn: Designing Programs for Adults (Addison-Wesley, rev. ed., 1978), p. 52.

4. Ibid., p. 18.

5. For two excellent sources on the relationship between different types of goals, methods, and materials in adult education, see McLagan, Helping Others, and A. A. Liveright, Strategies of Leadership in Conducting Adult Education Programs (New York: Harper, 1959).

6. Based on Effective Presentations, a handout by Dennis W. Pett (Instructional Services, Indiana University, Bloomington).

7. John W. Bennett, “Using Union Memorabilia as a Teaching Aid,” Labor Studies Journal 3, no. 2 (Fall 1978): 114–30.

CHAPTER 19

Subjects and Materials: How to Handle Controversy

By CONNIE KOPELOV

Women workers seek a partnership role in their unions and in society. Education programs help to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve this role. Acquiring information, techniques, and strategies empowers them to perform as partners and get their message understood and accepted. But this may well involve dealing with latent or open hostility in the local union. How can labor education prepare women to handle these attitudes on issues important to them? What are some effective methods for readying them to present information to a group, to involve a committee in discussion rather than argument? Or to decide which skills to use to put forward their case most effectively in a given situation?

This chapter examines several areas that, because of space limitations, could not receive full-length chapter presentations of their own. These areas embrace legitimate programming for labor education and deal with issues of concern to women workers. The focus is on handling sensitive subjects in mixed groups, based on the need to reach all members, to deal with how to change attitudes as well as to provide information on women workers in general and women union members in particular.

Labor education recognizes that attitudes are not changed by talking to or at program at tenders, but by bringing about behavior change that leads to, or at least promotes, attitude change. Simulation exercises and role plays are essential to effect this. They underscore the value of workers’ education as an action-oriented outreach, illustrated here in terms of building leadership ability so that women can present in their unions issues that may be controversial. These issues revolve around increasing understanding of and interest in general areas such as the growing number of women in the work force, the need for organizing women into unions, why women should be involved at all levels of union activity, and the importance of union programs that reflect women’s special needs and concerns, such as the growing gap between what men and women earn.

Examples of specific issues around which useful, stimulating programs can be developed might include the still-controversial Equal Rights Amendment, and getting the union to launch an active program in its support; enforcement of equal employment opportunity at the work place; promoting clauses to be incorporated into union contracts on maternity and parental child care leaves, flexitime, provisions for child care; dealing with sexual harassment as a job grievance; and job reevaluation toward equal pay for work of comparable worth. Labor education should also prepare women to participate in areas of union activity that at least some might still regard as male “turf.”

The Winning Combination

In the workshop on the Equal Rights Amendment described below, the aims were: (1) to deal with an emotion-charged issue by providing facts where slogans had often been substituted; (2) to help participants develop a program to take back to their locals and implement; and (3) to demonstrate through a learn-by-doing experience one or more program ideas and methods useful for local union membership or education meetings.

In preparation for the workshop, specific questions were developed that needed discussion and answers. What would ERA do and not do? What would be its economic impact? What is the ratification process? What is its present status? Its history? What about deadline extension? What is the thrust of the argument of ERA opponents? The fears that these arouse? The public relations impact? What has been done up to now to campaign for ratification? What can unions in ratified states do to help?

Discussion of these and related questions may bring the class face to face with examples of sexism and its force in their own lives. It is important, too, to enable men to see the implications for their mothers, sisters, or daughters, whose paychecks as well as human potential are involved in this issue. How does inequality impact on men? These are emotional issues, and not easy to discuss.

Providing information on the status of women in the work force is one useful approach. A profile of employed women helps to point up inequities that women contend with every day. (The Women’s Bureau ‘Tact Sheet on Working Women” is a valuable handout here.) To move the group into this profile, I found it helpful to divide participants into buzz groups to address the question: “How do we explain the earnings gap between men and women?” The give and take, especially when men as well as women are members of the group, brings out the components as well as the consequences of sex discrimination, rooted in the students’ own work experiences. This makes it an excellent technique for workshop participants to take back with them to use in the local union.

The ERA Workshop

A fuller account of a workshop on ERA, where content was combined with developing some specific skills and strategies for action, may serve to illustrate. I assisted the education committee of the New York City chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women to plan and sponsor this event. The program involved: (1) an initial presentation on ERA that explained the issue to the group and served as a model, consisting of a lecturette demonstrating how to present an issue; (2) materials distributed to each participant that reinforced the information that had been provided and supplied additional data on the legislative status of ERA, the AFL-CIO’s position in support of the amendment, and some sample resolutions; (3) buzz groups, each chaired by a CLUW education committee member who had gone through a preparatory training session in discussion leadership.

Directives to buzz group leaders ensured that each group would go through pro and con arguments to become familiar with them, and that group members would explore ways to handle misunderstandings about or even hostility toward ERA. Each group also was charged with designing activities that could be carried out in the work place or union. To develop mutual support for this, women from the same union were assigned to buzz groups together. This was an aid to realistic planning in terms of what would be acceptable in their situations, and in working out ways that they could help each other to follow through. For many it was the first step in building a support group or caucus where they worked or in the union itself.

The format of this workshop can be used in teaching numerous other issues where content needs to be matched with plans for action. The collective bargaining issues mentioned earlier are examples of such topics.

Integrating Women’s Issues

An important way to deal with controversial issues in relation to women workers is to integrate them into the mainstream of workers’ education, making them part of the material in courses that reach union men. For example, courses in labor history rarely cover women’s role, but are greatly enriched when readings and discussions are included on strikes where women were involved (for example, the Pullman strike described in Chapter 13). In some strikes women were the major force, as in the garment strike of 1910–1911 in New York City. Discussions of the conditions that led to the strike, the pay inequities, the low rate of women’s unionization, and the difficulties that surrounded their attempts to organize, flow easily from this material, and provide a logical transition to looking at how women’s situation in the work force has changed or remained the same.

Traditional classes on the political process can focus on bills that deal with issues of special concern to women that also are critical for men. For example, the class can examine a legislative issue like labor law reform in terms of its special impact on women’s organizing efforts, and why organizing women workers is key to labor movement growth.

Teachers of stewards’ classes can set the tone by using sex-neutral terms such as worker, employee, or steward, and by using generic “they” instead of the usual “he.” Grievance cases and role plays can be written using unisex names such as Lee, Bobbie, or Chris. Some grievance cases can be developed around women’s issues (see Chapter 15) such as equal pay, sex discrimination problems, or sexual harassment on the job, in addition to the more traditional grievance situations.

The following suggestions illustrate several additional possibilities:

1. Unions often embark on organizing drives in which one of the units is predominately female. Without making assumptions or judgments of male attitudes, valuable points could emerge from a discussion of organizing strategy. Organizing strategists might be encouraged to answer these questions: What job complaints might these workers have because they are women? Can the union provide them with a sense of importance denied them at work? Could some women workers be reluctant to join because they think unions are anti-women? Why would they believe this? Is gender a consideration in deciding who will approach this unit? Why or why not? Has sexism contributed to a self-image among these workers that is a barrier to the organizing drive? Are there economic facts based on the pay of workers in sex-stereotyped jobs that would be useful to the organizers?

2. Most unions worry about membership commitment. Some adopt measures to improve the loyalty and active participation of members. Questions here might include: What barriers do you think exist to women’s participation? Why is it more difficult for women to take part? Is it time and place? Type of activities? Recruiting devices? Lack of encouragement? What can the union do to overcome these obstacles?

3. The labor movement’s legislative goals are threatened by conservative and right-wing forces. Unions use communication networks (newspapers, regularly scheduled meetings, special programs) to alert members to the danger from undemocratic groups. Women can contribute such questions as: Which issues does the right wing use to attract unionists (among these are ERA, divorce, reproductive rights)? Why does the right wing so often use women’s issues as a come-on? How can unions counter this maneuver? What educational work or action can unions engage in relating to such issues? What do members need to understand about women’s issues that will enable them to resist right-wing propaganda?

4. Alcoholism and counseling services are offered by more and more unions. There are both humane and practical reasons for unions to establish alcoholism projects. Women alcoholics have special problems that should be a focus of these projects. What are the attitudes at work, in society, and in the family toward the female alcoholic? How do these impede efforts to recognize and treat female alcoholics? What additional burdens does the woman alcoholic bear because of her gender? Is the female alcoholic short-changed in societal services and family support during treatment?

5. Predominately female occupations or professions pay less, regardless of the worker’s gender. Health professions, libraries, and schools are examples. What is the history of the work force in that job before it was unionized? Who did the work fifty years ago, or, in the case of teachers, more than a century ago? Are today’s problems rooted in yesterday’s sexism? Do men share women’s low wages if they do the same work? Are earnings in male-dominated professions higher? What is the data on educational attainments and earnings of “male” versus “female” occupations? Does education explain the gap? Will the fight against lower-paid sex-stereotyped jobs protect everyone?

Conclusion

Whatever the subject addressed, we should never underestimate the power of labor education. I have watched women unionists confront senators with detailed questions on the finer points of national health insurance proposals, or take the microphone to challenge an admiral on the need for specific defense expenditures. In this instance the women were members of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, which had conducted education in which union members served both as major participants and leaders.

Through labor education and the training it provides on issues that often are controversial, women can develop the necessary self-confidence to run for union office, to take part in political campaigns, to engage in lobbying, to organize community activities in their neighborhoods. Using many methods and a wide range of subject matter, labor education offers the information and skill development that moves women workers one more step along the road to equality.

PART IV

FUNDING PROGRAMS

There never is enough money to do all that labor educators would like to; budgets for labor education always have been inadequate. No federally funded labor extension service exists that is comparable to the Agricultural Extension Service, established in 1862 for the farm population, which at the time constituted the majority of this country’s workforce. Today only 2 percent of our population farms, while more than 102 million women and men are in the industrial, service, and white-collar work force.

Two routes to augmenting the financing of labor education are covered in Part IV. Chapter 20 is a guide to developing and writing proposals to obtain money for experimental, pilot education projects for women workers. The ability of educators to design and test innovative ideas in this area depends on their access to funding. The chapter details the soundness of proposal design and clarity of presentation that foundations look for. Because it is practically a blueprint for proposal writers, it should prove invaluable.

The second chapter in this part discusses a quite different source of funds: the use of tuition assistance programs, often available to workers and equally often underutilized. It reports on a study of why these monies have not been used, and suggests some programmatic remedies to encourage women, the major non-users, to take greater advantage of tuition refund where it is available.

While neither chapter suggests that obtaining funds is easy, each offers considered suggestions in a forthright, pragmatic form that readers should find both useful and refreshing.

CHAPTER 20

How Foundations View Funding Proposals on Working Women

By SUSAN VAIL BERRESFORD

Few studies of grantmaking for women’s programs exist. However, those that are available reveal a pattern that should be sobering to anyone designing a proposal for a working woman’s program. For example, in 1974 one survey found that less than one fifth of 1 percent of foundation funding reached feminist programs.¹ In 1978, a study of six foundations and corporate giving programs that derived their assets primarily from the sale of cosmetics to women found that less than 5 percent of the $1.26 million granted in 1976 and 1977 supported women’s programs.² Further, the study showed that when grants were made to male/female counterpart groups, such as the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, dollars for boys’ projects outpaced dollars for girls’ by five to one. Another study of government and foundation grantmaking for women’s programs found that most funding for these feminist efforts clustered in a few subject areas and excluded as beneficiaries many subgroups of women such as female blue-collar and clerical workers.³

This chapter is designed to help the reader understand how programs get funded, and what can be realistically expected when seeking funding. The first section of the chapter discusses questions the grant officer will have in mind while evaluating your proposal; the middle section offers an example of Ford Foundation funding of a working women’s program; and the final section discusses trends in funding for women’s programs that may develop in the coming years.

Grant officers usually get many more proposals than they can possibly fund. Most often, the grant officer must work within certain program or geographic areas. Therefore, at the start, many proposals are eliminated or rejected because they are not consistent with the foundation’s or grant program’s focus. Very, very few foundations or government funding programs have been set up specifically to fund women’s programs. In fact, staff probably assume that women’s problems are outside the scope of their assignments. Many foundation and government staff will assume that working women have the same high levels of enrollment in educational institutions that women have generally; that working women have easy access to adult education courses offering the kinds of instruction they seek; and that these women do well in school. Therefore, the first question the grant officer has to answer regarding your proposal is: Why is working women’s education a subject for this foundation’s attention?

Your proposal must educate the reader to working women’s special needs. You may want to argue that working women are not getting their fair share of existing educational programs, and include some form of documentation for this assertion. You may want to argue that course offerings are not tailored to women’s needs. Surveys of working women telling interviewers what their educational needs are, or data showing course enrollment by sex, are two possible forms of documentation. Similarly, a funder may be swayed by evidence that when women do enroll in traditional workers’ education courses, their drop-out rate is inordinately high. All of these facts argue that women are not benefiting equally from existing educational offerings. Many foundations and government programs are designed to fund experiments that help bring about a more equitable distribution of services or an expansion of opportunities to a formerly excluded group.

Another argument for working women’s programs may be the recent enactment of legislative or regulatory changes that make working women’s education programs especially timely. For example, if a recently issued regulation provides a new requirement to reach out to working women, a program can be described as helping educational institutions comply with the regulation. In the same way, if a recently enacted law requires some form of affirmative action for women, a program can be defended on the basis that it reaches work force women, a group most likely to be left out of a program aimed at women in general. In other words, your proposal can argue that the program assists an educational institution in complying with new sex-neutral policies and assures that the compliance effort throws the net beyond the women easiest to reach.⁴

Grant officers may be unfamiliar with special features of educational programs that promise to make them work well for working women. Testing the effectiveness of these features may be of interest to funders. For example, the proposal may do well if it emphasizes the fact that many working women have heavy family responsibilities. Ordinary after-work courses entail a very long day, late evening traveling, safety problems, babysitting that is often hard to find, and so forth. Courses for working women may need to begin early and be located near commonly used public transportation.

Similarly, a funder may need to be educated about working women’s lack of confidence when returning to school. A program with special or experimental features designed to overcome this fear may have special appeal to funders. This could mean short courses to try out schooling again; non-credit offerings, which seem less judgmental; separate courses to prevent older working women from feeling out of place among young students; courses that build on material familiar to working women, not on highly theoretical material that may seem unnecessarily bookish at first; or remedial courses on subjects educators often assume working women have already mastered. The rationale for special programs needs to be made clear to the reader, who is probably unfamiliar with working women’s needs.

Another convincing answer to “why fund this working women’s project rather than something else” lies in the statistics showing the contribution working women make to family support and the link between education or training and employment opportunity. Do not assume that everyone considering your proposal knows that many working women are their own or their family’s sole or major supporter. Do not assume that the reader knows how many single-parent working women there are; how dependent these families’ self-sufficiency is on the women’s opportunities to advance on the job. The reader may also be completely unfamiliar with women’s efforts to break out of the pink-collar ghetto. All of these arguments can be directly connected to widening educational opportunities for working women. All can be strong arguments for funding a women’s program.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. It merely suggests some of the arguments that may justify a foundation’s shifting its attention from established program categories to include special projects for working women. Your program will have its own special justification and origin. You need to be sure that these special aspects are clearly described in the proposal.

After establishing the justification for the project, you need to convince the grant officer that your approach makes sense and is likely to succeed. Here, the grant officer will have in mind questions like: Is this a new approach that can not be funded through regular channels and, therefore, deserves special grant money? What is known about similar efforts that suggests the likelihood of success? Who are the staff and leadership proposed in the project? Do they seem to have experience or skills that will contribute to the program’s success? What other organizations seem willing to bet on this project? Are there any employers, unions, women’s organizations, church groups who are helping with some part of this? Have the program staff given consideration to how the effort might be supported after the grant is over? Can it be worked into regular funding channels? Will it require more foundation or government funding?

These questions are not peculiar to working women’s programs. They are some of the considerations that grant officers have in mind while evaluating all proposals. Where women’s programs are concerned, these questions are likely to be asked with greater than usual skepticism. Programs that move foundations or government into new areas may at first be subject to unusually careful scrutiny and analysis. Since there are very few foundations funding women’s programs—especially programs for working women—your proposal must be unusually compelling.

A case study of a Ford Foundation grant for working women may highlight some of these points. In 1970, the Ford Foundation did not have a grant program designated for support of women’s programs. Occasionally women’s programs were funded, but these were very few in number and usually small in size and scope. Staff were interested in considering women’s grants but had made no decisions regarding special funding focus or groups of women to be served.

In 1972, the Metropolitan office of the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, proposed that the Ford Foundation support a study of barriers that prevented women’s participation in union leadership and activities. The Cornell proposal noted that women comprised approximately 20 percent of union membership but only 4.7 percent of union leadership. It documented the increasing numbers of women in paid work outside the home, and noted the continuing and increasing wage gap between men and women and the fact that union women earn an average of $1,500 more per year than their non-union counterparts. It discussed the fact that women are now likely to spend a significant part of their adult lives in the work force, and documented the contribution many of these women make to maintenance of an acceptable family income.

Cornell argued that a study of barriers to women’s participation in unions might reveal remedies that could be implemented by unions and other institutions. These remedies might help increase women’s participation in union affairs, thereby increasing the number of female union leaders, and help to fashion union policies that would benefit women workers. This approach was simple and modest. It appealed to the Ford Foundation staff because it focused on an important problem—economic security for women through employment and leadership in the employment sphere. It suggested a careful look at the factors that might be causing underrepresentation of women in union leadership, and only after this careful study did it urge an attempt to construct remedies.

The research was designed to examine women’s involvement in seven unions of varying sizes, involving different industries and different levels of participation by women workers. Cornell would analyze the relationship of women’s participation in union activities to their level of education; job status; race or national origin; marital status; age and number of children; membership in other organizations; and the attitudes of male union members and staff.

The proposal described Cornell’s special qualifications to undertake the study. These included experience in working with blue-collar and working women, extensive contacts in the labor movement, the presence of a trade union advisory committee, and available consultation of Cornell staff. The two principal staff people were described as having extensive research, union, teaching, and writing experience. In addition, Cornell was prepared to commit faculty time, space, equipment, and overhead to the project. Most important, if the study found a need for an educational program, Cornell was ready to experiment with and implement some of the study’s recommendations.

The proposal was favorably reviewed by foundation staff and funded in 1972. The study, which was later published as Trade Union Women: A Study of Their Participation in New York City Locals (Praeger, 1975), described a variety of problems women encountered as they attempted to become active in their unions. Problems such as lack of information about union affairs and history, lack of confidence in public speaking, lack of confidence in skills needed for a union job, and fears of added responsibilities and burdens, were frequently described by working women. Several of these findings suggested a lack of formal and informal leadership education and training opportunities for union women. Cornell then proposed to design a program of “Trade Union Women’s Studies” to fill this gap. The program would include two levels of educational offerings:

1. Brief courses within individual unions to familiarize union women with new subjects, with going back to school, and with basic skills.

2. A one-year Labor Studies and Leadership Training Program for Union Women as an alternate first year of Cornell’s ongoing two-year Labor Liberal Arts program (which had been attracting only a small number of union women to its student body).

In 1973, the Ford Foundation funded the first two years of this experimental program, and agreed to evaluate the program at the end of two and four years to consider a total of six years of support if the evaluation was positive. The evaluation was to include review of participants’ reactions, the record of their achievements, observation of classroom sessions, discussions with Cornell and other educational leadership, and so forth. During the six years, Cornell was to support a growing proportion of the program’s activities, so that at the end of the six years, the basic or core components of Trade Union Women’s Studies would be supported by that institution. For the Ford Foundation, this meant that the experiment, if successful, would become part of Cornell’s own structure and would not disappear when foundation support was withdrawn.

Trade Union Women’s Studies has been successfully developed and institutionalized. The final Ford Foundation grant for its support has been concluded.

Since Betty Friedan published the Feminine Mystique in 1963, we have seen a resurgence of interest in the long struggle for women’s rights in the U.S. Fifteen years is not a long life for one generation of a social movement. Women have been trying to get their fair share since the earliest days on this continent. We can assume, then, that women’s desire for change will not dim in the coming years. However, we cannot know how long current enthusiasm and public attention to women’s rights will last. We certainly cannot know how long the meager interest expressed by foundations and government will last.

We do know that a profound social change has occurred. Women will most likely remain in the paid work force. Families will continue to depend on the income of female family members. This will continue to bring vast changes in all areas of society. Barriers to women achieving full equality are not likely to be broken down overnight. Therefore, we can probably assume a continuing need for special programs for women to help them gain educational and leadership skills, and overcome discrimination. Thus, while funding fashions may shift away from the current “interest” in feminist programs, programs will still need to be funded.

In designing a proposal, be aware of these shifting foundation and government interests. An outsider always has difficulty understanding what a funding source’s particular interests and priorities are. Annual reports, press releases, and newsletters are somewhat helpful, but they often inform the reader about grants already made, not subjects in which proposals are being sought. To keep up with the most recent interests, a phone call to the foundation or government agency may turn up a recent description of new program interests. You might also be in luck and get the information from someone on the telephone.

If you can learn of the funder’s current interests, it may be possible to argue for a working women’s program under other categories of concern. For example, programs for the elderly may be prominent on the agendas of funding sources in coming years. With a large proportion of the U.S. population falling within the older age group, increasing attention may be directed toward programs for the elderly. If a foundation or government funding program is not restricting its “elderly” grants to services for the elderly, it may be possible to argue for attention to programs that prepare working women for their later years. This may mean experiments with part-time work and education as a preparation for retirement. It might mean such new types of education for working women as education for new careers that can be continued in some manner after retirement.

If major funding sources consider health care a priority, working women may need education for new careers in the health field and education on how to be a more effective health services consumer. Such a special focus need not distort your program from its fundamental objective or concept. It may be a way that you can package and find support for one portion of a larger program. Or it may be a way that you can make a general connection between a funder’s concern and your program.

In other words, program operators need to maintain a flexible approach to shaping their programs. They need to remember that funding sources often have gone through many steps to designate a new program area. Trustee or agency approval has been sought, types of grants described, and rough funding limits set. These are not easily changed, even when a superb proposal comes along. Therefore, the applicant needs to relate a proposal inventively to what is available from a given source.

Applicants for government or foundation funds need to set aside a lot of lead time. Funding often comes many months after submitting a proposal. Redrafts of the proposal may be needed, new budgets may have to be constructed, special letters of support obtained, and many other requests answered. All of this takes tremendous patience and a lot of time.

Some funders have set schedules for considering applications. Many government and foundation grant programs consider proposals two, three, or four times per year. Applicants should plan their submissions so that if they are approved at one of these meetings, sufficient time remains between the approval date and the program start-up date. It often takes several weeks or longer to get a grant payment. If your program cannot move forward without the grant, be careful not to get caught short.

Finally, before writing a proposal for a working women’s education program, some of the general publications on funding ought to be consulted. Many exist, but three that are easily found in most libraries are: The Foundation Directory (New York: The Russell Sage Foundation). This is a listing of foundations by state, giving brief information on interests, size, trustees, etc. The Foundation Grants Index (New York: Columbia University Press). This is an annual listing of grants based on information collected by the Foundation Center. Judith Margolin, About Foundations: How to Find the Facts You Need to Get a Grant (New York: The Foundation Center, 1975). Publications on government funding usually cover a specific agency’s program. These general guides to funding and filing applications can be obtained from the agency or its regional office. Often a telephone call to a national advocacy organization for women such as the Women’s Action Alliance in New York City or to a Washington-based organization such as the Association of American College’s Project on the Status and Education of Women will lead you to a convenient source of information on government funding for women.

It is most important to remember from the start that it will not be easy to raise funds for working women’s programs; again, few grant programs are designed with women’s issues in mind. Most funders automatically think of women’s projects as outside their area. Your application will not only be a plea for your program’s support, it will also be part of the continuing education of funding officers.

NOTES

1. Foundation News Magazine, March/April 1975, article by Mary Jean Tully.

2. Survey of Six Foundations that Derive Their Assets from Sales of Cosmetics to Women, April 1978. Available from Women and Foundations / Corporate Philanthropy, 35 South Main Street, Hanover, N.H.

3. Rosabeth Kantor, Marcy Morningham, Barry Stein, and Meg Wheatley, Review of Grantmaking for Women’s Issues in the 1970s, a report to the Coordinating Committee on Women’s Programs of the Ford Foundation, Ford Foundation, 1970

4. For example, tuition aid might be offered to women re-entering the work force after years of homemaking and childrearing. Educational institutions would want to develop special programs to attract these new, subsidized students. Your program could be designed to help the institutions do this.

CHAPTER 21

Funding Worker Education through Tuition Refund Plans

By MIMI ABRAMOVITZ

Adults—including many women over 35—are returning to school in unprecedented numbers. At the same time, rising tuition costs and the growing need among students for financial assistance has prompted such governmental policies as the tuition tax credit, proposed in 1979.

However, for many adult workers, job-related educational benefits already exist to help defray the costs of returning to school. Tuition refund, which reimburses all or part of tuition and related costs for college and university courses pursued after work hours, is one such program. The plans vary in the amount refunded, the type of courses covered, and the conditions of plan use. Initially provided only for management employees, tuition refund plans today are available to millions of rank-and-file workers as company-sponsored or union-negotiated benefits. Of 610 companies it polled in 1974–75, the Conference Board, a prominent business research organization, found that 89 percent offered tuition refunds.¹

But few workers use these programs. Only 50 percent of the 3.6 million who were eligible in 1970 participated in the 155 plans surveyed by the Conference Board.² This underutilization demands explanation, especially for women, who most need help to finance the education that could move them out of their predominantly low-paid, low-status jobs.

During 1976–77, the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, conducted a study, funded by the Rockefeller Family Fund, to learn what keeps workers, especially women, from fuller participation in tuition refund plans, and to draft recommendations for increasing worker use of this fringe benefit.³

Rank-and-file members of three unions⁴ employed at three different companies⁵ participated in the study. Questionnaires completed by nearly 1,000 union members,⁶ and interviews with union and company officials, provided information about (1) tuition refund plan utilization rates, (2) characteristics of plan users and non-users, (3) reasons for plan use, and (4) barriers to utilization.

The study’s findings and programmatic recommendations are summarized below. The study also highlights the dilemmas that labor, management, and educational institutions face and must resolve if more workers are to take advantage of tuition refund programs. Intended for labor educators interested in promoting these programs, it is hoped this chapter will lead to further discussion of the problem and indicate areas for future research.

Deterrents to the Use of Tuition Refund Plans

Deterrents to the use of tuition refund plans fall into three major categories: (1) socioeconomic deterrents, (2) worker-reported barriers, and (3) unmet expectations.

This discussion must be understood in the context of overall low utilization. Only a minority of the eligible workers surveyed in this study participated in the tuition refund plan available to them. Overall, workers who never used the program (69 percent) outnumbered those who at one time or another did use it (31 percent) by more than two to one.⁷ This pattern of low utilization prevails at each of the three companies involved in the study, even though more than 80 percent of non-users expressed interest in the program.

Socioeconomic Deterrents

While program use among all workers is low, certain groups participate less than others. Low-paid, low-skilled, and less educated workers predominate among non-users. These tend to be over age 45, non-white, and female. That is, workers at the bottom of the work place hierarchy fill the ranks of non-users, suggesting that socioeconomic factors deter use of tuition refund plans.

While disadvantaged male and female workers use tuition refunds less than the advantaged, regardless of age, race, education, skill level, and income level, fewer women than men use the program. As a group, women (16 percent) use tuition refund less than men (40 percent). The consistently lower use by women results, in part, from their heavy concentration at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy. Considerably more women than men in the companies studied are black, have fewer years of education, and work in low-skilled, low-paid jobs.⁸ While men fill most of the skilled technical positions, most women are clerks, secretaries, and telephone operators.

But women’s unfavorable work place status is not the whole story. Family roles and responsibilities also influence their use of tuition refund programs. Among men, those with greater family responsibilities (married, larger families, younger children) use tuition refunds more than those with fewer family responsibilities. In contrast, differences in marital status, family size, and children’s ages have little effect on women’s uniformly low use of tuition aid.

Socioeconomic factors are a barrier to the use of tuition refunds because they not only describe workers, but also affect their relationship to the work place and the family. For example, employers often use differences in age, race, sex, and education to make job entry and promotion decisions, rather than match individual skills and abilities with specific job requirements. As a result, company recruitment, training, and advancement practices restrict the access of many—especially women, minorities, and youth—from job categories with greater promotion possibilities. Instead, they tend to obtain positions with short job progressions that offer few training opportunities. Furthermore, the work place hierarchy—a pyramid with few good jobs at the top and many poor jobs at the bottom—permits only a minority of those who pursue additional education to move up. Low-level workers, facing blocked opportunities for job advancement, are less likely to be rewarded for more education. It is not surprising, then, that they use tuition aid less than workers more likely to benefit from the program. This hypothesis is confirmed by the data on unmet expectations, discussed below.

The sex-role division of labor within the family influences use of tuition aid. Family obligations do not prevent—and, indeed, seem to stimulate—the use of tuition refunds by married men with families seeking to improve their job and income status. For women, full-time work plus household and childrearing responsibilities leave little time and energy to pursue education. Doubly deterred by low work place status and traditional sex-role responsibilities, women’s conventionally defined economic and social roles appear to restrict their ability to use tuition refunds to return to school.

Worker-Reported Barriers

Barriers to plan use cited by workers include personal attitudes, aspects of work and family life, provisions of tuition refund plans, and policies of educational institutions. Those mentioned most frequently by all non-users include (in rank order):

1. Inability to afford school.

2. Preference for other activities.

3. Fear of returning to school.

4. The restriction of tuition refunds to job-related courses.

5. Uncertain educational interests.

6. No benefit from more education.

7. The requirement that workers pay tuition costs in advance of reimbursement.

8. Fatigue.

9. Work schedules (for example, overtime, a non-day or rotating shift, or a second job).

10. The belief that education is no help on the job.

11. Other tuition aid program factors (red tape, course prerequisites not covered, and so forth).

Contrary to expectations, six of these eleven major barriers (numbers 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 11) are reported by similar proportions of women and men. Among these, cost is especially significant, preventing approximately one-third of both women and men from returning to school despite the presence of a tuition refund plan. Most plans pay only a part of tuition expenses and do not cover such items as student fees, books, meals, child care, and transportation. The reimbursement payment method, which requires tuition aid applicants to lay out the full cost of tuition in advance of repayment, also is a financial barrier.

While women and men share many barriers, others are more important for each sex. Those affecting more women than men include (in rank order):

1. Fear of returning to school after being out too long.

2. Fatigue.

3. Uncertain education goals.

4. Transportation problems (no transportation, unsafe to travel alone at night).

5. Lack of self-confidence.

6. Need for affordable child care.

Barriers reported by more men than women are (in rank order):

1. The requirement that covered course be job related.

2. No benefit from returning to school.

3. Don’t know who or where to ask about the program.

4. Unfair to use family income for own education.

5. Didn’t know the program existed.

Finally, although lack of information about the tuition refund program is not frequently mentioned, low-skilled, low-paid workers experience this problem more than others.

Female socialization appears to explain many of the barriers reported by women. Fear of returning to school, lack of self-confidence, and uncertain educational interests correspond to traditional attitudes women develop about themselves while growing up. Traditional female role expectations encourage women to prepare for marriage and motherhood, not long-term employment, and to believe that occupational success conflicts with femininity. Adherence to these ideas can lower women’s career and education aspirations, as well as their self-confidence, independence, and self-esteem. The sex-role division of labor in the family helps explain why more women than men who work full time report child care and fatigue as barriers. Barriers reported by more men than women suggest that men’s use of tuition aid is limited when the program does not meet occupational needs and because they lack information about the program.

Unmet Expectations

Lack of payoff is the third major deterrent to the use of tuition refund. Seventy percent of the workers surveyed believe that “education is a way to move up on the job.” Yet many are non-users, because the tuition refund program results in few specific job-related gains. And it is job gains that workers want most.

Expectations. Tuition aid users, regardless of sex, return to school primarily to improve their job status. Fifty-five percent of both women and men who have used a program seek to be upgraded or promoted. Approximately 40 percent of men and women want to improve their skills or raise their educational level. While more women than men return to school for personal reasons, and more men than women do so to earn a higher income, the overriding concern of both groups is job gains.

The subjects that workers select underscore their strong interest in job improvements. Most women and men choose courses in areas where new job openings appear to exist. Computer programming, the area of greatest job expansion at each of the companies studied, is ranked first by both women and men. High proportions of both sexes express interest in management training. Courses permitting advancement in a worker’s current job are also popular, but reflect the impact of the sex-segregated occupational structure on such decisions. More men want to learn craft skills (welding, machine repair, electronics); more women choose clerical skills (typing, bookkeeping, accounting).

Contrary to popular belief and some research,⁹ women seem as concerned as men with practical job-related benefits. This suggests an increased recognition and acceptance of their permanence in the labor force and a desire to escape from the low-status jobs to which they have been relegated.

Outcomes. While 55 percent of both sexes, those who have ever used tuition assistance programs, hope that additional education will result in an upgrading or promotion, only 30 percent of the men and 14 percent of the women report this as an outcome of program use. Workers seeking to improve their skills are also disappointed; 39 percent of the men and 47 percent of the women use tuition refunds for this purpose, but only 27 percent of the men and 18 percent of the women report it as an outcome.

This lack of payoff is an important deterrent, given the costs in time, money, and psychic energy involved in returning to school. Inevitably, disappointment in the program is communicated at the work place and contributes to overall low utilization. Lack of payoff reflects a built-in tension between the job improvements that workers want and the company’s reluctance to promote tuition refund programs for this purpose, in part due to the lack of promotion opportunities for lower-level workers.

Dilemmas

Reducing the barriers to the use of tuition refund programs depends in part on achieving other social changes and will not be simple. Nonetheless, some of the deterrents can be addressed if companies, labor unions, and educational institutions consider resolving the following dilemmas.

Companies. Increasing use of tuition refunds requires modification of existing hiring, promotion, and training practices. The study found that companies prefer:

To promote workers on the basis of job performance and seniority rather than educational attainment.

To provide on-the-job and in-house training over outside college education to meet their specialized training needs to update their labor force’s skills.

Not to raise the job mobility aspirations of workers, given the shortage of higher level job openings and, therefore, not to publicize actively their tuition refund plans.

Nonetheless, use of tuition aid to help workers get a college education can satisfy management needs for a skilled and productive work force, for a readily available pool of qualified and promotable workers, and for a promotable supply of women from within the ranks to meet affirmative action goals.

Unions. Increasing use of tuition refunds requires overcoming current disincentives to union support for these programs. The study found that:

While unions support the need for more education for their members, they find that few job-related opportunities accrue to workers directly from use of tuition refunds.

Promotion based on education challenges the union’s stake in the seniority system and threatens the strength of the bargaining unit, because more educated workers may be promoted out of the unit.

While members credit their unions with winning seniority protection, they often forget labor’s role in securing the tuition aid program, because the plans usually are company financed and administered.

Because only a minority of members use tuition refunds, bargaining for these benefits is de-emphasized in favor of demands that win wider rank-and-file support and are used by a greater proportion of members.

Nonetheless, education remains a key union concern. The influx of young workers into the ranks and the opportunity to use tuition refunds for labor studies programs provides an incentive to bargain for stronger tuition aid provisions. The study’s finding that more tuition refund users than non-users participate in union activities provides another plus for organizations highly dependent on volunteer leaders.

Educational Institutions. Increasing use of tuition refunds requires that educational institutions orient themselves to the needs of working adults. The study found that:

The traditional policies of educational institutions that address the needs of younger and full-time students are less responsive to the older working student.

With some exceptions, institutions of higher education are isolated from both labor and industry, limiting their access to and understanding of the training needs of both labor and management.

Nonetheless, declining enrollments and strong competition among educational institutions for adult students are moving colleges and universities to introduce innovative programs. Weekend colleges, credit for life experience, and the location of courses on company sites and in union halls make it easier for adult students to enroll.

Here labor education specialists can play a significant role. Their knowledge of the educational needs of workers and their longstanding ties to both educational institutions and labor organizations make them uniquely qualified to facilitate cooperation among representatives of each sector in efforts to improve tuition refund programs designed to encourage greater use by workers. In recent years the awarding of college credit to labor studies programs has qualified more of them under tuition refund plans.

Labor educators also are encouraging unions to press for liberalized refund plans, so that courses relevant to workers as trade unionists as well as job-related courses can be covered by tuition refund plans.

Program Recommendations

If unions, universities, and companies can agree to cooperate in adopting certain policies, many specific barriers to the use of tuition refund programs can be addressed programmatically.

Socioeconomic Obstacles

Blocked opportunities for job advancement deter low-level workers from using tuition refunds. Expanding job opportunities, probably the most difficult barrier to overcome, involves fundamental changes in the work place. It requires: extending job ladders; linking job mobility to additional education; eliminating race, sex, and age discrimination in hiring, promotion, and upgrading decisions, and implementing affirmative action goals; publicizing intended areas of job expansion to allow workers to plan their educational choices accordingly; and eliminating sex-segregated occupational categories and employing more women in non-traditional jobs.

Worker-Reported Barriers

Restrictive program provision, scheduling and transportation problems, and worker fears and uncertainties are significant worker-reported barriers. Remedies include relaxing restrictive plan provisions, more flexible scheduling, and providing supportive services.

Relaxation of Restrictive Plan Provisions. The partial reimbursement of tuition costs, the exclusion of other education-related expenses, financially burdensome reimbursement methods, and the restriction of tuition refunds to job-related courses keep many workers from using the program. These barriers can be reduced by company and union support for: full coverage of tuition costs and inclusion of such related expenses as fees, books, meals, child care, and transportation; direct prepayment of course charges to workers or educational institutions (to avoid the advance payment burden), with repayment by workers who do not successfully complete course work; provision of low-interest loans through credit unions or special funds; and coverage of other than job-related courses and/or broader definitions of job-relatedness.

Educational institutions can help reduce cost problems of adult students by: eliminating the discrimination against part-time students that results in higher tuition and ineligibility for financial assistance; expanding credit for life experience; and becoming familiar with tuition refund programs and assisting workers who apply for financial aid to investigate these as a potential resource.

More Flexible Work and Educational Schedules. Working overtime, a non-day or rotating shift, and / or holding a second job prevents many workers from returning to school, given the class schedules of most educational institutions. Scheduling barriers can be reduced by company and union support for: released time for study; flexible educational leave; shorter work weeks; on-site college credit courses offered after work hours; and granting worker requests for shift changes needed to attend school.

Eductional institutions can accommodate the schedules of employed adults by: offering more degree courses, as well as registration, financial aid, and other student services, in the evening; developing or expanding programs that enable workers to use weekends, short educational leaves, and vacations to complete a semester’s work; and enhancing the quality, relevance, and prestige of night classes. Making it easier for workers to attend classes at convenient hours and places might alleviate some transportation problems, as would company and union pressure for improved community transportation services and their help in the organization of employee car pools.

Supportive Services. These can help workers overcome fears and uncertainties about returning to school. Companies and unions could: sponsor short-term counseling services and workshops that would reinforce workers’ skills and confidence and help them to identify their educational and occupational interests; provide updated information about job opportunities within and outside the company as an aid to career planning; and encourage workers who have used tuition refunds to share their experience with others and act as program recruiters. Educational institutions can play an important role in overcoming the fears of adult students by: sponsoring programs geared to the re-entering student, such as special orientation sessions and non-credit refresher courses in basic study skills; developing credit courses especially relevant to the needs and interests of adults and their employers; and sensitizing teachers and administrators to the educational and personal needs of the employed older student.

If implemented, these recommendations would help close the gap between workers’ expectations of education and the often minimal returns received from tuition refund programs. If educational institutions are responsive to the needs of workers and employers, returning to school will be of greater practical value to workers eligible for tuition refunds. It would no doubt stimulate increased use of this attractive educational benefit.

Conclusion

Increasing the use of tuition refund programs involves fundamental changes in some instances and significant costs in others. However, the benefits that can result from encouraging greater use of tuition refunds to finance the employed adult’s return to school are important ones.

Non-users of tuition refunds are among those most in need of more education. Once they are motivated, education becomes addictive for at least 25 percent of the workers—that is, a return to school leads to participation in further education. Easier access to education can help women move out of sex-stereotyped jobs and prepare them for community and union leadership.

Both companies and unions benefit from a work force interested in and able to pursue additional education. In the words of one company official, “education is a motivator and motivated employees make better workers.” For companies seeking to advance women and minorities from within their ranks, and for unions wanting to develop more female and minority leadership from among their membership, increasing access to tuition refund opportunities is a way to help meet affirmative action goals. Use of tuition refunds appears to stimulate union activity, especially among women: 32 percent of female tuition refund users were active unionists, compared to 14 percent of non-users.

Finally, workers are interested in relevant education. More than 80 percent of the non-users in this study expressed interest in tuition refund programs. More dramatically, existing new programs demonstrate that credit programs financed through tuition refund work. A company-endorsed Career Development Women’s Studies Program for women in white-collar clerical jobs, initiated by the Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, and a comparable Public Service Women’s Studies Program for female civil servants employed by the State of New York, are oversubscribed, despite no specific promises of job advancement.

For labor educators and those in adult and continuing education, working with companies and unions to develop pilot, experimental programs that expedite use of tuition refunds holds much promise.

NOTES

1. Seymour Lusterman, Education and Industry (New York: The Conference Board, 1977), p. 11.

2. Roger O’Meara, “Combatting Knowledge Obsolescence: Employee Tuition Aid Plans” (New York: National Industrial Conference Board, 1970), p. 93.

3. Mimi Abramovitz, Where Are the Women? A Study of the Underutilization of Tuition Refund Plans (New York: Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Dec. 1977).

4. International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO (Locals 470, 450, 445); Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO (Local 1153); Telephone, Traffic Union, TIU (Bronx-Westchester Local).

5. Sperry Rand Division of the Sperry Rand Corporation, Great Neck, N.Y.; Long Lines Department, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., White Plains, N.Y.; New York Telephone Company (White Plains, Mt. Vernon, and Yonkers, N.Y., offices).

6. Because the study included only three companies and produced a response rate of 27.3 percent, generalizations must be made cautiously. However, the large number of respondents permits confidence in the study findings.

7. These utilization rates reflect both past and present use of tuition aid and therefore are higher than they would be if only current use was discussed.

8. Some of the differences are especially dramatic. Over 60 percent of the women, but only 28 percent of the men, have a high school diploma or less. Twice as many men (55 percent) as women (23 percent) have had some college. Only 7 percent of the women, compared to 59 percent of the men, are in highly skilled jobs; only 16 percent of the women, but more than 60 percent of the men, earn over $260 a week.

9. Peter Botsman, An Analysis of the Continuing Education Interests and Needs of Blue Collar Factory Workers (Ithaca, N.Y.: Institute for Research and Development in Occupational Education, Department of Education, New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, May 1975), p. 61; National Advisory Council on Extension and Continuing Education, ninth annual report, Equity of Access: Continuing Education and the Part-Time Student (Washington, D.C., March 31, 1975), p. 17.

PART V

THE LARGER VIEW

The final section of Labor Education for Women Workers consists of two chapters. The first is a comparative survey of how labor education in four industrialized European countries, each with a highly developed trade union movement, prepares union women for leadership. In Sweden, Great Britain, Austria, and Germany, unions openly acknowledge the extent to which their continued growth requires integration of women into the workforce and the labor movement, and their training for fuller participation in trade unions. Educational methods and programs from the European experience may be directly useful or adaptable to the new momentum in union and university programming here, in response to the fact that women are in the workforce to stay, and are seeking information and skills to move ahead on the job and in their labor organizations.

The book concludes with a look ahead. Today’s labor educators are shaping the profession in new ways to meet new needs. The author of Chapter 23 reminds us of women’s past contributions in labor education, of how deep our roots are in their work. He expresses the hope that there will be increased university and labor union acceptance of and support for women workers’ programs, but notes the distance all of us still must go to achieve this.

Ideally, of course, there should be no need for special programs for union women. However, until women are recruited equally for union training courses, until these courses deal fairly with women’s roles and concerns, until women have gained the necessary self-confidence to speak up in meeting halls where they are in a minority, and until they understand unions as political organizations and participate effectively in them at every level, this need will continue. With this in mind, the final chapter summarizes the contribution that it is hoped this book makes, not only to the field of worker and adult education, but toward the acceptance of education for women workers as long as it is necessary to achieve these goals.

CHAPTER 22

Labor Education and Women Workers: An International Comparison

By ALICE H. COOK and ROBERTA TILL-RETZ

How can trade union education become more accessible to the thousands of women now entering the labor force, and, increasingly, the trade union movement? Innovations by European trade unions suggest new ways to tackle some of the old problems that have deterred women from full participation in union life, a participation that is greatly aided by trade union education. This chapter discusses how union programs for women workers in Sweden, Great Britain, Austria, and Germany endeavor to increase women’s involvement in trade union affairs.

Trade union education in Europe has a considerable history and, compared with the United States, a more formal structure. The result is a sophisticated array of facilities, bolstered by laws allowing newly elected union representatives (or, in the case of Britain under a 1975 law, all union representatives) several weeks per term of office to attend formal courses, most of them union-sponsored. Many unions have large, often beautifully located, excellently equipped residential colleges where courses may last a few days to several months. These usually supplement evening programs and day-long or weekend courses sponsored by local district union bodies.¹

But this system has tended mainly to reach an elite minority of highly paid, skilled workers, who for the most part occupy union office—even in Sweden, where the most strenuous attempts are being made to decentralize and democratize these programs. Among the large untouched majority of unionists are the women.

Women’s Participation

Whatever differences exist in the structure of labor education, all countries face the same facts regarding women’s training. While women often attend local programs roughly in proportion to their numbers in the membership, their participation in residential programs away from home falls off markedly. A study done by the Education Department of LO (the federation of blue-collar unions in Sweden) showed that women make up the following percentages of participants in trade union courses of varying duration:

study circles (evening programs) | 30 percent
one-week courses | 25–30 percent
two-week courses | 25–30 percent
six-week courses | 11–12 percent
three-month courses | 7 percent

Similarly, the figures in Germany show that while the percentage of women attending residential schools has been increasing year by year from 1970, when it was only 4.6 percent, in 1976 it was just 13.8 percent of the total enrollment.

Where eligibility for advancement in union office depends upon completion of prescribed levels of schooling, it is evident that women—whatever other barriers they have to surmount—will not be available for union office if they do not or cannot get the training.

Why are women consistently absent from the upper levels of union education? Why do they have difficulty in taking part in the elementary programs offered in the evenings?

The explanation lies in women’s double burden of jobs and home responsibilities. Women find it harder to arrange to leave home for extended periods of time than do men. A Swedish study of 1,073 participants in programs at four union schools showed that 50 percent of the women attending had no children, while only 35 percent of the men were childless. Of the remainder, those with children, 50 percent of the women had children over 11 years of age, but 56 percent of the men had children under 6 years of age. While most men were fathers of young children, the women either were single or had put off coming until their children were able to some degree to take care of themselves.

Part of the problem is that husbands protest the inconvenience of a wifeless home, or may actually forbid their wives to go to a residential school where they will be living and studying with large numbers of men. Husbands can be a more formidable obstacle to women’s going to school than children. When women at a course of the General and Municipal Workers in Great Britain were asked why they didn’t participate more in education programs, the cry went up, according to an observer, “Our husbands!” In Birmingham, an informal meeting of women stewards in the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) made a similar response. Austrian textile workers noted a comparable problem in recruiting women to their courses.

Many women work part time. This is particularly true in white-collar and distributive trades and in government employment. These women often are passed over by selection committees as lacking permanent commitment to the labor force or to the union. (Some unions do not even accept them as members.) Even when women are full-time workers, union officers making selections for the schools may see them as inappropriate candidates for higher union education. Neither they nor the women have many role models of women in high- or even middle-level union office. Women officers in local unions are mainly stewards in predominantly women’s departments, which men often see as unimportant to the life of the union and as not providing experience to prepare them for higher levels of union work.

Employers, too, are responsible. In several countries laws that call for the election of works councilors also provide for released time for their training. But employers rarely provide substitutes for persons who go off to school and thus throw extra burdens on fellow-workers, which in turn creates tension and difficulties at the work place.

But women’s low participation in union education rests to a large degree on their family and work place circumstances. In addition, they lack self-confidence, and are reluctant to compete in a classroom with men who, they assume, are better prepared and more competent than they. Women have come to adopt the men’s view that unions are essentially men’s clubs where women are unwelcome, or at best only tolerated. Incidentally, many union schools, especially in their recreational facilities, do much to support this impression.

Women who do go to the schools find men the overwhelming majority and the formal classroom intimidating. In after-hours activities, they are often alone or in a small, socially isolated group. In class, the problems discussed rarely refer to many of the work place problems unique to women.

Some Second Thoughts

In the past several years, the rapidly increasing proportion of women in European unions has persuaded union leaders to look hard at the education system, which has long gone unquestioned as the product of a proud tradition. We found ferment everywhere among union women, impatient with the obstacles to their union educations—obstacles that so often were merely the result of a lack of flexibility in male union leadership. In response to pressure from women activists and to the silent reproach of hundreds of untrained, newly elected women union officers, European unions have begun to experiment with times, places, scheduling, child care facilities, teaching methods, constituency of course participants, and recruitment to courses, in efforts to bring in these women. Their enthusiastic response to almost any experiment aimed at making attendance easier speaks to a great unmet desire for training. Many of these experiments may be suggestive for American women trade unionists who seek ways to activate more of their women colleagues.

Reforms, Proposals, Experiments

Opening union education to women also opens it to other previously unreached groups of members in less-skilled job categories and among ethnic or linguistic minorities. Reforms that benefit both men and women generally can marshall union support more easily, as well as cement bonds of solidarity between men and women. Many of the experiments we saw or were told about were general reforms not directed particularly to women’s needs that nevertheless materially improved women’s opportunities for participation.

The most thoroughgoing proposal, made in Sweden, is to decentralize union education to regional and local levels, restructuring courses previously given at residential schools so that they can be taken in evening classes combined with weekend programs at county seats or regional centers. The residential schools are to become mainly centers for training teachers of study circles. The Swedes will continue their centralized course planning and preparation of course materials, along with the training of teachers, to assure uniform levels of instruction. Similarly, some Austrian unions are planning “materials banks” and educational guidelines meant to standardize local programs, regardless of the size or location of the group of workers.

To make classes more available to the workers who need them, many unions are emphasizing gaining released time for training at the work site itself. In addition to the legal allowance of released time provided in legislation for training elected union representatives in certain categories, Swedish metal workers are bargaining for additional time. In several contracts they have gained seven hours per year of paid released time; their goal is to raise this to sixteen hours. NUPE in England also is obtaining day-release for courses as part of its collective bargaining agreements, specifically in the interests of training its rapidly growing contingent of women shop stewards.

Some unions are changing from residential to local programs specifically to make training more accessible to women. Austrian unions in some instances are breaking their one- or two-week residential courses into periods of a few days, with short residential periods spent at the schools or even at locations nearer home. The Austrian textile workers, for example, have substituted for their basic eight-day residential course two three-day programs. The Swedish metal workers have shortened their courses at the central residential schools, and a number of Swedish unions offer study circles supplemented by weekend or three-day residential schools at the conclusion of the study circle program.

To reach union members at their work places, the central labor federation education department in Austria is adding an education officer to the roster of each works council. The effect, it hopes, will be to increase the number of women activists and to initiate more women into officer training programs.

The experience in general adult education with what the Swedes call “dialogue pedagogics” is penetrating trade union educational practice. Women, often shyer in a group than men, can be inhibited by formal classrooms where the teacher holds an authority position that replicates patterns of work and family patriarchy. The new methods stress active participation, research, and report writing in groups of four or five, with teachers assisting students. Women report that they feel less estranged and find themselves more able to participate as equals.

Correspondence courses have always played an important part in European trade union education. Now these have been combined with courses offered on TV. In Britain, the BBC has developed, with the Trade Union Congress and the Workers Education Association, a special “Trade Union Studies” section. Programs include study workbooks for use at home. Often groups watch the programs together and work their way through the materials with or without teachers. The special advantage for women is that study and work can be done at home or in small groups of neighbors or fellow workers.

New Approaches Directed Especially to Women

In addition to the released time programs discussed above, the Austrian white-collar workers in the private sector (GPA) now list among their bargaining demands the extension of released time to include substitute (deputy) councilors. A high percentage of these are women who, under this provision, will be better prepared to do their jobs in substituting for absent works councilors, and also more ready to run for the regular councilor office.

Several unions have turned to their own kinds of affirmative action to ensure that more women are admitted to their courses. Standard practice has been to make sure that at least two or three women were enrolled in every course. Now, in such unions as NUPE, with its majority of women members, most of whom are new to trade unionism, the central office takes the responsibility of deciding on admissions. From among nominees offered by the locals it chooses persons not previously or not recently trained, and women. The union seeks to enroll not less than equal numbers of men and women in each program, a situation in which women cannot feel isolated and in which they have more opportunity to shape the nature of the discussions.

Greater women’s participation, some unions have found, is simply a matter of invitation. At a British weekend school for new women stewards, women told of their difficulties in finding out what courses are offered. The problem is that unions mail information to chief shop stewards or presidents of works councils who either sit on it or pass it on to their buddies. Women don’t hear of the programs unless some special effort is made to reach them. In Austria, the women’s divisions of GPA and the Metal Workers have greatly increased the number of women taking training by creating “hot lines” between the women’s officer at headquarters and the women shop stewards throughout the country. When a course is to be offered, women can find out about it directly and quickly without having to depend on the man at the head of the local organization.

Trying to meet both women’s difficult and often rigid domestic schedules and their transportation problems is not easy for course administrators. But we found many efforts being made. To avoid weekends, when women often have to do their shopping and major housework, classes can be scheduled on weekdays with the union or the employer paying for lost time. In Bielefeld, a major textile center in Germany, the union’s women’s division organized a support network where retired women members provide transportation and child care for both weekend and mid-week programs.

In NUPE, many women members work part time. A study showed that while 59 percent of men stewards had no previous training in their union duties, 78 percent of the women lacked this training. Some of the men had experience in other unions before coming to NUPE, but the women for the most part were either working for the first time or having their first experience with union officership. Moreover, they were reluctant trainees. One reason, the union discovered, was that their reimbursement for class attendance was paid on the part-time scale, although classes were held for full days with no provision for their extra child care and transportation expenses. NUPE experimented in one of its divisions with half-day training for twenty instead of ten weeks, but the prospect of a twenty-week commitment overwhelmed many women. Finally, the union tried rewriting its program into a ten-week format with an accelerated half-day course. Thus the union made clear its willingness to alter training time to make it as flexible as possible, adjusting it to the daily routines and circumstances of members.

Child Care at Union Schools

Women’s attendance at classes, indeed even at meetings, frequently depends on their ability to arrange for child care. Unions are beginning to experiment with providing this. The most pressing need occurs, however, when a woman wants to participate in a residential course of several days or weeks. Brunsvik, the oldest of the five LO schools in Sweden, introduced child care for its students (notably, for both men and women) several years ago with a kindergarten accommodating about ten children. Recently a study was made of thirty benefiting parents over a period of a year and a half. Many had been skeptical before trying it out, but afterwards all but one were strongly in favor of the program. Rather than isolating parents from other students, they said, the children’s presence tended to create a more intimate bond among all participants, breaking down the formal, anonymous atmosphere and even reducing the drinking in leisure hours! Participants valued the shared responsibility of helping with children in the evenings during their free time.

A variety of child care options have been tried elsewhere. Some Swedish unions provide babysitting grants to course participants who have children under age seven. The German white-collar union (DAG) school in Walsrode arranges with a local kindergarten to accept children daytimes for the length of each course.

The common objections that unions raised to explain their failure to take responsibility for child care were, first, the cost of maintaining centers at the schools (although some schools were designed and built to include such centers) and, second, the burdens placed on parents and presumably mainly on mothers during evening hours. These objections were not based on prior experience, but rather on an unwillingness to experiment. While residential child care may not be the best answer for either children or parents, as some women we talked with contended, help in solving the child care problem certainly would aid many women otherwise excluded from union-sponsored training. Unions are, again and again, considering the alternatives open to them.

New thinking about the significance and impact of trade union activity on family life has led unions and other institutions in some countries to experiment with programs that draw in the whole family. The German Ministry on Family, Youth, and Health subsidizes “family seminars” in unions and in other community organizations, to which husband, wife, and, in some cases, children are recruited. The goal here is not primarily to provide babysitting, but to educate husbands and wives together on the aims and problems of trade unionism and on the implications for the family of women’s work role. Some unions have had rewarding experiences in including children in discussions with their parents. The Swedish Metal Workers Union has just rewritten its education program to emphasize the concept of “the trade union family,” and experiments along this line are being undertaken in Austria and Great Britain as well.

Courses for Women Only

Courses designated for women only are controversial. Their critics say they are segregationist and often of lower quality, and thus handicap rather than help women. Their defenders see them as necessary to introduce women to trade union life in a supportive atmosphere where they can talk freely, learn how to participate effectively in public meetings, make mistakes without undue embarrassment, and possibly even have some consciousness-raising and assertiveness training.

On the whole, Swedish unions have abandoned women’s programs in favor of “equality programs” to which men are recruited as well. Nevertheless, it was in Sweden that we found the most outspoken and determined efforts on the part of women, mainly in the white-collar unions, to set up women’s committees, women’s study and consciousness-raising groups, and even women’s caucuses at district levels. As a consequence of these self-generated programs, women had won office and gained official recognition within the unions for support of women’s conferences and programs. In the metal industry in a few large union locals, men have come to see that if they are to succeed in recruiting women to trade union training, they will have to organize special women’s courses. Customarily only two or three women have turned up in the standard mixed courses, but special programs have attracted fifty or more women to each course.

In Germany, special women’s courses account for a high percentage of all the women trained in the Federation’s schools. In Great Britain, TASS (Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Staffs) of the Amalgamated Engineering Workers has used regional women’s courses focused on “how to get equal pay” to help mobilize its rank-and-file white-collar women for union work in general. Though TASS’s regional women’s committees include men, these yearly courses have been reserved for women in order to create a women’s movement within the union. From these classes, TASS women have gone on to organize other women, as well as to revitalize the life of the union locals generally. In Austria and Germany, women’s courses on such topics as women’s pension rights, maternity leave, vocational training, and legislation have encouraged women unionists to join with other women’s groups for more effective lobbying on behalf of legislation.

Integration of Women’s Issues into Trade Union Education

As valuable and successful as women’s courses may be in supplying the necessary support women need to rise in today’s male-dominated union world, lasting change in the union—as in the labor market and society in general—will come only with the education of union men on the “woman question.”

When the Swedish blue-collar unions abandoned their separate women’s division and education programs about 1965, it was with the understanding that “equality issues” would become part of the general curriculum. The metal union led the way in revising its courses so as to eradicate sexism and to present subjects such as child care, equal pay, and equal access to jobs, among other issues, as topics vital to the lives of workers of both sexes.

Similarly, the German metal workers’ school added a course on how women’s work challenges traditional family patterns. This unit in the program includes a film, Lohn und Liebe (Wages and Love) that raises issues used for later class discussion. The Women’s Division of the union, evaluating this approach, admits that it has not increased the number of women attending the central training schools. But at its 1976 conference it reported that “joint school programs have proven to be an appropriate platform from which to formulate a single set of interests and to make a larger circle of male union officers aware of the special problems of women’s employment.” The metal workers’ union also has developed two model courses on the special problems of women and the union and made them available to its education directors. Other German unions are adding material on this theme to their regular curriculum. The Women’s Division of the Chemical Workers’ Union, for example, has course modules available on three topics: “Fair Job Classification,” “Women’s Wages,” and “Healthy Working Conditions.”

A somewhat different approach, used by the Austrian metal workers’ union, is to bring men into established women’s courses. This union has renamed its women’s courses “Courses on Women’s Problems,” and actively recruits men to them. The German Federation School at Hamburg-Sasel succeeded in enrolling as many as one-fourth of the students from among its male members, and its director reports that men gain a new understanding not only of the problems discussed but of what it means to be a member of the minority sex in a group. For the first time men heard women speaking up, and learned about their views of living in a male-dominated work environment and union. For their part, the women were surprised and gratified to see themselves leading discussions with men present.

Conclusion

The increase in women in the work force since World War II has challenged the traditional roles and status of women in work, home, and union. As with other institutions, unions and their leaders have been slow to respond to the change or even to recognize it as a continuing phenomenon. But women’s new legal status, which insists that they are neither second-class citizens nor reservists in the army of wage earners, has penetrated unions as it has other institutions of the labor market.

Unions are coming to recognize that their continued growth depends upon active recruitment among this indispensable body of workers. Successful recruitment requires integrating women into all levels of union activity and decision making. As women’s self-confidence grows and their rights become more deeply rooted, they will not be satisfied merely to be dues-paying non-participants in organizations that determine the conditions of their work lives. They will insist on holding union office, and on training to prepare them for it. They will have to begin by putting forward proposals and demands to this end, and by suggesting methods and programs that suit their needs and aspirations. The experience of other countries, rich and ready to draw upon, speaks to many of the needs and problems of the American labor movement.

NOTES

1. For a more detailed discussion of the structure and financing of labor education programs in all of these countries, see Alice H. Cook and Agnes M. Douty, Labor Education Outside the Unions (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, 1958).

This chapter relies on the work done by the authors and Professor Val R. Lorwin, University of Oregon, during 1976–77. Financed by the German Marshall Fund, the study focused on women in trade unions in Sweden, Great Britain, Austria, and Germany.

CHAPTER 23

A Summary Discussion

By LAWRENCE ROGIN

Once again today we have a women’s labor education movement. Indeed, historically, workers’ education owes a great deal to the women’s movement, and if education is important to unions, as I believe it is, unions surely are in its debt. Just as in the early twentieth century, when women were fighting for the right to vote, it is equally true today, when the goals of women activists are much broader.

It was concern for women as workers that first joined working women with activists from other groups to form the National Women’s Trade Union League, which had the first structured educational program for unionists and offered the first staff training. The same groups, with the added support of the staff of the Industrial Department of the Young Women’s Christian Association, were responsible for the development and growth of the Women’s Summer Schools of the 1920s.

While there was a parallel development in workers’ education by the radical parties and unions associated with them, with workers and those from the upper classes often functioning in both movements, the radicals tended to be satisfied with the traditional techniques for educating, even if they turned the course subject matter on its head to give it a revolutionary goal. It was the women’s organizations concerned with working women that were the educational innovators. Women labor educators were the first to teach tool subjects, as they sought to help women unionists break into the union hierarchies and win acceptance of their right to join the same unions as men. The Women’s Trade Union League developed the first program to train organizers. Women workers’ summer schools provided the testing ground for discussion method, and developed a system for consultation between students and teachers that ensured course content and teaching methods would directly meet student needs. These schools explored participatory teaching methods beyond discussion that have become a staple of university and union classes for workers. The bulk of the useful early research and writing about the problems of teaching adult workers was sponsored by these organizations.

With the growth of unions and the decline of the women’s movement during the 1930s, the organizations directed to the special needs of women workers either changed to general workers’ education, as did the American Labor Education Service, originally a coordinating center for the women’s summer schools, or the Southern School for Workers, which had been the Southern Summer School for Women Workers; or they died, like the Industrial Department of the YWCA and the Women’s Trade Union League.

This decline of the women’s movement, coupled with the Depression, made it more difficult to raise funds for exclusively working women’s activities. At the same time, the rapid growth of unions, particularly industrial unions, created a demand for education that absorbed all available resources. Back in the late 1930s and early 1940s, I was one of those who helped change the character as well as the name of what had been the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, so that it opened its doors to all unionists as the Hudson Shore Labor School. In the end, or course, unions were unwilling to finance independent workers’ education institutions, and these were unable to survive, whatever their character.

As a result, in the 1970s, when women unionists were drawn into a revived women’s movement, seeking equality of treatment and attention to their special concerns, it became necessary to find new institutions to provide the necessary training and education. The more progressive unions created special departments that dealt with women’s issues, or broadened existing departments so that they paid special attention to them. The university and college labor education centers, which have replaced the earlier independent labor schools, also began to promote special programs to meet this need. Gradually several foundations have become a source of funding, enabling some labor educators, mostly women, to concentrate in this field and focus on many of the same problems that had concerned women trade unionists and their allies more than a generation ago.

The women’s labor education movement that has emerged is concerned first of all with women’s role in unions, and then with the problems of training and educating women trade unionists for increasing that role. This book is the product of that interest and that experience. As Barbara Wertheimer points out in the Introduction, it is the first comprehensive study of methods, techniques, and programming in workers’ education in almost thirty years. Why it should be women labor educators who again take the initiative to work on these problems is an interesting question, not answered here, but certainly worthy of study.

Inevitably, this volume raises—and deals with—an important question not discussed sufficiently in labor education circles in this country. Should there be special education programs for particular groups, either because they are disadvantaged within the unions, or because they are new to the work force? In general, union hierarchies in the United States, even those that support labor education, have eschewed developing such special programs. Their reasoning is based on the assumption that programs are open to everyone; that, at most, special efforts should be made in recruiting, or special arrangements made in scheduling to meet the time, location, or transportation problems of workers not able to attend regular union functions.

The chapters of this volume indicate that these steps are not enough, particularly for groups that are striving to find places for themselves in the union structure, places that previously have been denied them. The educational atmosphere seems more free and at the same time more supportive. The mind opens to new ideas more readily and with less fear in a class made up of likes, at least in the first programs. It appears easier to build self-confidence, to discuss more openly one’s weaknesses and strengths in such a class. This is not seen as necessary as the training gets more advanced and the participants acquire more experience and self-assurance.

Certainly women unionists have chosen this approach consistently from the early days of the Women’s Trade Union League, the women workers’ summer schools, and the YWCA Industrial Department. I believe that it has served them and the labor movement well. Certainly there are many, in any group, who will make their way whatever the situation. It is for those who have potential, but who need encouragement and support, that the special programs are designed. And unions need all the leadership material they can get.

In any event, everyone interested in labor education is again in the debt of women labor educators. They have demonstrated an ability to reach a neglected audience in imaginative and creative ways. They, and several men in the field as well, have thought deeply about their work and have put their experiences together in this book, useful no matter whether it is adult or worker educators who read it. Perhaps they will inspire other groups who have special needs to experiment with special programs. It is in this fashion that labor education will expand and will attract new participants, first to classes and programs, then into further union activity and leadership.

About twenty years ago, in a review of Labor Education outside the Unions, by Alice Cook and Agnes Douty, I made the following comment:

The authors are two of a large number of women whose contribution to labor education has been welcomed by American unions over the years, in contrast to the general lack of opportunity for women in other aspects of union staff work. Has this been possible because unions have regarded education as unimportant, or so important that competence was needed wherever it could be found?

At that time the answer to the question was quite clear. Today the situation has improved somewhat, both in the attitudes of unionists toward education and in the opportunities for women within unions. But in both directions there is still a long way to go.

APPENDIX AND INDEX

APPENDIX

A Resource on Resources

By JAMES WALLIHAN

Items listed here will provide sources for information, materials, and people useful in developing programs for or about union women and workers in general. The list is by no means exhaustive, but several of the sources contain further bibliographies and other leads.

Once you know what you’re after, check first for what is available locally. Reference libraries, audiovisual centers, federal offices, union councils, university and community college labor education centers, and women’s organizations often help. In the process, begin to compile your own local resource guide.

Methods and Materials

Beeler, Duane, and Frank McCallister. Creative Use of Films in Education. Chicago: Union Representative, 1968. (Union Representative, 430 S. Michigan, Chicago, 111. 60605). 86 pp. This somewhat dated booklet omits the good new films but contains a useful discussion on how to use films to enrich programs.

Dwyer, Richard E. Labor Education in the U.S.: An Annotated Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1977. 274 pp. Almost 2,000 listings of labor education documents and publications. An indispensable resource for anyone seeking to locate what’s been done on a subject in workers’ education. Well organized, with subject index and section headed “Curriculum and Methods.”

Gerlach, Vernon, and Donald Ely. Teaching and Media. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1970.

How to Improve Workers’ Education. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labor Organization (ILO), 1976. 112 pp. An assortment of articles from the ILO journal Labour Education on how to use particular methods and materials in programs. Selections include audiovisual materials, role-playing, blackboard, flipcharts, and flannel-boards.

Joray, Paul, and Keith Knauss. “The Use of Video-Tape Recording in Labor Studies.” Labor Studies Journal 1, no. 1 (May 1976): 19–26. Although focused on collective bargaining courses, this article suggests techniques with broader applications.

Liveright, A. A. Strategies of Leadership in Conducting Adult Education Programs. New York: Harper, 1959. Still useful, this book covers the relationship between learning situations, goal types, leadership styles, and other factors in adult programs. Available in many libraries. An earlier book by the same author, Union Leadership Training, is good, but you’re lucky to locate a copy.

McLagan, Patricia A. Helping Others Learn: Designing Programs for Adults. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978. Rev. ed. 100 pp. An easy-to-read outline relating the factors in program design to one another in terms of motivation and learning theory. Practical checklist with clear applications to materials selection and use.

Pfeiffer, J. Williams, and John E. Jones. A Handbook of Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training. 4 vols. San Diego, Cal.: University Associates, 1974. Uneven in quality and purpose, but several of the experiences, games, and simulations in this series have clear applications to situations encountered by union women. One is a variant of the classic “Prisoner’s Dilemma.”

Rogin, Lawrence, and Marjorie Rachlin. Labor Education in the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Labor Education, 1968. Systematic description of labor education programs and practices in unions, universities, and other organizations.

“Teaching Labor Studies.” Special issue of Social Science Record 23, no. 1 (Fall 1975). Includes an article on “Working Women in Organized Labor” and suggestions for using resources and methods in the schools.

Workers’ Education and Its Techniques: A Workers’ Education Manual. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labor Organization (ILO), 1976. 199 pp. Covers several types of methods and materials useful in conducting programs.

Films

The Emerging Woman. 40 min., b & w, 1974. Film Images, 17 West 60th St., New York, N.Y. 10023. Reviews the panorama of women’s experience and the movement in U.S. history from social and economic perspectives. Somewhat dated by closing shots of 1973 Women’s Day march. Good for introducing issues and personalities in history.

Harlan County, U.S.A. 103 min., color, 16 mm, 1976. Cinema 5, 595 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. Chronicles the struggle of families to win a contract with the Brookside Mine, owned by Duke Power Co. The families, especially the women, took an active and militant part in the strike. The film intimately depicts some of the changes they underwent. Filmmaker: Barbara Kopple.

Maria. 45 minutes, b & w, 1979. Film Board of Canada. Rent from United Automobile Workers Film Library, 8000 E. Jefferson St., Detroit, Mich. 48214. The story of an organizing campaign in a Canadian garment factory, told through the life of Maria as she becomes interested in and a leader of the struggle. Excellent for men and women, a realistic step-by-step account of how organizing campaigns really work and what employers do to retaliate. Particularly useful for working women, who can relate to some of the sacrifices Maria’s commitment involves.

Nine to Five. 25 min., color, 1976. Produced by WNET, order from AFL-CIO Film Division. Secretaries talk about their work, conditions, and the need to organize for dignity and equality. Good for organizing, white-collar programs, programs on women’s role in society, and a variety of other workers’ education situations.

Salt of the Earth. 94 min., b & w, 1954. Audio-Brandon, 34 MacQuestern Parkway South, Mt. Vernon, N.Y. 10550. A classic and still valuable film about a strike of Chicano zinc miners in New Mexico. With participants as cast, this film focuses on the emerging strength of women during the difficult strike.

Union Maids. 48 min., b & w, 1976. Produced by Julia Reichert, James Klein, and Miles Mogulescu. New Day Films, P.O. Box 315, Franklin Lakes, N.J. 07417. Accompanying materials and discussion guide. An oral history/documentary depicting the conditions and struggles of the pre-union and CIO days of the 1930s as seen by three women participants. Mixes interviews with rarely seen footage. Excellent for use with a variety of groups and topics, from labor history and women’s history to union and community organizing. Addresses current situations and thus avoids the “just about the old days” tag.

Why Not a Woman? 26 min., color, 1976. Pennsylvania Commission for Women. Rent from the AFL-CIO Film Division. A documentary on women in blue-collar jobs, their performance, hopes, problems. Management representatives discuss their hesitancy to hire women; women discuss the results when they are hired.

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women’s Emergency Brigade. 45 min., color, 1978. Women’s Labor History Film Project. Producers: Lorraine Gray, Lyn Goldfarb, and Anne Bohlen. Order from New Day Films (see Union Maids). The contributions of women to the 1937 Flint strike (UAW) are reviewed at a reunion of several women activists forty years later. A skillful mix of documentary footage, stills, and commentary, includes past deeds and present needs. Excellent for union and women’s groups, as well as general audiences, schools, and others.

Notes: Discounts are sometimes available for special showings. Some of these films can be obtained through public libraries, universities, schools, and unions; check before ordering.

For films on occupational health and safety, see the listing at the end of Chapter 16.

Watch for the availability in 16 mm of two excellent, full-length, commercially produced films, Norma Rae and The $5.20 an Hour Dream. The first tells the story of an organizing drive in a southern textile mill (based on Crystal Jordan and the campaign of the Textile Workers Union of America in a J. P. Stevens plant); the second is a realistic, warmly human account of the struggle of a woman assembly-line worker to move into a skilled job in a section of the plant formerly all male. Both are excellently acted and produced.

Sources of Films and Catalogs

Both the AFL-CIO Education Department and the United Auto Workers maintain substantial film rental libraries and publish catalogs listing what is available, ordering information, and tips on effective use of films. They have titles on many phases of unionism, from steward training to labor history, as well as some on more general subjects. To obtain a catalog, write:

Film Division

AFL-CIO Department of Education

815 Sixteenth Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20006

Film Library

UAW Education Department

8000 East Jefferson Avenue

Detroit, Mich. 48214

Other film distributors are too numerous to list. Once you know what film you are after, check for local availability or for the address of the national distributor. Reference departments of A-V centers in public and school libraries can often help. Some international union offices have limited numbers of films primarily for affiliates. University industrial and labor relations centers are another good source.

Publications on Films and Other Audiovisuals

Books and industry publications are found in most libraries. Look particularly for a newspaper called Jump Cut, which often reviews films useful in programs for union women and in workers’ education in general.

Perhaps the best sources for current information on selecting and obtaining audiovisual and other materials for programs for union women are two features in Labor Studies Journal. The “Newsletter of the UCLEA Committee on Programs for Union Women” and the “A-V Reference Shelf are carried regularly.

American Labor Films

Special edition of Film Library Quarterly 12, nos. 2 / 3 (1979). Published by the Film Library Information Council, Box 348, Radio City Station, New York, N.Y. 10019.

Film News

250 W. 57th St.

New York, N.Y. 10019

(bi-monthly)

Media and Methods

Media and Methods Institute

134 N. 13th Street

Philadelphia, Pa. 19107

(9 issues per year)

Selected Publications: Women and the Labor Movement

Booth, Heather. Direct Action Organizing: A Handbook for Women. Chicago: Midwest Academy, 1974. Analysis, strategy, tactics, and organization-building for direct-action organizing, and special problems faced by women organizers.

Hagglund, George. Sex Discrimination: Job Evaluation and Wage Protection Which May Disadvantage Women. A brief but meaty brochure published in 1975, available from the School for Workers, University of Wisconsin Extension.

“The Political Economy of Women.” Special issue of The Review of Radical Political Economics 4, no. 3 (July 1972). Several articles on women and work, teaching outlines, and bibliographies.

Ross, Susan. The Rights of Women. New York: Avon Books, 1973. American Civil Liberties Union question-and-answer format primer on legal rights.

Samuels, Catherine. The Forgotten Five Million: Women in Public Employment. New York: Women’s Action Alliance (370 Lexington Ave., Room 601, New York, N.Y. 10017), 1975. 318 pp. A goldmine resource for anyone involved in programs for union women, this book is useful for profit-sector workers as well as public employees. Thorough and practical treatment of how to go about identifying, documenting, and proving many types of sex discrimination. Ends with a lengthy treatment of organizing strategies and tools, including an excellent resource section.

Soltow, Martha Jane, and Mary K. Werry. American Women and the Labor Movement, 1825–1974: An Annotated Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976. 247 pp. This well-organized and comprehensive interpretative guide is just what the title says.

Stone, Katherine. Handbook for OCAW Women. Denver, Colo.: Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, 1973. An excellent, readable survey of legislation affecting women, special problems faced by women in and about the work place, and how to go about taking advantage of existing legal rights and organizing for change.

Tepperman, Jean. Not Servants, Not Machines: Office Workers Speak Out. Boston: Beacon Press, 1976. Leaders of office worker groups address the frustrations of the work, the difficulties of organizing.

Wertheimer, Barbara M. We Were There: The Story of Working Women in America. New York: Pantheon, 1977. 480 pp. The contributions of working women to labor history from 1609 to World War I. Focuses on some of the critical women’s strikes as told through the stories of numerous hitherto unknown women leaders. An extensive bibliography makes this a valuable resource for the teacher, as well as a useful, readable classroom text.

Wertheimer, Barbara M., and Anne H. Nelson. Trade Union Women: A Study of Their Participation in New York City Locals. New York: Praeger, 1975. 181 pp. Based on survey and interview data, this study has far more uses than most scholarly research. The categories of barriers discussed are good ones to address the problems of women’s union involvement, suggesting directions for program applications. Useful resource for the teacher, also suited for adoption in credit courses on women and union women.

“What About Sex Discrimination?” AFSCME Leadership Letter no. 8 (March 1974). A slightly dated but excellent 8-page outline of legal elements of concern to working women.

Periodicals

Labor Studies Journal. C/o Transaction Consortium, Rutgers University, Box L, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. The best source of information on programs, techniques, and materials in workers’ education in general; publishes occasional articles and reviews and a newsletter on programs and materials for union women. Published by the University and College Labor Education Association.

Lifelong Learning: The Adult Years. Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., 810 18th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. Sometimes runs articles on the use of particular techniques and materials.

Such well-known magazines as Ms. and Mother Jones are good sources of current information, and are available in libraries and on news stands in most areas.

Union periodicals like American Federationist can be obtained by writing the AFL-CIO or the individual union.

A number of magazines and journals have run special issues on working and union women. The AFSCME Leadership Letter (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) of March 1974 was titled “What About Sex Discrimination?” It needs updating. See special issues of Monthly Labor Review and the Civil Rights Digest.

Write to the women’s departments of such unions as the International Union of Electrical Workers, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Communications Workers of America (all in Washington, D.C), and the United Automobile Workers (Detroit). See also “Women Workers’ Organizations,” below.

U. S. Government Publications

There are several ways to obtain government materials, often without cost. If you need information quickly, visit a library, especially if your area has a “Primary Documents Depository.” Offices of appropriate agencies can also be tapped. Senators and U.S. Representatives will usually accommodate requests. The time-consuming and expensive method is to get materials through the Government Printing Office (GPO). Most of the publications listed here are from the Department of Labor. Requests can be addressed to the appropriate bureau or other unit, at the Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20212.

Such government periodicals as Monthly Labor Review and Civil Rights Digest are mentioned under “Periodicals.” When contacting the Women’s Bureau, ask to be put on the mailing list for “Women and Work” and other regular and intermittent mailings. Also ask for “Publications of the Women’s Bureau.” Both are free. You might want to request its “Guide to Sources of Data on Women and Women Workers.”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission publishes guidelines on various types of discrimination, plus other explanatory literature. Somewhat out of date is “Laws and Rules You Should Know.”

Electing Union Officers. Labor Management Services Administration (DOL). A useful guide to union election requirements under the law. Women candidates, like men, need the information.

1975 Handbook on Women Workers. Bulletin 297, Women’s Bureau, ESA. Published for International Women’s Year, this 435-page guide contains discussion and data on almost all facets of women’s employment and status, as well as a long section on government institutions and mechanisms to advance the status of women.

State Labor Laws in Transition: From Protection to Equal Status for Women. Women’s Bureau, Pamphlet 15, 1976. A good survey of state laws. Changes result in rapid outdating of any such survey.

U.S. Working Women: A Chartbook. Bulletin 1880, Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), 1975. Colored and shaded bar-graph depictions of data on labor force participation rates, income and education, job tenure, and so forth.

Where to Find BLS Statistics on Women. Report 530, BLS, 1978. A handy, if not exhaustive, guide to a variety of sources on population, business, labor force, earnings and hours, education, and union membership. Free.

Women Workers: A Bibliography. Regional Report 77-8, DOL, Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Central Region, 230 S. Dearborn, Chicago, 111. 60604.

A Working Woman’s Guide to Her Job Rights. Leaflet 55, Women’s Bureau, Employment Standards Administration. 34 pp. A concise guide to legal rights in hiring, on the job, on leave from the job, and after the job (retirement), with sources of assistance listed. A good handout, with minor updating.

Women Workers’ Organizations

These organizations offer useful publications and serve as good sources of information in many areas, including people resources—speakers and panelists. When inquiring, ask for materials lists and for any contacts in your area.

Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), 15 Union Square West, New York, N.Y. 10003. Open to labor union and association members and retirees. Has chapters in some areas that are in touch with local resources.

National Association of Office Workers, 1228 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, O. Headquarters for the growing network of working women’s groups (office and clerical workers) now forming in more than twenty cities around the country. Major focus is on equal employment opportunity and affirmative action and group support activities. Nine to Five, Women Office Workers, and the other white-collar groups mentioned above belong to this network. Excellent resource, good materials. Address information requests to Karen Nussbaum.

9 to 5 Organization for Women Office Workers, 140 Clarendon St., Boston, Mass. 02116. One of the better-known organizations, 9 to 5 publishes a newsletter and issues reports documenting discrimination against target employers of clericals.

Union W.A.G.E. (Women’s Alliance to Gain Equality), P.O. Box 462, Berkeley, Cal. 94701. Has available several excellent and reasonably priced publications, including Organize! A Working Women’s Handbook, 2L clearly written guide on everything from organizing and bargaining on women’s issues to running a meeting and getting out a newsletter. Also Working Women and Their Organizations: 150 Years of Struggle; Labor Heroines: Ten Women Who Led the Struggle, and a bi-monthly newspaper that is an excellent resource for keeping up on new materials.

Wider Opportunities for Women, 1649 K St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. Is in touch with a network of organizations focused on moving women into blue-collar skilled jobs. Good source of information.

Women Employed (WE), 37 South Wabash, Chicago, 111. 60603. An action-oriented organization focused on Chicago, this group puts out a newsletter and reports on target industries and employers.

Women Office Workers, 600 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. A New York City-based organization, WOW researches and publishes analyses of clerical conditions, and publishes a newsletter and pamphlets.

Women Organized for Employment (WOE), 593 Market St. Room 223, San Francisco, Cal. 94105. A coalition of groups that fights sex discrimination in hiring and on the job. Published the Women’s Job Rights Handbook, a guide to laws on sex discrimination.

Women’s Action Alliance, 370 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017, is a major clearinghouse for resources and information. Publications include The Forgotten Five Million and A Practical Guide to the Women’s Movement, a directory of more than 200 national women’s organizations.

Other Women’s Organizations

National Organization for Women (NOW)

5 South Wabash, Suite 1615

Chicago, 111. 60603

Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL)

799 National Press Building

Washington, D.C. 20004

NOW headquarters and local NOW chapters are often excellent resources for a variety of purposes. WEAL distributes inexpensive material kits on special topics and areas such as national legislation of interest to women, and higher education and sports. It also publishes a National Newsletter and a Washington Report.

Unions

Both the AFL-CIO and UAW Education departments distribute lists of teaching materials, manuals, article reprints, handouts, and other resources useful in labor education programs. The AFL-CIO, for instance, makes available, in quantity and free, copies of a Federationist reprint titled “Women Workers: Profile of a Growing Force.” (See “Films” for addresses.)

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has a Women’s Rights Committee that has published a number of materials. While most are focused on teachers’ problems, some can be adapted for general use. The OCAW Handbook for Women Workers is available from the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, 1636 Champa Street, Denver, Colorado 80201. A number of international unions have women’s departments that publish excellent material, for example, the International Union of Electrical Workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the Communications Workers of America. For information on these and other such departments, and addresses, write Cynthia McCaughan, Assistant Director, Department of Civil Rights, AFL-CIO, 815 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006. Check with individual unions to determine whether they have other materials available. A call to your local or state AFL-CIO Central Labor Body, or a visit to the reference department of the library, should yield the addresses.

University and College Labor Education Programs and Other Organizations

Institute for Education and Research on Women and Work

New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Cornell University

3 East 43rd Street

New York, N.Y. 10017

The best source of teaching materials for union women, this program publishes a variety of teaching outlines and materials on subjects from public speaking, grievance handling, women and the law, and bargaining on women’s issues, to letter writing and the problems of working women. Also publishes conference reports, special teaching modules, reprints, and other materials. Best bet is to write for a publications list. Also has a library and research center on working women, open to the public.

Other university labor education programs are beginning to collect materials for and about union women and have people who can serve as resources. For a directory of the University and College Labor Education Association, write UCLEA, c/o Cornell University, 3 East 43 St., New York, N.Y. 10017. UCLEA publishes Labor Studies Journal (see “Periodicals”).

Some community colleges have labor education programs that may be helpful in suggesting materials for workers’ education in general, occasionally on programs for union women. Contact:

Service Center for Community College-Labor Union Cooperation

AACJC

One Dupont Circle N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036

Workers’ Education Local 189

Anne C. Green, President

116 Oakdale Avenue

Akron, O. 44302

An organization active in workers’ education, Local 189 provides information and resources. It publishes a membership directory, including a print and A-V resources section, and a newsletter. Intermittently publishes Labor Education Viewpoints, which carries discussions of methods and materials.

NOTE

For their help in suggesting various resources, the author thanks Evelyn Farber of the Women’s Bureau, Department of Labor; Jacqueline Kienzle, AFL-CIO Education Department; Suzanne Maffei, formerly of the Division of Labor Studies, Indiana University; and Marjorie Rachlin, George Meany Center for Labor Studies.

Index

Abramovitz, Mimi, 241–51

Action window, 150–51

Addams, Jane, 160, 164, 168

Adelman, William, 159–70

AFA. See Association of Flight Attendants

Affiliated Schools for Workers, 24–25

Affirmative action, education for, 204–16

AFL-CIO: Committee on Political Education, Women’s Activities Department, 172; Education Department, 88, 90

AFSCME. See American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), 62–63; Steward and Stewardess Division, 63

ALPA. See Air Line Pilots Association

Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, 16, 17

Amalgamated Engineering Workers, 26–63

Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union, 161–62

American Arbitration Association, 125

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), 80–81

American Labor Education Service, 266

American Railway Union (ARU), 163

ARU. See American Railway Union

Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), 63–64; Local Councils, 66; special problems of, 69–70; training programs of, 65–70

Audience reversal, 154

Austria, programs in, 257–61, 262, 263

Bargaining. See Collective bargaining

Berresford, Susan Vail, 233–40

Bertinuson, Janet, 194–203

Bowen, Mrs. Joseph T., 164

Brainstorming, 148–49

Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, 15, 19–20, 24–25, 26, 83, 266

Busman, Gloria, 120–26

California Federation of Labor, 195, 197

Camps for unemployed women, 26–27

Carwardine, Rev. William H., 163, 164

Case studies, 120–26

CCC. See Civilian Conservation Corps

Child care, 188, 261–62

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 26

Civil Rights Act of 1964, 183, 206

Civil Service Employees Association, 81

Class participation techniques, 153–54

CLUW. See Coalition of Labor Union Women

Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), 46, 84, 90, 195

Collective bargaining, 38–39, 143–47

College-credit programs, 71–81

Columbia University, oral history project at, 127–28

Cook, Alice H., 255–64

COPE, 172

Cornell University. See New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Course outlines, 131–33, 179–81

Credit programs, of colleges, 71–81

Curtis, Jennie, 163–64

Davis, Walter G., xv–xvi

Debs, Eugene Victor, 163, 164

Depression-era schools and camps, 26–27

Discussion method, 111–19

Elections, courses on, 174–75

Empire State College Labor Division, 72

Empty chair exercise, 147–48

Equal Pay Act, 206

Equal pay issues, 190

Equal Rights amendment (ERA), workshop on, 228–30

European programs, 255–64

Evaluation forms, samples of, 105–7

Evaluation: of discussion sessions, 118; formal, 100–1; formative, 101; informal, 100; need for, 98–100; of residential schools, 93–94; of short courses, 49–50; summative, 101; techniques for, 103–4; of Trade Union Women’s Studies, 78; for working adults, 98–107

Evaluators, 104

Exercises, 138–55; techniques for, 139–40

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), 26

Feminism, and flight attendant leadership programs, 67–68

FERA. See Federal Emergency Relief Administration

Field trips, 159–70

Financing, of Trade Union Women’s Studies, 78

Flight attendants, programs for, 62–70

Follow-up, for political action courses, 178–79

Force field analysis, 151

Ford Foundation, case study of grants for women’s programs, 236–38

Foundations, 233–40

Friedmann, Ernestine, 130

Funding: of field trips, 160–61; by foundations, 233–40; tuition refund plans, 241–51

Games, 138–55

George Meany Center for Labor Studies, 63, 65, 84

Germany, programs in, 256, 261–63

Goldfarb, Lyn, 15–31

Government programs for unemployed women, 26–27

Grants, directories to, 240

Graphic materials, 223–24

Gray, LoisS., xvii–xix

Great Britain, programs in, 257, 258, 259, 260, 262

Grievance procedures: courses in, 182–93; programs on, for flight attendants, 6566; settling women’s issues through, 185

Haymarket Martyrs, 165–66

Haymarket Revisited, 165–66

Herstein, Lillian, 160

Historic labor sites, field trips to, 162–67

Historic Pullman Foundation, 164

Hoffman, Alice M., 127–37

Hricko, Andrea M., 194–203

Hudson Shore Labor School, 26, 266

Hull House, 159, 164, 167, 168

Identification ballot, 149–50

ILHS. See Illinois Labor History Society

ILIR, 54

Illinois Labor History Society (ILHS), 160, 162–63, 164, 175, 167, 168

In-service programs for local unions, 43–45

Institute for Education and Research on Woman and Work. See New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations (ILIR), 54

Instructors: role of, in case studies, 125–26; for short courses, 48–49; for Trade Union Women’s Studies, 77

Integration of women’s programs, European experience, 263

International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 62

International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, 16

International Union of Electrical Workers, 205–11

Johnson, Gloria T., 204–16

Jones, Mother, 165

Komer, Odessa, 204–16

Kornbluh, Hy, 54–61

Kornbluh, Joyce L., 15–31, 54–61

Labor Occupational Health Program (University of California, Berkeley), 197

Leadership training, 62–69

Legislative lobbying, courses on, 175–76

Local unions, short courses for, 43–45

Lowell Female Labor Reform Association, 16

Lowell Offering, 16

McDowell, Mary, 161–63

McDowell Settlement House, 161

Materials: choice and use of, 217–25; for courses for flight attendant leadership, 69; for short courses, 47–48

Mobley, Donna, 171–81

National Union of Public Employees (NUPE), 257, 261

National Women’s Conference, 206–7

National Women’s Trade Union League, 17–18, 265

National Youth Administration (NYA), 26

Negotiating teams, role playing for, 145–46

Nelson, Anne H., 138–55

Nevins, Alan, 127–28

New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, 47, 74, 85, 236–42

Northeastern Summer School for Union Women, 101, 102

NUPE. See National Union of Public Employees

NYA. See National Youth Administration

Occupational health and safety, 194–203

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 183

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 195–200

One-day conferences, 54—61

On the Job in Illinois: Then and Now, 167

Oral history courses, 127–37

OSHA. See Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Packingtown, U.S.A., 161–63

Panel discussions, 154

Parsons, Albert, 167

Parsons, Lucy, 167

Pension Reform Act of 1974, 183

Planning: for residential schools, 85–94; of Saturday workshops, 57–58

Political action: course on, 173–76; training for, 171–81

Political campaigns, courses on, 174–75

Political parties, courses on, 174–75

Program on Woman and Work (University of Michigan), 54–55

Programs, participation of women in, 32–33, 37

Progressive Miners, Women’s Brigade of, 165

Promotion of programs, 35–38, 58–59

Pullman, George, 163, 164, 167

Pullman Company, walking tour of, 163–64

Pullman Strike of 1894, 161, 163

Rachlin, Marjorie B., 62–69, 111–19

Recruiting, 34–35, 39–41, 58–59, 76–77

Registration form, for residential schools, 96–97

Residential programs, 20–21, 83–97

Resources, 273–80

Rogin, Lawrence, 265–68

Role playing, for bargaining sessions, 141–47

Rosen, Stanley, 98–107

Rozen, Frieda Shoenberg, 32–41

Rumor Clinic, 152–53

Safety. See Occupational health and safety

Samper, Maria-Luz D., 98–107

Saturday workshops, 57–60

Schrier, Katherine, 71–81

Selection of program materials, 219–21

Self-awareness group research, 39

Semel, Rochelle, 42–53

Sex composition, effect of, on programs, 38–39

Short courses, 42–53; case study of, 50–51; manuals and syllabi for, 51–53

Small, Linda, 50–51

Smith, Hilda, 19, 21, 25, 26, 29

Southern School for Workers, 268

Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry, 23–24, 25, 266

Stewards (union), training courses for, 182–93

Summer residential programs, 20–21

Summer School for Office Workers, 24, 25–26

Summer schools, evaluation of, 101–3

Sweden, programs in, 256, 258, 259, 261–63

TASS, 262–63

Teaching methods: for flight attendant leadership programs, 67; for political action programs, 176–78; for Saturday workshops, 59–60

Television, 168

Till-Retz, Roberta, 255–64

Torres, Ida, 182–93

Trade Union Women’s Studies, 47, 74–80, 80–81, 143, 149, 240

Trade Union Women’s Summer School, 195

Training School for Active Workers in the Labor Movement, 17, 18

Transport Workers Union (TWU), 62

Tuition refund plans, 241–51; deterrents to use of, 242–47; dilemmas affecting, 247–48; recommendations for, 249–50

TWU, 62

UAW. See United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America

UCLEA, 84, 86, 94

Unemployed women, programs for, 26–27

Union functions, training in, 27–30

United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW): described, 211–15; educational programs of, 214–15; female membership of, 204; role of women in, 212–13; Women’s Department, 213

United Cloth Cap and Hat Makers’ Union, 17

Universities: credit programs of, for working women, 71–81; extension programs of, 215–16; short courses initiated by, 45–47

University and College Labor Education Association (UCLEA), 84, 86, 94

Use of program materials, 222–23

VIP, 172

Volunteers in Politics (VIP), 172

WAD, 172

Wallihan, James, 217–25, 271–80

Wertheimer, Barbara M., 3–11, 83–97

Wisconsin Summer School for Women Workers in Industry, 21–22, 24

Women and the Labor Movement, 167

Women-only courses in Europe, 262–63

Women’s caucus role play, 146–47

Women’s issues, handling of, in programs, 226–31

Women’s programs, 265–67; of IUE, 205–11; of UAW, 212–15

Women stewards (union), need for courses for, 183–85

Women’s Trade Union League, 265, 266, 267

Wood, Mary Alice, 164

Worksheets, 144

Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), 18–19, 265, 267

YWCA. See Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)