First UNI World Women’s Committee President
Former telephone operator Barbara Easterling has been elected President of
UNI World Women.
"Anything is possible through our collective commitment and
solidarity," was her message to the 430 women delegates in her
acceptance speech.
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Woman's Officer Monique Marti adjusts the microphone for the newly
elected President of UNI Women, Barbara Easterling
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The Secretary-Treasurer of the Communication Workers of America and the
first woman Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO (the US trade union centre)
is now the first President of the UNI World Women’s Committee.
She devoted most of her acceptance speech to her trade union heritage -
both from her father, born in Poland not so far from the Estrel conference
centre in Berlin, and from her mother.
Both were active in trade union struggles in the American coal and rubber
industries.
Once, said Barbara, "the company shut off our electricity because she
supported the union ... and she went to the sheriff’s office to get it
turned back on".
Her father was beaten up by armed guards for breaking a curfew to get
medicine for one of her brothers.
"I’ve got labour in my blood and I’ve tried my best to emulate my
parents’ extraordinary courage and dedication," she told delegates.
"So many of the things that we take for granted today - vacations,
regular work weeks, holidays - all came about because of this burning
desire to forge a better life.
"In my mind this quest to make life better is what the labour
movement is all about - and what makes our movement the greatest force for
social and workplace change in the history of the world."
