Local 73 Staff Attend Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership School

In May, Local 73 staff participated in the Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership School.

The program, established in 1988 in honor of Teamster Local 743 organizer Regina V. Polk, is an opportunity for rank-and-file union members and union leaders to gain new organizing skills from instructors and one another. A cohort of nearly 30 women gathers for a four-day event covering the nuts and bolts of contract enforcement while building their leadership skills. The cohort featured women labor leaders from different unions and industries, such as plumbers, teachers, and healthcare workers.

Participants learned about the role that women played in leading strikes and other labor actions throughout American history. The program also created opportunities for cohort members to learn about the ways women are continuing the fight today.

Anna Wood, SEIU Local 73 Field Organizer, was one of the staff members who were part of this year’s cohort. “We absolutely need spaces for women in unions to learn from each other,” said Wood. “There are still ideas out there that the labor movement is led and dominated by men, when in fact unions are growing the most in the service sector, which is made up of majority women in professions like education and healthcare. We need conferences like this so that women labor leaders have a space to reflect and learn from other women in the movement in order to have the energy and inspiration to keep fighting.”