Solidarity, The Original Way to ‘Lean In’: How Women Workers are Owning their Power for Paid Sick and Family Leave
Session Type(s): Panel
Starts: Thursday, Jul. 17 10:30 AM (Eastern)
Ends: Thursday, Jul. 17 11:45 AM (Eastern)
For the first time in history, half of women are in the labor force and three quarters of moms are working. Many of them are now the primary or co-breadwinner for their families. Women are organizing their workplaces to create a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities. What lessons can we learn from their successes and how can we move this agenda forward? Join us for this discussion of the ways traditionally “leaned on” women workers are owning their power, raising their voices, and organizing for better workplaces through paid sick and family leave, protecting pregnant workers, pushing forward fair pay policies, and more.
Moderator
Liz Shuler
Elizabeth Shuler is the secretary-treasurer/chief financial officer of the AFL-CIO, one of three top-level officers for the federation and the first-ever woman elected to the position. Coming from Portland, Oregon, Ms. Shuler has been at the forefront of such progressive labor initiatives as green jobs programs and the fight for workers’ rights, starting as a political activist and an organizer at the local union level. Ms. Shuler worked her way up through the ranks of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), from Local Union 125 to the executive leadership at the international headquarters. Ms. Shuler chairs the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Finance, oversees the federation’s internal operations and leads the federation’s young worker and women’s initiatives and its repositioning efforts. Secretary-Treasurer Shuler represents the AFL-CIO on various boards and committees, such as the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and the Women’s Committee of the International Trade Union Confederation.
Other sessions: Women in the Workplace Caucus
Panelists
Girshriela Green
Girshriela Green is an online to field organizer with the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OurWalmart) and a founder of “Respect the Bump,” a network of pregnant moms and people who have had issues with pregnancy who work at Walmart who are demanding better treatment. A single parent and a mother of 7, Girshriela is organizing to create a work environment at Walmart where pregnant workers can receive basic accommodations like more restroom breaks or water at the register and don’t have to be afraid to tell their employer when they’re expecting. Girshriela was one of the first 100 Walmart workers around the U.S. to stand up and organize as part of the OURWalmart effort. She is a leader who builds other leaders, starting with her old store in Los Angeles and also including organizing in Texas and Florida and Minneapolis. She is a founder of Walmart moms and she supported leaders who founded a network of LGBT Walmart employees.
Other sessions: Network Depth: How the Love Factor is Creating Change
Saru Jayaraman
Saru Jayaraman is an academic at UC Berkeley and the President of One Fair Wage, a national organization working to raise wages for service workers nationwide. She was named one of CNN’s “Top10 Visionary Women”, a White House Champion of Change, a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award winner, and the San Francisco Chronicle ‘Visionary of the Year’. Saru authored Behind the Kitchen Door (Cornell University Press), and Forked: A New Standard for American Dining (Oxford University Press), and has appeared on MSNBC, HBO, PBS, CBS, and CNN.
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
Executive Director/CEO and Co-Founder of MomsRising, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner has been involved in grassroots engagement and policy analysis for more than two decades. Started in May 2006, MomsRising is an on-the-ground and online organization with more than 1 million members working together to increase family economic security, to end discrimination against women and mothers, and to build a nation where both businesses and families can thrive.
Rowe-Finkbeiner is also a frequent public speaker, radio host, and an award-winning author of books, including The F-Word: Feminism in Jeopardy and The Motherhood Manifesto, which she co-authored with MomsRising co-founder Joan Blades. She has also been published in many outlets, including: Politico, CNN, USA Today, Washington Post, and Huffington Post.
Rowe-Finkbeiner has received numerous accolades for her work, including the Black Civic Participation 2014 Spirit of Democracy Community Empowerment & Social Innovation Leadership Award; 21 Leaders for the 21st Century Award; National Priorities Project Democracy Champion Award; and the Center for Women & Democracy Healthcare Heroine Award.
Liz Shuler
Elizabeth Shuler is the secretary-treasurer/chief financial officer of the AFL-CIO, one of three top-level officers for the federation and the first-ever woman elected to the position. Coming from Portland, Oregon, Ms. Shuler has been at the forefront of such progressive labor initiatives as green jobs programs and the fight for workers’ rights, starting as a political activist and an organizer at the local union level. Ms. Shuler worked her way up through the ranks of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), from Local Union 125 to the executive leadership at the international headquarters. Ms. Shuler chairs the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Finance, oversees the federation’s internal operations and leads the federation’s young worker and women’s initiatives and its repositioning efforts. Secretary-Treasurer Shuler represents the AFL-CIO on various boards and committees, such as the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and the Women’s Committee of the International Trade Union Confederation.
Other sessions: Women in the Workplace Caucus