BY KATY LEROUGETEL
TORONTO - Some 238 delegates and guests, most of whom are
members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), took
part in the Women of Steel conference here March 7-10. This
national gathering, sponsored by the USWA in Canada, was its
second women's conference in recent years.
Women came from across Canada, with a large proportion from Ontario. Roughly a third were attending their first conference. A handful came from Quebec, of whom several were International Association of Machinists (IAM) members. The IAM and USWA, which exist in the United States and Canada, and United Auto Workers in the United States are slated to merge in the coming years.
A handful of delegates from the United States were warmly welcomed.
The conference featured plenary panels and workshop discussions on two themes: women participating in organizing drives to expand union membership, and health and safety issues.
The experiences and contributions of delegates who work in industry marked the gathering. The only woman underground coal miner in Canada; one of the only fourteen women working among the 5,000 USWA members at Stelco steelworks in Hamilton, Ontario; and a millwright from a Saskatchewan uranium mine who is a woman all spoke from the floor during plenary sessions.
Numerous others were fork lift drivers, set-up people, or machine operators in factories with few women. During workshop sessions on health problems at work, everyone came up with the same wrist, back, elbow, and knee pains from repetitive motion or heavy lifting. The discussion painted a picture of hundreds of women experiencing skirmishes and different situations - usually confidently, certainly individually. Most saw the union as a defender of women's rights and were very ready to turn to male co-workers for solidarity.
In the final plenary discussion, this reporter pointed to how 200 women had won jobs at Stelco as the result of a USWA- led campaign in the early 1980s, and said the labor movement needs to fight for affirmative action measures to win more jobs like those back, or win them for the first time. When women do win those jobs, we gain confidence, respect - and better pay. Clearly numerous conference participants were finding ways to do this. Applause and wide smiles greeted this idea, though these issues were not part of the conference agenda.
Partly because the retail sector of the union did not send any delegates, the experiences and contributions of those who work in industrial settings colored the gathering.
Like many other unions, the industrial character of the USWA has been diluted in recent years through organizing drives and mergers with unions in unrelated sectors.
During the gathering, the University of Toronto staff were granted their USWA charter. This group of more than 2,000 won union recognition in December 1998, forming one of the largest Steelworkers locals in the province. Betty Neufeld from USWA Local 2952 in British Columbia spoke from the floor, explaining how she had been drawn into the unionizing drive at the bingo hall where she works. The boss found out and started complaining about her hair, which he declared was too long and loose. So for the duration of her next shift, she wore it in seven pony tails all over her head. A week later Neufeld was fired, but that didn't stop her. She drove people to work, talked to co-workers alone, and got her friend's husband to park his car outside the bingo hall and had people getting in one side, signing their union card and slipping out the other side. The union was won and she is back at work.
More than 14,000 striking school support staff were picketing Toronto-area schools during the conference. Several announcements were made at different sessions encouraging delegates to join the picket lines early in the morning. Half a dozen did so at various points. One of these delegates, Rosa Chu from USWA Local 5338, said it was her first time walking a picket line. Others asked for information on the fight.
There were 21 members of USWA Local 5338 present, including this reporter, who met over lunch to exchange names and phone numbers, and begin discussing our work situations. A large majority of the members of this amalgamated local work in the metal and wood manufacturing plants of Ontario Store Fixtures in Toronto.
Jaswinder Kang, a member of Local 5338 who works at Circlet Foods with many women from the Punjab, explained that union seniority gives women the right to do some heavier, better-paid jobs. The union has arranged for the company to order flour in smaller bags to make them lighter for lifting. Kang and others are now trying to convince more women that they can take these positions.
Pearl Henry and three other women reported back to Local 5338 meeting on the conference and have been assured of support for their efforts to pull a women's committee in the local together.
Katy LeRougetel is a member of USWA Local 5338.