UAW Women

Growing solidarity

by Jennifer John and Monica Link

As UAW Region 9 Director Geri Ochocinska says, “It’s a great honor to represent the union in any capacity, and local union women should get involved in collective bargaining. It’s important that we have a voice.”

The first woman to be elected a regional director, in 1998, “Geri O” joined the UAW in 1965. She helped organize co-workers at Rich Ice Cream Co. in Buffalo, N.Y., as a technical, office and professional (TOP) unit of UAW Amalgamated Local 55.

The UAW is full of “firsts” for women, including:

• The first union to hold a national women’s conference, Dec. 8, 1944.

• Olga Madar, the first woman on the UAW International Executive Board, as a member-at-large in 1966. She was elected vice president in 1970.

• Odessa Komer, elected UAW vice president in 1974 and re-elected five consecutive times.

• Elizabeth Bunn, elected secretary-treasurer in 2002, the UAW’s highest-ranking woman ever.

But it’s not just about firsts. There are currently 169,000 active women workers in the UAW, about 25 percent of our union’s total work force. Of the 959 active local unions, 130 have female presidents.

It’s just the substance of who we are.

March is Women’s History Month. We salute the women who have helped build our union and will continue to grow our solidarity in the future.