The Civil and Human Rights Department helps to prepare union members for moments requiring courage—times when loud, discordant voices attempt to diminish the humanity of those who are different.
Those moments will continue to challenge the union and each one of us to stand up and show who we are.
The journey forward for everyone’s dignity and respect will demand all of us—and all that is in us—as we build workplaces and communities where everyone’s humanity is recognized.
Dignity, respect and tolerance are core union values, and the Civil and Human Rights Department strives to weave these values through the fabric of the USW and union-represented employers.
Efforts like these make the USW and other unions powerful agents of change. Research shows that unions help to narrow racial and gender pay gaps in the workplace, decrease economic inequality, and deliver the health benefits needed to build healthier communities.
The journey forward for everyone’s dignity and respect will demand all of us—and all that is in us.
Fostering Progress Across the Union
Meeting moments calls for collaboration.
We work with other USW departments and employers not only to foster education on civil and human rights matters but to present the intersections of those issues as labor and workplace priorities.
From presenting bullying and harassment as a workplace health and safety risk to explaining how discrimination results in disparate health care outcomes, the department embeds civil and human rights objectives in the union’s advocacy, bargaining, contract enforcement, education, organizing and other work.
This includes collaborating with employers to conduct facility-wide trainings of union and non-union workers. Among many other examples, the department last year presented extensive civil rights training for three shifts of union workers and management employees at TIMET in Toronto, Ohio.
The department continues to partner with AFL-CIO constituency groups, such as the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Pride at Work, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Together, we empower union members to demand and fight for justice in the workplace and in our communities.
The department steps up to help members who face indignities on the job and to assist with bargaining non-discrimination clauses and other language safeguarding civil and human rights.
We provide virtual training sessions for district civil and human rights coordinators. We assist districts and locals with strategies for addressing problems on the shop floor. And we conduct workshops at district and International conferences and provide training for civil and human rights committees across the union.
Our activists help to get out the vote for pro-worker candidates while also volunteering for backpack drives and other service projects that build equity in our communities.
Igniting a Spark
The union held its 19th Civil and Human Rights Conference in June 2024, with the theme “I’ve Got the Movement in Me!”
International Vice President (Human Affairs) Kevin Mapp called on the hundreds of participants “to recommit to the fight for collective liberation and celebrate the victories we’ve achieved together.”
Mapp noted the need for union members to be “all in on women’s rights, on LGBTQ+ rights, on immigrants’ rights, on voting rights, as the rich and powerful look to divide and dominate us.”
Vice President at Large Roxanne Brown emphasized the importance of sustaining recent victories, such as the expansion of the child tax credit, which helped to cut child poverty during the Biden administration.
Delving into topics beyond the usual Title VII discrimination and harassment discussions, delegates explored opportunities in organizing and bargaining and the crisis around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Other discussions included the challenges facing young people of color in the union and attacks on critical race theory.
The conference informed and inspired our members while providing the department with an opportunity to highlight different perspectives and center voices that are often marginalized.
Just as important, it enabled us to assess the variety of issues that need to be part of the civil and human rights agenda going forward.
Seizing Opportunities
This work will become ever more important.
Growing numbers of workers want to join unions in the wake of the pandemic, affording us greater opportunities to deliver livable wages and good benefits along with the equitable opportunities and fair treatment needed for a just society.
The Civil and Human Rights Department looks forward to helping the union meet all of the tough moments that will surely come.