Steelworkers Expand International Executive Board; First Woman Newest Member

Las Vegas – In a constitutional convention filled with historic firsts, the United Steelworkers union today expanded its International Executive Board (IEB) to include its first woman member.

Carol Landry, a union activist and seasoned contract negotiator who joined the USW in 1987 at Canada’s largest copper mine, was appointed International Vice President by unanimous vote of the 27-member IEB during the USW’s 2008 Constitutional Convention. She was sworn in today.

“While she will become the first woman International USW officer, Carol is becoming a vice president not because of gender, but because of her passion, skills and dedication to economic and social justice for working people everywhere,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

Her appointment came at convention where 3,500 delegates took steps to both create a global union and strengthen the USW’s Strike and Defense Fund to better withstand employer assaults. Together, the USW and London-based Unite the Union will represent 3.2 million workers and retirees in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Landry is a totally committed union activist who has held virtually every position in Local 7619 at Highland Valley Copper – shop steward, treasurer, vice president and president. She is battle tested in tough strikes and bargaining situations.

I’m honored, privileged and humbled by the support you are showing me,” said Landry

In 1998, when she was the only woman on a 13-member bargaining committee, Landry helped lead a 107-day strike that did away with inferior wages and opportunities for women.

Prior to that strike, women were mostly clerical workers with a separate wage scale lower than men, different job classifications and lines of career progression. The agreement that ended the struggle contained one wage scale and gave every worker the right to bid on all jobs.

A decade later, Landry led negotiations as the local union president and stood firm against company demands for massive concessions and threat of permanent closure. The contract she won tied wages to the price of copper, producing five years of stellar wage and pension increases for her co-workers.

Appointed to the USW’s Canadian staff in 1999, Landry serviced more than 90 collective bargaining agreements in the lower mainland of British Columbia and led negotiations in a variety of industries. She has been an instructor for the union for more than 16 years and has served as education coordinator for the USW’s District 3 in Western Canada.

Her international experience started with a local union exchange program with miners in Chile. She has continued that work and today sits on the board of directors of the International Metalworkers Federation.