First they billed it as a “Women’s History Month Event Honoring Women with the Courage to Make a Difference sponsored by the new White House Council on Women and Girls”. (Because Men and Boys don’t need White House Councils.) Then it morphed into a “Tribute to Women on the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.” Then, at show time, the sign on stage read simply “Women Organize!” but by two minutes into Hilda Solis taking the podium it was clear this was nothing but one big labor lovin’ schmooze fest leading into the kick-off this week of Obama’s 2012 campaign. In her opening remarks, Solis incorrectly stated that the Triangle victims “gave their lives trying to organize,” carrying on the century long tradition of shamelessly exploiting the Shirtwaist tragedy for union aggrandizement. She then reassured the one hundred labor leaders in attendance that the White House knows that when “workers have a voice American workplaces are safer and American families are more secure.” Valerie Jarrett, chairwoman of the aforementioned Women and Girls council, added, “all working men and women benefit from the labor movement… and the balancing of the playing field.” The event then turned to honoring a carefully crafted panel of women bravely seeking a voice at work – an AFSCME childcare provider from Ohio (legislation in Ohio just de-authorized the forced sham unionization of private child care providers), a member of Domestic Workers United (a fully owned subsidiary of SEIU just getting off the ground in NYC), a Walmart worker (natch) and a T-Mobile worker (about to be card checked into AT&T’s CWA unit). Solis also introduced a Hyundai worker (the likely new big UAW target) and several Wisconsin teachers who apparently had not yet missed enough classroom time this semester. A few enlightening/amusing moments came out of the event – Ernestine, the seventy something Walmart employee, mentioned she retired from her union Verizon job in 1999. (And yet she still has to work at Walmart?) Immigrant Lillian from T-Mobile said she was paid very well, “living the American Dream” and treated well at work but still she just doesn’t feel “appreciated” without a union around. When asked by Solis, Ernestine said the hardest part of organizing her coworkers was “talking to some people who have had union jobs before and for some reason are not convinced Walmart should be unionized, I’m not really sure why.” And in closing Solis, the person who oversees both the NLRB and OLM, advised all women feeling “alone and powerless, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone, no matter what your job is, there’s a union out there to help you.”
