From the Solidarity Update, Dec. 2003
Women's Committee Established to Increase Awareness and Advocacy

After years of interest and the recent appointment of an executive board member to the AFSCME International Women’s Advisory Committee, ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 has established and is recruiting its own panel to address the issues and interests of women.

• View Women's Committee

ASEA Administrative Support Representative Hettie Hume galvanized support for the ASEA Women’s Committee after returning in June from the International Women’s Conference held in San Francisco. AFSCME International President Gerald McIntee appointed Hume to the AFSCME Women’s Advisory Committee that same month. She is one of fewer than thirty members representing AFSCME members at the international level.

“Once I saw what was being addressed, I was confident a women’s committee could benefit Local 52 members in Alaska,” she said. “Despite the variety of job classes and geographic differences represented by the union, there are universal issues to address and improvements to advocate for everyone’s benefit.”

Hume said the list of issues included but was not limited to pay equity, sexual harassment and discrimination, domestic violence, work and family, mentoring, leadership, and training opportunities.

During its quarterly meeting on September 2-3 in Fairbanks, the State Executive Board created its own Women’s Committee. The committee will be composed of two members from four regions within Alaska “to address women’s issues and that the committee be in effect for two years.”

Although Hume sees the committee as tool for examining challenges and inequalities for women at the workplace, it is not intended to be a forum for women only. “Men are welcome to participate in this ongoing discussion specific to women’s issues,” she said.

Hume sees the varied demographics of the ASEA membership as a challenge and an opportunity for addressing women’s issues. “Unlike a union specifically tied to a job class, this union spans geographical lines as well as professional ones,” she said. “The selection of committee members from the four regions will draw on the diverse makeup of the union membership to make inclusive recommendations.”

Nearly two-thirds of state employees in the General Government Unit are women. AFSCME International has supported women’s issues for many years and created its Women’s Rights Department in 1983. AFSCME women's resources for women can be found online at www.afscme.org/about/women.htm.