Today ATU women and allies from across the U.S. and Canada came together for the 37th ATU International Women’s Caucus Conference. International President Costa traveled to Austin, Texas, to welcome attendees by speaking about the importance of women's leadership in our Union, highlighting our recently elected International Executive Vice President and the first female and Latina to hold the position, Yvette Trujillo. “You may have heard me say before that I tell our Locals if you want to get something done, make sure you have women on your board, as shop stewards, as your Local leaders.” For Costa, a father of two daughters, this cause is personal, he told the crowd of over 200.
Also speaking on day one was Rick Levy, President of the AFL-CIO, who welcomed attendees to Texas, Dottie Watkins, CEO of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Elise Bryant, National President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), who gave a rousing speech for women to unapologetically fight for their rights and honor all those who came before us. At lunch, attendees heard from Janet Gerhard, our partner at FHE Health. In an emotional call to arms, women stood up to share their pain and their joy and vow to continue taking care of each other. ATU trainings about apprenticeships and women's equity were also given.
International Executive Vice President Yvette Trujillo and International Secretary-Treasurer Ken Kirk also addressed attendees. International Vice Presidents Natalie Cruz and Amanda Sawyer-Turner and Ken Day, as well as founding member of the ATU International Women’s Caucus and retired International Vice President Janis Borchardt, also participated. Thank you to International Women’s Caucus Chair Jackie Jeter, the entire executive board and Local 1091-Austin, TX, for hosting us for this powerful event.