RWDSU’s Fialkoff-Amodeo Details “UFCW Grow Our Own” Program (4/30/07)

At the UFCW Constituency Groups Summit, held April 23-25 in Chicago, IL, RWDSU Local 1102 Representative and UFCW Women’s Network International Chairperson Paulette Fialkoff-Amodeo addressed the summit. Fialkoff-Amodeo discussed the disadvantages young women face in the workplace, and the importance of reaching out to them to help grow the union. Fialkoff-Amodeo cited statistics that show women are 40 percent more likely to live in poverty than men, and that families headed by a single mother are over twice as likely to live in poverty than families headed by single men.
“That working women need unions is obvious,” Fialkoff-Amodeo said. “But what should be just as obvious is that we need to make more of an effort to reach out to women workers.”
Fialkoff-Amodeo detailed the “UFCW Grow Our Own” program, which will recruit 30 mentors in 6 states and Canada to provide one-on-one training to help get younger female workers involved with the union, and help close and end the gender gap in the work force.