SISTERS IN THE BROTHERHOODS
Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York City
Jane LaTour
Palgrave Studies in Oral History

Availability: Now In Stock
From Palgrave Macmillan
Pub date: Aug 2008
304 pages
Size 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
$94.95 - Hardcover (1-4039-6758-X)

Excerpt:

"Webster sought a remedy ...that resulted in a change in the interview process [for the Plumber's Union]. "My main point," she said, "was to get those discriminatory interviews knocked out."

She reached an agreement...that resulted in a change in the interview process. The simple, streamlined interview that Ward went through was the result of the charges that Webster filed. ...She felt she'd fulfilled her commitment to breaking down barriers. ...[S]he explained...: "I wanted it changed. I felt like the something I could leave with in good conscience. But it was still true that a lot of the guys of color couldn't get into those unions; a lot of the women couldn't get in those unions."

In Webster's home on the Lower East Side, a new generation is growing up and getting a different perspective on gender and work. Her young son Lee gets to see his mom at work, building a new room for him. "My son sees me and he thinks all women do construction work..."