Coalition of Labor Union Women

Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), organization of women trade unionists representing more than 60 American and international labour unions.

The CLUW was founded at a conference in Chicago in June 1973 by a number of women labour union leaders, notably Olga Mada of the United Auto Workers and Addie Wyatt of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. More than 3,000 women attended the initial conference and endorsed goals of increasing the number of organized women workers, implementing affirmative action, working for passage of legislation favourable to women workers, and increasing women’s involvement in their unions. In 1978 CLUW established the Center for Education and Research, a nonprofit research body and resource centre dedicated to empowering women workers and developing leadership strategies for women within organized labour.

The CLUW supports legislation to end wage discrimination and other gender-based inequities. It also supports the implementation of child-care and parental-leave policies. The CLUW publishes a number of publications and educational materials to update and educate members about current issues of importance to working women. In accordance with its principle of increasing women’s political involvement in labour issues, the CLUW encourages its members to write letters to legislators and to participate in political demonstrations.