Women of Labor – Los Angeles Sentinel

Alice Goff is the President of Area Local 3090, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, the Los Angeles City clerical and support services unit, president of AFSCME District 36 and vice president of the international union representing California. The membership of Goff’s Local 3090 is predominantly female and has forged groundbreaking policies on pay equity, family leave and protecting victims of domestic violence in the workplace. She has served on AFSCME’s international women’s committee where the agenda is set for the national union’s policy on women’s rights. She was born in Belize, and enjoys reading, traveling and family events.

Yvonne Wheeler is currently an AFL-CIO senior field representative covering all of Southern California. In 1999, she became the first African American elected as president of the Communications Workers of American Local 9586. Her credits include crucial L.A. area campaigns such as the Longshore Union lockout, supermarket strike/lockout and helping to defeat the governor’s 2005 special election initiatives. Wheeler is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for her activism.

Civil Rights leader Gwen Green started her activism 85 years ago, when her grandfather took her around with him to gain support to force the District Attorney of Oakland, CA, to hire a Black secretary. Later on in her formative years, Green became the go to for justice in Los Angeles. She worked for and with educators, dignitaries, entertainers, politicians and community members to overcome social injustices in the lack of rights for workers. She has worked with the likes of former Mayor Tom Bradley, Council President Herb Wesson, and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. She served as the Executive Secretary of the Western Christian Leadership Conference and the United Long Term Care Workers Union for 20 years.

London Breed is the Supervisor for District 5 in the city of San Francisco. In 2002, Breed became the Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex. Under her leadership, the Complex’s vital youth programs reached record participation, getting young people off the streets of the City and into a place for them to realize their potential. In 2004, she was named to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commission, where she created thousands of new affordable housing units in the area. In 2010, the mayor of San Francisco appointed Breed to the San Francisco Fire Commission and two years later she was elected to the Board of Supervisors.

Yvonne Walker is the President of SEIU’s Local 1000 and for 20 years she has dedicated her life to serving California through public provision. She began working for the State of California at the Department of Justice in 1995 as a legal secretary. She then made her way to the union, which led her to organize her coworkers at her job. Walker broke racial and gender barriers when she became the first African American woman president of SEIU Local 1000. Her societal focus has been making sure that fair wages and benefits were given to state workers—in the private and public sectors. She also holds the position of Vice President of SEIU International’s Executive Board.

Laphonza Butler (File Photo)

Related Articles