Ms. Blue Collar

"We have a message for George Meany. We have a message for Leonard Woodcock. We have a message for Frank Fitzsimmons. You can tell them we didn 't come here to swap recipes."

The no-nonsense words of Myra Wolfgang, a vice president of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, typified the mood of the more than 3,000 blue-collar women who gathered in Chicago in late March to form the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). Instead of recipes, the representatives from 58 labor unions discussed ways to end sex discrimination in wages, hiring and job classifications. They also resolved to organize more of the nation's 34 million women workers (only 4 million belong to unions) and to elect more female officials (though more than 25% of the AFL-CIO membership consists of women, they hold less than 5% of the key posts).

The formation of the CLUW is evidence of a new, pragmatic offshoot of the women's liberation movement: blue-collar feminism. Encouraged by their recent breakthroughs into traditionally male jobs such as apprentice seaman, and construction workers, women on the lower levels of the economic ladder are taking a more aggressive stance. In Gary, Ind., women in District 31 of the United Steelworkers of America will soon open a chapter of the National Organization for Women at union headquarters. In Manhattan, Cornell University's New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations offers a series of courses for union women, in eluding one preparing them to serve on grievance committees.

Women's lib has also begun to reach the once hostile nonworking wives of blue-collar men. In a working-class section of Brooklyn, a group of twelve housewives from families earning roughly $12,000 a year meet weekly in a consciousness-raising group to examine their traditional lifestyles. A nationwide survey of 660 women conducted last year by Social Research Inc., an independent market-research company, found a radical shift in the attitudes of blue-collar workers' wives over the past decade. These women no longer automatically accept the notion that they must stay at home and be subservient to their husbands. Many of the women surveyed confess that if they had a chance to start over, they would not choose a traditional housewife's role; nearly one-third argued that the women's lib movement is "the best thing that has happened to us in ages."

Ms. v. Mrs. For some of these converts to feminism, the most important influence has been a change in the movement itself. In the late '60s, feminist groups stressed such matters as the use of Ms. v. Mrs. and the need for marriage contracts, but recently they have emphasized issues of more interest to working women, like day care, maternity benefits and equal pay.

Many differences still remain between blue-and white-collar feminists. Complains Margie Albert of Manhattan, president of District 65 of the Distributive Workers of America: "The women's groups have always espoused the 'Don't admit you can type philosophy.' And I don't appreciate them acting as if secretarial work is the lowest form of human endeavor. Sisterhood across class lines is a myth." Nor do many blue-collar women share the white-collar feminist's interest' in rising to high-level jobs. "We're laundry workers, X-ray technicians and the like," explains Elinor Glenn, of North Hollywood, Calif., a member of Local 434 of the Service Employees' International. "Our women are already out of the kitchen and it's not romantic. It's a matter of bucks." Says Union Member Anne Lipow: "Labor women are fighting to upgrade their jobs. To them this is more meaningful than finding a woman president for General Motors."

Because of the wide gap between white-and blue-collar feminism, some union women believe that the two should be kept apart. Says Unionist Wolfgang: "Sisters cannot unify solely because they are women. We have to look at class rather than sex." Olga Madar, international vice president of the United Auto Workers and newly appointed president of the CLUW, disagrees: "For the first time women workers have united to speak out against sexual discrimination. At the same time union women bring real, down-to-earth issues to the feminist movement. The blend is important."

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