By Doug Cunningham

While more and more women are getting active in organized labor, Michelle Kaminski of Michigan State University’s labor education program says there’s still a long way to go in getting women into more top leadership positions.

[Michelle Kaminski 1]: “We see lots of women activists at the grassroots level and in some sort of initial officer positions. We don't see quite as many women at the top as we would like to see in a variety of different labor unions. And we're working to change that, to help women develop the skills and experience they need to move into those positions."

Kaminski says developing skills that can help unions advance their agendas and having the political savvy to muster support for their leadership are some ways women can advance into power positions within organized labor.

[Kaminski 2]: “The future of the labor movement lies with women and people of color. We're more likely to join unions, and so the leadership of the labor movement needs to reflect the membership."

Kaminski says in union organizing elections where women are a high percentage of the workforce, unions are more likely to win.