2005 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S CONVENTION TORONTO CANADA

September 9th - 11th

Heart and Soul

IAMAW 2005 WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

TORONTO, CANADA

The theme of the women’s conference was “Heart and Soul”, sisters organizing for their union and the sharing of the confidence in knowing that we can accomplish anything to which we commit our minds and our hearts to.

The conference opened up with Sister Heather Kelly unveiling the beautiful women’s quilt that was constructed by the sisterhood machinist from the United States and Canada. The conference got under way with silent prayer remembering 911.

We had several speakers on some statistics on the workforce.  Some notable statistics were as follows:  One half of the workforce has no job based pension at all.  One half of Americans have no savings at all.  The average person has a total savings of $29,000 and bad legislation is raiding our social security.  The future for most women will be grim if we add market fees and other cost if our Social Security is privatized.  This would be a gamble and after all, the word security should mean secure, instead of risky!  Politicians are where we need to go for help.  Get politically active!

 Some ideas were implemented on how you can organize when you think that is the last thing in the world that you might be cut out for. 

Sandy Ledinsky and I, along with the others went out on the streets of Toronto.  Each of us had a street and corner to pass out leaflets on how workers can have a voice in their workplace, if they organize.  Most people had a good attitude and were very receptive to what we stood for and some took leaflets and said they would definitely call.   Some said that they remembered their parents belonged to unions and they would never forget their roots and told me that it was about time the union took back their role of voices in the workplaces.  Only one person was very angry and two of us talked to him and finally he did take a leaflet and said he would read it. 

President Buffenbarger was one of the speakers and spoke on organizing and how workers are the heart of the nation and are what makes the wheels move.  He also noted that the first response for hurricane Katrina victims were workers with union cards in their pockets.

A Strong Woman Versus a Woman of Strength

A strong woman works out every day to keep her body in shape . . . but a woman of strength builds relationships to keep her soul in shape.

A strong woman isn’t afraid of anything . . . but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.

A strong woman won’t let anyone get the best of her  . . . but a woman of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.

A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future . . . a woman of strength realizes life’s mistakes can also be unexpected blessings and capitalizes on them.

A strong woman wears a look of confidence on her face . . .  but a woman of strength wears grace.

A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey . . . but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.