America’s Work Force Union Podcast continues our coverage of Women’s History Month as Grace Catania, a former chairperson of the CWA National Women’s Committee and Co-Vice President of the Chicago News Guild Local 34071, joined the show to discuss immigrating from Poland with no understanding of English and eventually becoming a leader for the CWA National Women’s Committee.
In 1980 Catania made the tough decision to leave her native Poland and move to the United States, landing in the Chicagoland area. At the time, Catania did not understand English and struggled to find consistent work while learning English. It was through a friend that Catania found a job at a bakery, where she became a United Food and Commercial Workers member. Eventually, Catania learned enough English to pass her testing to become a court interpreter in 1994, where she ultimately became a member of the Chicago News Guild Local 34071, affiliated with The NewsGuild-CWA, in 2004.
Joining the organizing effort, and signing a union card, to become affiliated with TNG-CWA was an easy decision for Catania. She talked about the nature of work before affiliating and how interpreters had to beg for jobs. Affiliating with the union gave the interpreters access to health care and quality wages. Following the successful organizing efforts, Catania became a steward for her Local, representing the best interests of the court reporters.
Catania’s journey didn’t stop there. In 2010, she was elected Union Chair by her Local. To assist in her role, she sought out training at a CWA District 4 event. At the event, Catania was named the District 4 representative — representing members in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin — on the National Women’s Committee. This assignment from the then-District 4 Vice President Linda Hinton and Hetty Scofield and their tutelage that Catania believes established her confidence as a leader. The camaraderie and support from union leadership hhs created a place for women in unions, which will only improve as more women join leadership roles, Catania said.
For more on Catania’s journey, listen to the show above.