Davida Russell, Secretary-Treasurer of the North Coast Area Labor Federation and state president of the Ohio Coalition of Labor Union Women, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to celebrate a primary election victory that sent a clear message: labor is done waiting for a seat at the table and is running for one instead.
Russell won the Democratic primary for an Ohio House seat by nearly 75 percent of the vote — just two weeks after a 1,200-vote loss in a mayoral race in Cleveland Heights — and is now headed to the November general election.
Russell also previewed the Unstoppable Women Conference, a biennial gathering of women in Ohio's labor movement, set for June 5 and 6 at Embassy Suites in Independence, Ohio. The event will feature panels with Stacey Abrams, Amy Acton, Nina Turner and a lineup of union leaders, workshops on artificial intelligence (AI), mental health and retirement and a first-ever recognition luncheon honoring trailblazing labor women.
Davida Russell is still soaking it in. Two weeks after losing the Cleveland Heights mayoral race by 1,200 votes, a state representative seat opened, and she jumped in. She won the Democratic primary with nearly 75 percent of the vote. She is now headed to the November general election with four decades of union experience, a record of building the largest canvassing operation in Ohio and the full weight of the labor movement behind her.
Russell's story is not unique in the current moment, and that is precisely the point. Union members and labor leaders are running for office across Ohio and across the country at a pace that reflects a fundamental shift in strategy. It is no longer enough to endorse candidates who say the right things on the campaign trail. Working people need working people in the office.
Russell did not mince words about what is driving that shift. Gas prices have risen dramatically. Rent is unaffordable. Groceries are out of reach for families who were already stretched thin. She described filling up her own car, not a fancy one, she noted, and spending $100 at the pump. People are driving around on a third of a tank just to avoid spending more than $20 at a time. That is the daily reality of the people she is running to represent.
The anger she described is not partisan in its origin. It is practical. Every step forward is followed by four or five steps backward. Working people are emotionally drained, financially squeezed and increasingly convinced that the only way their voices get heard in the statehouse is if they put one of their own in it. Russell's near-75 percent primary margin suggests voters agree.
For years, Russell has been the Ohio state President of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. The CLUW is the only national labor union specifically for women, operating under the AFL-CIO. Its mission is to advocate for women in the labor movement in the workplace and legislatively, empower women into labor leadership, educate members on running for office and take on the legislative issues that directly affect women's pay, safety and working conditions.
The biennial CLUW Conference arrives at exactly the right moment. Themed Unstoppable Women: Breaking Barriers, Building Legacies and Leading with Purpose, the two-day event will be held June 5 and 6 at the Embassy Suites on Rockside Road in Independence, Ohio. It is open not just to Ohio’s female union members, but to any woman who wants to learn about the labor movement and why solidarity among women in the workforce matters.
The programming is substantial. Friday evening opens with a meet-and-greet featuring karaoke, line dancing and a musical performance. Saturday brings two major panels. The first features virtual remarks from Stacey Abrams alongside in-person appearances from gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, auditor candidate Mayor Annette Blackwell, Secretary of State candidate State Rep. Allison Russo, Ohio Legislative Black Caucus CEO and President Shayla L. Davis and former Sen. Nina Turner. The labor panel will feature Ohio AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Melissa Cropper, UAW International Women's Department Assistant Director Shantae Sanders Bailey, State Rep. Erica White and additional women labor leaders.
Workshops will cover AI in the workplace and in personal life, wealth building, retirement and investment planning and mental health — a topic Russell said is essential for women who are simultaneously managing careers, families, labor leadership and the weight of the current political moment.
For the first time, the conference will include a recognition luncheon honoring five women the CLUW has designated as unstoppable. Melissa Cropper receives the recognition for her decade-plus of leadership on behalf of Ohio's educators. Mary Garf Safo — mother of Marcia Fudge, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, a longtime AFSCME Ohio Council 8 organizer and former president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists — will be honored at 95, still going strong. Pierrette “Petee” Talley, former secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO and founder of the Unity Coalition, will be recognized for the foundation she built to continue her community work. Former Sen. Nina Turner, one of the most recognizable and forceful voices in the labor movement, rounds out the honorees alongside State Rep. Erica White, a union leader now fighting for working people from the Ohio Statehouse.
Russell summed it up without hesitation: with union favorability at its highest level in 60 to 70 years and more than 70 percent of Americans supporting what unions do, the momentum is real. The Unstoppable Women conference is what that momentum looks like when it is channeled into action.
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