On the final day of Black History Month, the America’s Work Force Union Podcast featured the duo that became the first black women to lead a state labor council in AFL-CIO history, Washington State Labor Council President April Sims and Secretary-Treasurer Cherika Carter. Carter discussed her journey to the labor movement, how Sims and herself came to work together and their work to improve diversity and inclusion in Washington unions.
Carter, a graduate of The Ohio State University, began her labor career as a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) at age 15 while working at a CVS Pharmacy. She said it was “the movie ticket that drew her in, but the solidarity kept her coming back.” Carter remained active after graduating from OSU and worked as a political organizer in Ohio. She talked about how her life changed after she helped run the campaign to repeal Ohio Senate Bill 5 in 2011.
Sims remembers meeting Carter at the 2016 AFL-CIO Political Bootcamp. She spoke of how Carter’s leadership and ability to organize stood out, which was when she began watching her work. After a couple of years of maintaining contact, a position opened up in the WSLC, and Sims began to recruit Carter to become the new Field Director for the state federation. After working together for multiple years, Sims tapped Carter to run as Secretary-Treasurer, with Sims running for President in 2020.
Winning the election to become the newest President and Secretary-Treasurer for the WSLC was historic in many ways. Not only did Sims become the first black woman to lead the WSLC, but Carter and Sims became the first state labor federation led by women of color in the history of the AFL-CIO. Together, the duo works to improve the union density in the state, which is currently the third best in the nation. They have a plan to not only increase union density, but to improve the diversity and inclusion of unions in Washington. Sims and Carter then discussed the importance of the WSLC’s Race and Labor program and its standards for establishing guidelines for proper racial and gender equity in unions.
Listen to the show above to hear more from Sims and Carter on the future of labor in Washington.