First African-American woman to hold post
By Chris Pepus
For the St. Louis American
“I never thought that I would be here – this woman from St. Louis who started as a washer in a nursing home.” That’s Barbara Black, talking about becoming the first African-American woman to serve as president of Local 2000 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
On August 31, Black officially took charge of the local, which represents approximately 5,000 workers, 75 percent of whom are African-American. Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay presided over the inauguration ceremony.
Black’s journey to labor leadership began when she joined an organizing campaign at a health-care facility where she worked as a medical technician. For her and her fellow employees, the last straw was the day management eliminated seniority and cut wages by 50 cents an hour.
“Again I observed the hurt, the rage, the disappointment of people,” Black remembered. “But why talk about it if you don’t do something?”
The organizing campaign succeeded, and Black’s co-workers elected her shop steward, a post she held for 14 years. After that, she spent a year as a union representative and negotiator, before being elected vice president of SEIU 2000’s health-care division in 2001.
Black credits her predecessor, Grant Williams, with helping her prepare for her current role as president. “Grant taught me a lot,” Black said. “He taught me more of the aggressive side, but he also always said, ‘You have to pick your fights.'”
She recalled a case from her time as a union representative, when she had a confrontation with the white owner of a health-care facility.
“He told me he didn’t want me in his building anymore. He didn’t respect me and asked Grant (Williams) to replace me,” Black said. “But Grant said no.”
Black said that the employees at that facility were upset about working conditions, but were too intimidated to take action. However, she did find one worker who was willing to file a grievance. After the employee’s complaint was rejected at a company grievance meeting, Black took the case to arbitration.
“We won that case, and the worker was paid something like $4,000,” Black said. “After that, (the owner) respected me, but he still didn’t like me.”
Now that she is president of Local 2000, a top issue on Black’s agenda is Governor Matt Blunt’s executive order ending collective bargaining for state employees. Since the governor signed that order in January, SEIU has been trying to restore its state workers’ rights to be represented in disputes with management and to have access to arbitration. Negotiations with Blunt’s office have produced a tentative “memorandum of agreement” to govern workplace policies for probation and parole officers.
“We have some positive language in this memorandum where [workers] have rights to a shop steward, and there is outside mediation in disciplinary procedures,” Black said. However, the agreement is not yet final and negotiations over the status of workers in state mental-health facilities are still in the planning phase.
SEIU has also been waging a high-profile campaign against Blunt’s Medicaid cuts, and Black wants to keep up the pressure. She regards Medicaid as one of the biggest issues for the next election, and her meetings with workers across the state have shown her that the governor’s stance is costing him and his party support.
“I know some of our members voted for him – I’m speaking more of workers that are in the rural areas,” Black said. However, because of the Medicaid cuts, “there are members now who realize they made a mistake.”
Asked about her long-term goals for Local 2000, Black quickly replied, “Ten thousand members by five years from now.” Breaking a smile, she asked, “Did I say too much?”
Black also hopes to connect with people who face the same workplace frustrations she has experienced. “I want to identify workers who never thought they could change things,” Black said, “and bring them along and show them they can.”
