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White House Forum Spotlights Women and Organizing

White House Forum

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Valerie Jarrett, chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, talk with women workers who want a voice in their workplaces. At right is Liliana Bequer, who works at a T-Mobile call center.

Women workers who are determined to have a voice on the job told their stories at the White House, as part of a forum on women and organizing.

Liliana Bequer, a T-Mobile call center worker, was one of four women who talked about the benefits of a union voice. "I want to have a voice. I want to have respect. And a union is important because it gives us a voice," she said.

The women talked with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. The forum was part of Women's History Month and also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, where 146 workers, mostly women, tragically died because of their employer's greed.

With an audience of more than 100 women union leaders, the panel talked about how bargaining rights make a big difference in their lives.

"A union would help us have a workplace where we're not afraid to speak up and propose new ideas that might make things better, for customers and the company. Right now, we can't even express our ideas," Bequer said. "We all want T-Mobile to succeed. We want to be a part of it."

Bequer was part of a delegation of T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility workers to Germany, to meet with members of ver.di, the union of T-Mobile workers in Germany about the campaign for a union voice at T-Mobile USA. T-Mobile is owned by the German company Deutsche Telekom, but AT&T has made a proposal to acquire T-Mobile USA.