2023 Joyce Miller Award

Metro DC CLUW is the proud recipient of the 2023 Joyce Miller Organizing Award, which it received at the 22nd Biennial Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Convention. This fall nearly a dozen Metro DC CLUW chapter members traveled to Minneapolis to attend the constitutional convention. The chapter has worked hard over the last two years to revitalize the chapter and welcome more union activists into the coalition.

The organizing award is named after Joyce D. Miller, a founding member of CLUW who also served as the organization’s president from 1977 to 1993. Miller was a pioneer when it came to advocating for working women inside of organized labor. During her tenure as CLUW president the CLUW Center for Education and Research was established and one of its noteworthy initiatives was the Reproductive Rights Project, an initiative educating union women on their right to all forms of health care including abortion services. Additionally, in 1980 Miller became the first woman elected to the AFL-CIO Executive Council. 

“We are truly honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Metro DC CLUW Chapter President Chelsea Bland. “Sister Joyce was a trailblazer in the labor movement, especially when it came to organizing and mobilizing women in the movement. We are elated to receive this recognition and inspired to continue to spread the word about the power we have when we come together to advocate for the issues that matter most to working women and femmes.”

During this year’s convention labor activists from AFGE, APWU, UMWA, SAG-AFTRA, AFSCME, CWA, and OPEIU represented the Metro DC CLUW chapter.

Union activists in the Metro DC area are encouraged to join the chapter! Learn more at www.dccluw.org/join or email us at join@dccluw.org.