The Times West Virginian

             W.Va. first, and only state, with female hand on AFL-CIO logo
                                              Associated Press
 

Elaine Harris continues to get cold chills when she talks about how a decade ago West Virginia’s AFL-CIO became the first national labor organization to include a woman’s hand in its logo.

“It was an exciting step forward to see the recognition. And that the leadership saw how important it is to have that third hand,” said Harris, an international representative for the Communications Worker of America.

Most states, including West Virginia, show one white hand and one darker hand, representing workers of color. But West Virginia’s symbol added a third hand that rests on those two masculine-looking hands, and it is definitely feminine.

In the decade since the logo was changed, no other state AFL-CIO in the nation has adopted a similar design, West Virginia labor leaders say.

Joe Powell was state AFL-CIO president when the logo was changed. The Bridgeport resident retired in 1997.

“I suspect when I left about a third of our members were women,” Powell said. “So why not? We just did our own thing.”

The change came without debate, or fanfare.

A factory worker named Mary Messenger pushed to have the logo altered. Messenger worked for the old Maidenform company in Clarksburg and later was an AFL-CIO trainer for dislocated workers.

“She insisted, and we implemented it,” said Kenny Perdue, current state AFL-CIO president.

“There was no one who stood up and said no.”

Harris said the current logo shows diversity.

“I look at the AFL-CIO as being diverse. As one of the women, I like it,” Harris said. “And I’m surprised other states haven’t done that.”