Episode 5: April Sims

Black Work Talk

In the fifth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes April Sims, Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council. April told us a bit about her background, in particular, how the experiences of her mother led April to understand the importance of unions to working people’s lives. She also talked about the work of the State Labor Council in developing and rolling out an anti-racism training for unions and their members. (April mentioned a document that resulted from the initial work: “Race to Labor: Can Organized Labor Be an Agent of Social and Economic Justice?” It can be downloaded at Race to Labor. Later she talked about the importance of developing networks among unionists of color by way of the example of the informal grouping she has organized.