Megan Cornish
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Megan Cornish is an American
socialist feminist Socialist feminism rose in the 1960s and 1970s as an offshoot of the feminist movement and New Left that focuses upon the interconnectivity of the patriarchy and capitalism. However, the ways in which women's private, domestic, and public roles ...
and labor
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
with the
Freedom Socialist Party The Freedom Socialist Party is a left-wing socialist political party with a revolutionary feminist philosophy based in the United States. It views the struggles of women and minorities as part of the struggle of the working class. It emerged fro ...
(FSP) and
Radical Women Radical Women (RW) is a socialist feminist grassroots activist organization affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party. It has branches in Seattle, Washington, and Melbourne, Australia. History Radical Women emerged in Seattle from a "Free Univ ...
, as well as a retired
electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...
with
Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, No ...
. Cornish became an electrician after participating in an affirmative action program in 1974. Much of her activism work has focused on fighting
workplace discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ge ...
at Seattle City Light.


Early life

Cornish was born in 1947 into a military family and spent her childhood in various locations around the United States. Cornish says she was drawn to
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
after reading ''
The Feminine Mystique ''The Feminine Mystique'' is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, ''The Feminine Mystique'' became a bestseller, initially selling ...
'', describing the book's effect on her as "like a bomb had been dropped." After graduating from
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
in 1969 with a BA in literature, Cornish moved to the
Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. ...
and worked at The Shelter Half, a GI coffeehouse, as part of the
anti-war movement An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to ...
in Tacoma,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
. It was at this time that Cornish became involved with the
labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
, anti-war, and
desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
movements. She was arrested while participating in a demonstration on behalf of the United Construction Workers Association. Her activism focused on creating employment opportunities in the trades for black men, and she later stated that "it never dawned on me that I may ever eek trades employment"


Involvement in Radical Women

In her early years in the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
, Cornish was not a member of a formal group or organization, but she joined
Radical Women Radical Women (RW) is a socialist feminist grassroots activist organization affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party. It has branches in Seattle, Washington, and Melbourne, Australia. History Radical Women emerged in Seattle from a "Free Univ ...
in 1972 after being drawn to the group's intersectional approach, saying they "put it all
Black civil rights The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United S ...
, desegregation, anti-war, labor, Second-wave feminism">women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...
, etc.] together." It was her involvement in Radical Women that first pushed Cornish to seriously think about the role of the working class and she become more interested in labor organizing. She took a job at a nursing home where another member of Radical Women worked as a
union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...
. She briefly worked in an industrial laundry facility, but quit after becoming frustrated with the conservative and undemocratic practices of the
Teamster A teamster is the American term for a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals. Further, the term often refers to a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Origi ...
leadership. In 1974, Cornish, along with other members of the FSP and Radical Women, picketed in a
strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
of clerical and maintenance workers at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, which she later described as an early expression of
comparable worth Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...
.


Career and organizing at City Light


Electrical Trades Trainee program

In 1974, Cornish was persuaded by
Clara Fraser Clara Fraser (March 12, 1923 – February 24, 1998) was a socialist feminist political organizer, who co-founded and led the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. Biography Early life and activism Clara Fraser was born in 1923 to Jewis ...
, a cofounder of Radical Women and education coordinator at Seattle City Light, to apply for a position as an Electrical Trades Trainee (ETT), an all-female affirmative action program designed by Fraser to integrate women into the electrical trades. Gordon Vickery, the former fire chief and superintendent of City Light, was exploring the possibility of running for
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and hoped to cite the successful completion of a female ETT program as a cornerstone of his experience in future elections. To increase the chances of the program's success, Fraser was hired to redesign the ETT program in a way that did not duplicate failed affirmative action programs for black men at the company. Unlike in the previous programs, the female ETT members were given extra training and allowed to join the
IBEW The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a labor union that represents approximately 775,000 workers and retirees in the electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands; ...
Local 77 with their own bargaining unit within the union. Shortly before her training began, an eleven day employee walkout in response to a new disciplinary code proposed by Vickery shut down City Light. Fraser participated in the walkout and organized other, mostly female, non-unionized clerical workers to join, whose support proved essential to the walkout's success. While this strengthened Fraser's relations with the IBEW and mostly male electrical workers, her relations with Vickery and management were left in shambles. Fraser was terminated the following year in an act seen by her supporters as retaliation. Cornish was selected to be one of ten female ETTs out of an application pool of over 300. The sense of solidarity between workers as a result of the walkout caused Cornish and the other female ETTs to be received "mostly warmly." The shared resentment towards Vickery and management created a sense of unity amongst the mostly male electrical workers and reduced their hostility towards their new female coworkers. The severed relationship between Fraser and management, however, left the ETTs in a highly vulnerable position as management sought to retaliate against Fraser by damaging the ETT program. Only a week after starting, Vickery cancelled the ETT training program and removed Fraser from her position as the training coordinator. Trainees were told on a Friday afternoon to report to field work the next week, where they made $1 less per hour than the other electrical helpers. In response, the ETTs filed a complaint with the City of Seattle Office of Women's Rights (OWR), stating that they were being denied the typical amount of training and pay reserved for male employees. Following an organizing meeting led by the walkout leaders that many of the trainees attended, Vickery called the women into his office and forced them to sign a loyalty oath pledging to fulfill their employment obligations without complaint. After a year of training, Cornish and seven of the other ETTs were laid off, along with Fraser. Like Fraser, the ETTs saw their terminations as politically motivated and retaliatory, and they added the layoffs to their OWR complaint. As their case was being reviewed by the OWR, the former ETTs engaged in a massive public relations campaign to win the support of the public. Numerous articles about the case were published in the ''
Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...
'', ''
Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...
'', '' The Daily'', and other local media, and the case became a central focus of the local women's movement. In addition, the ETT case damaged then-mayor
Wes Uhlman Wesley Carl Uhlman (born March 23, 1935) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 47th mayor of Seattle, Washington. Early life and education Uhlman was born in Cashmere, Washington. He attended Aberdeen High School, Seattle Pacif ...
's credibility as a
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
, in part leading to the failure of his 1976 gubernatorial campaign. In a July 1976 major victory for the former ETTs, City Light was ordered to reinstate six of the terminated trainees, including Cornish, as well as to pay a settlement, give them back pay, and make them eligible for apprenticeship programs.


Lineworker apprenticeship and career

In the time between her termination and rehiring, Cornish worked as a house wiring apprentice through IBEW Local 46. After the July 1976 victory in court, Cornish applied for a City Light apprenticeship as a
lineworker A lineworker (lineman (American English), linesman (British English), powerline technician (PLT), or powerline worker) constructs and maintains the electric transmission and distribution facilities that deliver electrical energy to industrial, c ...
alongside two other Radical Women members named Teri Bach and
Heidi Durham Hildreth (Heidi) Durham was an American socialist feminist and labor activist with the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. Durham was one of the first female electricians to work at Seattle City Light, where she faced significant barrier ...
. Cornish described the period during which she and the other female trainees returned to work after winning their court case as the "roughest" time during her career at City Light. Vickery and other management, angered by the ruling, placed Cornish and her female colleagues into positions that were designed to be the most difficult to succeed in. Each of the women were placed into divisions that were known to be dangerous, which ultimately led to Durham falling from a pole and breaking her back in a near-fatal accident. In addition to being antagonized by management, Cornish and the other women apprentices were also met with animosity from the male electrical workers that they worked alongside. In 1975, Local 77 of the IBEW staged a strike for 98 days, the longest public worker strike in Washington history. Despite the strike's longevity, the electricians were unable to gain the support of their larger union and they were forced to settle for an unfavorable contract. While the electricians did win a wage increase, the new contract also created harsher working conditions. Many male electricians, frustrated and demoralized by their strike's defeat, held resentment towards the former ETTs for winning their discrimination case, and these feelings were exploited by management to increase the sexist hostility of the work environments. Despite having an affirmative action plan in place to diversify its workforce, Cornish, Bach, and Durham remained some of the only female electrical workers at City Light for nearly ten years. The three regularly gave
public comment In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
at
Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-lar ...
meetings to demand the hiring of more women and people of color at City Light. In the early 1980s, City Light hired its first new female electrical worker in nearly a decade. In 1983, Cornish helped establish the Employee Committee for Equal Rights at City Light (CERCL) to fight
workplace harassment Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers. Recently, matters of workplace harassment have gained interest among practitioners and researchers as it is becoming one of the ...
and discrimination in response to inaction from management, union leaders, and the City of Seattle Human Rights Department (HRD). CERCL membership grew rapidly in the mid-1980s and pressured the HRD to investigate discrimination cases. In 1991, Cornish and Durham were jointly named Advocate of the Year by the Washington Women in the Trades.


Retirement

Cornish retired from Seattle City Light in 2004 after 30 years. At the time of her retirement, she held the position of outage dispatcher, the highest position in the utility trades. She credits her adherence to feminism and
political radicalism Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform. The process of adopting radical views is termed radicali ...
as essential to her accomplishments in organizing at City Light. She remains an active member of Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party and continues to write for the ''Freedom Socialist'' newspaper. Cornish's organizing activities at City Light are the subject of the book ''High Voltage Women'' published in 2019.


See also

*
Heidi Durham Hildreth (Heidi) Durham was an American socialist feminist and labor activist with the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. Durham was one of the first female electricians to work at Seattle City Light, where she faced significant barrier ...
*
Clara Fraser Clara Fraser (March 12, 1923 – February 24, 1998) was a socialist feminist political organizer, who co-founded and led the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. Biography Early life and activism Clara Fraser was born in 1923 to Jewis ...
*
Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, No ...
*
Freedom Socialist Party The Freedom Socialist Party is a left-wing socialist political party with a revolutionary feminist philosophy based in the United States. It views the struggles of women and minorities as part of the struggle of the working class. It emerged fro ...
*
Radical Women Radical Women (RW) is a socialist feminist grassroots activist organization affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party. It has branches in Seattle, Washington, and Melbourne, Australia. History Radical Women emerged in Seattle from a "Free Univ ...


Further reading


Articles and interviews

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Books

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Archives

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References

__FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish, Megan 1947 births Living people American socialist feminists