Member Strength Corner: Kim Curry-Goldsby
Contracts issue spur member to political actionWhat motivates Kim Curry-Goldsby is the connection between our past struggles to get a fair contract and our actions in the community and in political campaigns.
"There is a clear connection between fair treatment for California state employees and fairness and justice for all working families in America," said Curry-Goldsby, a Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery employee from Los Angeles. "That's why I am active within the union, within my local community, as well as volunteering outside the state if needed."
Curry-Goldsby has been an active union member since 1978, long before she worked for the state. She was active in the actors strike in 1980 and has been active in labor issues in the Los Angeles area for many years.
Furloughs spur activism
She joined state service in 2000 and became a Local 1000 steward about a year ago. One thing that motivated her was unfair treatment--furloughs, minimum wage threats and blame--that state workers experienced under then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. When her husband, who was also a state worker, died in 2010, Curry-Goldsby spent months trying to get payment for his unused banked furlough time.
"That experience sparked within me a desire to learn more about what the union could do for its members," she said.
Taking action
Curry-Goldsby has participated in numerous California campaigns including volunteering for Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2010.
Last fall, she was part of a group of Local 1000 members who traveled to Ohio to help working families there successfully campaign to overturn a law designed to weaken labor unions. That victory motivated her to take a bigger role in the political fight for California's future, including collecting signatures to help qualify the governor's revenue measure for the fall ballot and opposing an anti-union initiative that has already qualified for November.
"We need to send a message: 'Keep your hands off the middle class,'" she said. "The political process really defines whether we will have a society that works for middle-class families--including state employees--or a society that only helps the richest get richer. "
She joined state service in 2000 and became a Local 1000 steward about a year ago. One thing that motivated her was unfair treatment--furloughs, minimum wage threats and blame--that state workers experienced under then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. When her husband, who was also a state worker, died in 2010, Curry-Goldsby spent months trying to get payment for his unused banked furlough time.
"That experience sparked within me a desire to learn more about what the union could do for its members," she said.
Taking action
Curry-Goldsby has participated in numerous California campaigns including volunteering for Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2010.
Last fall, she was part of a group of Local 1000 members who traveled to Ohio to help working families there successfully campaign to overturn a law designed to weaken labor unions. That victory motivated her to take a bigger role in the political fight for California's future, including collecting signatures to help qualify the governor's revenue measure for the fall ballot and opposing an anti-union initiative that has already qualified for November.
"We need to send a message: 'Keep your hands off the middle class,'" she said. "The political process really defines whether we will have a society that works for middle-class families--including state employees--or a society that only helps the richest get richer. "
