As we pay tribute to the years of service AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker has given to working families, the voting rights and labor movement, we sat down with her, along with the Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report, to talk about some of her greatest memories and her plans for the future during her retirement. 

Watch a highlight reel of Holt Baker in the post, and check out what she had to say during her interview:

BNA: You are the first African American to be elected to one of the AFL-CIO’s three highest offices. How has this influenced the duties of your office? How has the job evolved from what your expectations were when you first accepted the office in 2007?

AHB: I believe that my past experience as an organizer, and a collaborator with civil, human rights and voting rights advocates during my time before and with the AFL-CIO influenced how I carried out the duties in the office. I have always believed in strong collaboration between labor and progressives around issues of social justice and workers' rights. Being an African American woman, I know firsthand the direct results of workplace discrimination, social injustice and an unequal pay system that too often disadvantages women and people of color, particularly those without the benefit of a union. It's not a narrative I had to learn, it is one I know from my life experiences and the experiences of the community that I come from. Hopefully, my experience and my life's story have helped other people of color and women see themselves in any position they choose to aspire to in the labor and the social justice movement.

I am pleased to see that the issues of collaboration between labor and community to build a stronger social justice movement is now becoming a strategic part of the AFL-CIO's movement building agenda. It's no longer isolated in a few departments. 

BNA: If there were anything you could change, what would it be?

AHB: Powerful workers' right and social justice movement, powerful enough to move Congress to support a jobs bill, labor law reform, a financial transaction tax and reduce poverty. A unified labor movement.

BNA:  There have been a lot of strikes in recent months by workers who are not represented by unions. Are you optimistic that these types of movements will become a path for expanding labor’s reach? What hopes do you have for the future of the labor movement? 

AHB: I am excited to see low-wage workers/fast-food workers going to the streets demanding an increase in minimum wage and a voice at work. I am also encouraged that young workers are out front and vocal in these campaigns.   

We saw some of this same energy when the attacks started on workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan, where people went to the streets and their state capitols to raise their voices.   

Workers, old and young, along with our progressive allies must keep the pressure on from election cycle to election cycle at all levels of government, if a change is going to come.  

My outlook for the labor movement is that we will grow again and workers will become stronger. Every fiber within me believes we will not have a strong democracy or a middle class if we don’t have a strong labor movement. Failure isn't an option here, our current and future workforce must have real voice.

AFL-CIO: What are three key moments for you during your career at AFSCME and AFL-CIO?

AHB: My three key moments would include my work with AFSCME, when we won the right to represent university employees in the state of California, the 226 campaign in California and all the other victorious campaigns I was a part of during my career in the labor movement and being elected the executive vice president of the AFL-CIO.

I would also add being in Grant Park in Chicago, Ill., on Nov. 4, 2008, and seeing the first African American president of the United States be elected and knowing that labor played a major role in turning out the vote for President Barack Obama.

BNA: Once you officially retire, will you still have any duties at the AFL-CIO as an ex-officio officer? What are your plans in retirement?

AHB: As an ex-officio officer, I am willing to be of assistance to support the Trumka team in any way I can add value. I am retiring to spend more quantity and quality time with my husband, my family and my precious twin granddaughters, Logan Sophia and McKenzie, but I will continue to serve on a few boards that work on strengthening communities, reducing poverty and protecting voting rights, as well as spending more time serving in my church.

AFL-CIO: What advice would you give to those who are new to the labor movement, in particular young workers, women and people of color?

AHB: Sometimes you can’t wait to ask permission. You need to decide what it is that you want to do to help improve the movement for the better. Do it! Make sure you have a coalition of support for it. Do what you got to do in order to make our movement grow and to empower others. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that it is not your time or it is not your place. Remember it is always your time and it is always your place!