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Six Virginia USW Local Unions met in Danville to learn how to organize their own Women of Steel (WOS) committees in their locals. Some of the locals in attendance already had their committees established and their presence greatly helped the others to understand why WOS committees were important and how they could help in their locals. The locals in attendance were:

• USW Local 400 from Richmond representing workers at Alcoa.
• USW Local 831 from Danville representing workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Goodyear/Gemini Service Store, Alsco Linen Services and URW Community Federal Credit Union.
• USW Local 1014 from Danville representing workers at the Corning plant.
• USW Local 1853 from Martinsville (former PACE local) representing workers at J & J Southeast Containers.
• USW Local 8888 from Newport News representing workers at Newport News Shipyard.
• USW Local 9428 from Chatham representing workers at Times Fiber.
• Two other area locals were identified and one of the attending locals has agreed to find out information about them so that they can be included in future training. They represent workers at Smurfit Stone in Martinsville and Roanoke.

After a brief welcome overview of Local 831 from Communications Coordinator Dana Dixon, President Danny Barber welcomed the visiting locals. Brenda Miles, WOS Virginia Coodrdinator, led this training session. Topics for discussion included:

• Why a Women’s Committee
• Effective Communications, presented by the USPA
• Getting to work, how to start your committee
• Becoming a leader within your local

“This seminar was wonderful. The whole group had energy and knowledge to share. It has helped to boost my enthusiasm about the union and the need for WOS,” stated Delenna Jones of Local 1014.