March 2009
March 6, 2009
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Sister Ruth Dorsty has been an IAM member for 21 years. An employee at Northwest Airlines at JFK Airport, Sister Ruth began as a member of Local Lodge 1894 in New York. When her office closed in New York, Sister Ruth transferred to Minneapolis, MN and joined Local Lodge 1833. Both lodges are affiliates of District Lodge 143.
Throughout her IAM career, Sister Ruth has held the position of Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, DL 143 Trustee and is currently serving as a General Chair for DL 143. She first became active in the union simply because someone needed help and asked her. She has been helping ever since, especially when it comes to giving Northwest Reservation Agents a voice.
Sister Ruth advises sisters trying to figure out where to start to get more involved to begin by listening. When you hear of a need, volunteer to help; be persistent and do your best to work well with others.
During this transition time as Northwest and Delta Airlines merge, Sister Ruth finds her job more demanding, but all the more rewarding. As she continues to fulfill her responsibilities to her Northwest sisters and brothers, she takes time to educate Delta employees as to the benefit of working with an IAM contract. Sister Ruth stresses how important it is that everyone work together to keep the protections for which Northwest Employees have fought so hard. She adds, “If you ever wanted to get involved, now is the time to do it. When it comes to this Northwest / Delta campaign, there’s plenty of work for everyone.”
