Carolyn Forrest (born July 29, 1932) is a former American labor union leader. Born in

Paris, Tennessee Paris is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,316. A replica of the Eiffel Tower stands in the southern part of Paris. History The present site of Par ...

, Forrest moved to Michigan with her husband in 1953. She began working at the J. R. Winter Company in 1957, where she organized colleagues to join the

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

. In 1967, she began working for the union, becoming its first woman servicing representative. In 1977, she was appointed to the union's headquarters staff as an administrative assistant, and then in 1993 she won election as a vice-president of the union. Forrest was a founder member of the

Coalition of Labor Union Women The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of trade union women affiliated with the AFL–CIO. The CLUW is a bridging organization that seeks to create connections between the feminist movement and the la ...

. In 1995, she was elected as a vice-president of the

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

, succeeding Odessa Komer. She retired in 1998.

References

1932 births Living people American women trade unionists People from Paris, Tennessee Trade unionists from Tennessee United Auto Workers people Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO {{trade-unionist-bio-stub