Member Profile: Robin Easton-Davis

**This article was originally published in Northwest Labor Press January 3, 2025.

Who are you and how did you get to where you are?

I was born and raised in Columbia, Missouri, a small college town with two private colleges and the major state university. To me, Columbia felt more like a “pass-through” town because of the large and constant transient population. I couldn’t wait to pass through either, which I did a couple of times! I moved around a little:San Diego, CA, a couple of years in St Louis, then the longest in Kansas City (Missouri side!) before moving to Portland. Looking back, I was extremely fortunate to have grown up in a college town because I was able to be in community with diverse people from all over the world, who were from diverse cultures and who held diverse sociopolitical ideas and religious beliefs. I continue to try and seek these relationships out today. These relationships shape me and expand my understanding of the interconnectedness of the root cause of peoples’ oppression around the world! Only in true solidarity will we win! I work in Preschool for All as the Preschool Partnerships Equity Coordinator.

What motivates you to be active in our Union? What does being a Union member mean to you?

All my life I have seen and experienced how workers are treated by employers who have unlimited/unchecked power over their workers. I also saw and learned that getting a union job was the only way to ensure worker power and dignity! My dad was going to graduate school when he and other Black workers were unfairly laid off from their non-union jobs. They were the first ones to be laid off, even though they had seniority over other white workers. They filed a discrimination lawsuit, but there was no collective worker power behind them to support and sustain their fight! After that, my dad couldn’t find work and, eventually, he had to drop out of grad school. I also worked too many non-represented bar and catering jobs throughout most of my adult life, and I know what it’s like to be treated like, and often explicitly told, I was disposable. I learned through study and organizing that radical labor movements fought and died for most of the work rights we had and have. Learning about unions has taught me that you either must be willing to stand up and fight in solidarity for all worker rights or stand back and be willing to lose your own!

What are you working on or what’s coming up that you’re looking forward to?

I’m a co-lead steward in DCHS and I’m on the executive board. I’m a bargaining delegate and on the bargaining team, and I look forward to fighting for a better contract and more power for all members of our union!

Anything advice you’d like to share?

Ask your teammates if they’re union members, and tell them why they should if they aren’t! Please join the Member Action Team (MAT)! Keep up on bargaining updates and share them with your team! Please come to the general membership meetings whenever possible! During our contract bargaining, wear green and show management that you’re in solidarity with your union in all the ways you can!!!

If you are interested in sharing your story or if you know someone who would make an interesting profile, please fill out our Member Profile Form.

Robin Easton-Davis
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