Nussbaum, Karen (1950—)

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Nussbaum, Karen (1950—)

American labor activist. Born on April 25, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois; attended University of Chicago; married; children: three.

Was co-founder and executive director of 9to5, the National Association of Working Women (1973–93); elected president of Union District 925, Service Employees International Union (1981); served as director of the Women's Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor (1993–96); was director of the Working Women's Department, AFL-CIO (1996—).

A native of Chicago, Karen Nussbaum attended the University of Chicago for a time before dropping out and moving to Boston, where she took a job as a clerk-typist at Harvard University. Dismayed by the low pay she received (just two dollars an hour), the lack of benefits and vacation time, and the general lack of respect shown her at work, she began talking to other women similarly employed and discovered that many of them felt the same way. Shortly thereafter, about 50 women who worked in various offices at Harvard decided to form an organization. Their research showed that despite the fact that office workers were both key components of the American economy and the largest of all job categories, they were overwhelmingly female and in the lowest pay category. By 1973, the Harvard group expanded to include the entire Boston area. The Boston group then joined with similar groups in other cities to form 9to5, the National Association of Working Women, of which Nussbaum became executive director. Aiming to advance the rights of "pink collar" workers, the organization worked to improve the wages, work environments, and promotion opportunities of its members. Banks, insurance companies, universities, and publishing houses have all, at times, been pressured by 9to5 to improve the treatment of their office workers. (The group also provided the inspiration for the popular 1980 movie 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton .)

To provide 9to5's members with an agent to negotiate collective bargaining agreements, Nussbaum and her association formed a local branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In 1981, they formed a national union, District 925 of the SEIU, to organize the secretarial and clerical workers of the United States. While Nussbaum became president of the union, it remained a separate entity from 9to5. During this period, she also co-authored several books, including 9 to 5: The Working Woman's Guide to Office Survival (1983) and Sitting on the Job: How to Survive the Stresses of Sitting Down to Work (1989), appeared on television and testified before Congress.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Nussbaum director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor. During her tenure, she focused on promoting fair pay and benefits, child care and family leave, and job training and advancement. In 1996, she left the Department of Labor to become the first head of the newly created Working Women's Department at the AFL-CIO.