GWEN YORK

1956-2018

A role model and mentor to union women, Gwen Dunivent York worked for 37 years as a Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant and held leadership roles at the Transport Workers Union Local 556 and within the Dallas AFL-CIO and the Texas AFL-CIO.

York excelled in every leadership role that came her way and served with great distinction as a member of the Texas AFL-CIO Executive Board. Her greatest legacy in the labor movement is her role in encouraging working women around the nation to pursue equality as a matter of justice. 

York’s airline career began in the “hot pants and go-go boots” era of Southwest. She was proud of Southwest, which changed with the times, and she was proud to help make the times change. She wore many hats. Among them: an ace Shop Steward; a go-to representative in grievances; a deft navigator in arbitrations; and a political organizer second to none. 

York’s level of excellence inspired women everywhere. She expanded the TWU Air Division Working Women’s Committee to the entirety of TWU, reaching out to the Transit and Rail divisions of the union in the process. She personally - often one-on-one- encouraged hundreds of TWU women to assume leadership roles, run for office, and stand for equal rights and respect. She became an in-demand speaker at union events across the country whenever the subject involved women in the workplace. 

York was one of the founders of the Texas AFL-CIO Women’s Committee, and at the time of her death was helping lay the groundwork that would elevate the state labor federation’s program to empower women. 

Though she is sorely missed, Gwen York’s example is living on among countless rising stars in the state labor federation.