Part Two: BHM Series – Hattie Canty Activist, Union Leader

By Martina Manicastri

Hattie Canty, born in 1933 in rural Alabama, would go on to be a leading force in the labor movement, championing the causes of organized labor and the Civil Rights movement. Prior to her union activism, Canty moved from place to place in search of work that could sustain her, her 10 children, and her ailing husband. When she was ultimately widowed, she took a job as a room attendant at the Maxim Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was there that she joined her first labor union, the Las Vegas Hotel and Culinary Workers Union Local 226. She became deeply involved in the work of the Local, quickly taking on an organizing role and talking to her coworkers about the importance of joining the union and fighting for a fair contract. When recounting her time with the CWU, she spoke of why she personally fought so hard for the union, “I did it because at this time, I’m a single mother with all those babies and I needed that union salary.”

Canty’s fierce leadership as a rank-and-file member during negotiations led to her eventually being on the Executive Board and having a seat at the bargaining table. In 1990, she was elected the CWU’s first Black female rank-and-file president in history.

During her time as president, she continued to be on the frontlines of their fight for fair contracts and working conditions despite significant challenges including being arrested six times for various labor actions.

But she wasn’t just on the frontlines of the labor movement, she also saw her time as a labor activist as being inextricably linked to both the civil rights and women’s rights movements.

In 1993 she helped establish the Culinary Training Center, which primarily helps women of color enter the hospitality industry and retain jobs. 

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The Center, now called the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas continues this work today.

Hattie Canty still lived in Las Vegas when she passed in 2012.

This article appeared Feb. 14, 2024 in the newsletter of the CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local 1036.