Alberta found her way into the labor movement through her dedication to caring for those around her. This was her first priority throughout her life. She first joined a union while working as a front-end manager at the Jewel-Osco grocery store, where she worked for 25 years. It was there that her true passion for advocacy began to shine through. She became a trade union trustee, fought for the rights of her colleagues, and honed her ability to speak truth to power.
Throughout her years of service, Alberta was a mother figure and cared for many people, but nowhere was that more true than with her own family. She was the mother of four children and eight grandchildren and made great sacrifices to provide them with loving care. After her son was paralyzed by a gunshot wound, she quit her career at Jewel-Osco and became his caregiver through the Department of Rehabilitation's home services program. This allowed her to stay home and care for her son, allowing him to embark on a new path as a son. Families and childcare workers. The path where she teaches us the greatest lessons.
Because of a legacy of racism and sexism, home care and child care workers lacked collective bargaining rights or even a minimum wage when Albertans began working as full-time caregivers. Care workers, a majority of whom are women of color, were intentionally left out of any labor law and had few protections in the workplace. But that didn't deter Albertans from fighting for justice.
She worked with other long-term care workers to found Legacy Local 880, Illinois' first long-term care worker union. She fought and won for HB2221, a landmark bill that would give collective bargaining rights to more than 20,000 home care workers across Illinois and establish a minimum wage for home care workers. The moment it came full circle, she was there in person when the bill was signed.
