UAW 2250’s Kim Cook Bell elected president of UAW Region 5 Women’s Council

By SHERI GASSAWAY

Correspondent

Kim Cook Bell, chairwoman of the UAW Local 2250 Women’s Committee, has been elected president of the UAW Region 5 Women’s Advisory Council, which serves 17 states.

Cook Bell found out about her nomination when she checked into the UAW Region 5 Leadership Conference in Palm Springs, CA, last month. She said the news was unexpected since she didn’t run for the seat.

QUITE AN HONOR

“It was quite an honor that I was chosen for the position considering my short tenure with the UAW,” said Cook Bell, who joined Local 2250 in 2014.

Local 2250 President Glenn Kage recommended Cook Bell for the position and said he wasn’t surprised at all that she was elected to the post.

PERFECT REPRESENTATIVE

“Her dedication to the members of Local 2250, her outreach to the community and her work on behalf of the women’s movement made her the perfect representative for the position,” Kage said. “She’s multi-talented, and it is an honor to work with her.”

Cook Bell said she is looking forward to her work on the Region 5 Women’s Advisory Council and serving on the curriculum planning team for the annual UAW Women’s Conference in Black Lake, MI.

“It was an incredible privilege to be together with such amazing women at the leadership conference,” Cook Bell said. “We were given valuable information, resources and materials to share with our sisters and help us to be successful in all our endeavors.”

EARLY INVOLVEMENT IN UAW LOCAL 2250

Cook Bell became involved with the Local 2250 Women’s Committee as soon as she joined her union. In 2016, she was named co-chairwoman of the committee and in 2017, she was appointed chairwoman.

She is also active on Local 2250’s Community Services and Voluntary Community Action Program (V-CAP) committees. The V-CAP program educates the membership and community about issues, candidates and policies that affect all working families and helps elect candidates that support working people and Organized Labor.

In addition to her work with Local 2250, Cook Bell also serves as president of the St. Louis Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). She has been a member of the organization’s executive board since 2015.

ABOUT UAW REGION 5

UAW Region 5, headquartered in Hazelwood, MO, covers 17 states in the western and southwestern United States, including: Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Alaska, Washington and Hawaii.

Its members work in the auto parts, aerospace and beverage container industries. Others work in academia and include graduate student employees at the University of California. For more information, visit region5.uaw.org.