Cathy Dawson was born in Highland Park MI attended Michigan State University for three years before dropping out for financial reasons. After Dawson returned to the area she worked at Detroit Edison as a clerk for a few years but wanted a union job she that she could have more control over. Dawson apprenticed at Edison as a metal fabricator but realized that the physical demand was too much and found a new apprenticeship in the Edison machine shop. She discusses how she was (and remains) the only female worker there and explains the adjustment period that she and her male co-workers went through. Dawson explains that the apprenticeship program at Edison is no longer in existence and the problems this will cause the next generation of machinists. Dawson is currently Women's director of the local she describes that position. She concludes the interview by discussing the future of women at UWUA Local 223.