This is my first ASK HN post and I'd like to hear your opinions on whether or not it's considered a good/bad thing to include your union board participation in your professional CV.
I know that not all of us have a union in our places of work, but I'd like to hear from those that have been union board members or from recruiters/HR people on how they see this when they scan a CV.
To offer some personal info and start the discussion, I used to be the president of the workers union for our local branch (~180 people) and I've included this info in my CV from day one. This (IMHO) shows that I’m helping my fellow co-workers with their needs, have a say about our working conditions and participate in our coordinated discussions with the company, without being involved in internal politics and always outside political parties/organizations. I’ve never received a comment or question about this part of my CV, but I’d like to hear how other people see it.
In non-political tech, in America, I’m guessing most will ignore union management as generic leadership experience. In cases where it would be overlooked by most and vilified by some of a libertarian bent, skip it. If you get the sense it will be embraced by some of a progressive bent, leave it in.
If you’re obsessing over it, flip a coin. My strongest intuition: this is of marginal benefit or injury at best.