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WORKING WOMEN GET TOGETHER
by Dagmar and Laura from Womankind
(1971)
(Editors Note: This report on an AFL-CIO women's conference showed the
impact that women's liberation was having on the labor movement.
"We've
got to stop being jealous of each other. We've got to stop putting
each other down because we see things in others that we hate in
ourselves. We have to start feeling positive about ourselves and
our sisters. Only together and in unity can we win our rights."
These words
of a union woman reflect the strong feelings of solidarity and enthusiasm
at the second annual AFL-CIO women's conference sponsored by the Wisconsin
State AFL-CIO Women's Committee. The conference was held in Milwaukee
on October 2 and 3. Over three hundred rank and file women representing
a wide range of unions throughout the state met to discuss the problems
working women face in the shop, in their union and at home. The meetings
did not stop at the talking stage -- twenty-one resolutions dealing
with the struggle for women's rights and with specific legislation
addressing discrimination against working women were passed unanimously.
The first
speaker, John Schmitt, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, threw the
program off schedule by taking a half hour longer than his scheduled
ten minutes. He was criticized for spilling over into time that was
not meant for him, but congratulated for having learned in the past
year that his audience consisted of union women, not 'girls".
Elizabeth
Duncan Koontz, Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department
of Labor, stressed that children need more than a mother's love and
affection and mothers need more than their children. To terminate job
discrimination, she stated, women must collectively struggle to free
themselves of destructive myths and to end unequal treatment in their
work and unions. Women must no longer be penalized for their reproductive
function nor should their needs and desires for fulfilling work continue
to be ignored. Her plea for a women's conference in every state tied
to a resolution prepared by the Women's Committee calling for an AFL-CIO
sponsored regional conference, and ultimately a national one.
Other speakers
addressed issues such as "Equal Rights for Working Women," "Legal Routes to Women's Liberation," "Birth Control
-- A Woman's Right," "Equal Opportunity for the Advancement
of Women," and "The Role and the Need for Daycare." Talking
on "Women -- the Articulate Majority," Kathryn F. Clarenbach,
Chairwoman of the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women, said:
"Simple justice does not direct the body politic -- it must be
won and taken. The special needs of women can only be met by women themselves."
At the workshops, participants related the issues to their personal
experiences and to their daily worklives. The emphasis was on ways and
means to develop tactics for the fight against discrimination and sexism.
There was
a strong consciousness that women had to take up their struggle not
only outside of but also within their unions. Some of the resolutions
urging the AFL-CIO to action demanded:
- an increase in the number of women in leadership positions "at
least in proportion to its membership" and to "wholeheartedly
encourage its affiliated unions to form Women’s Committees."
- that the Wisconsin AFL-CIO bargain for day care as fringe benefits,
provide day care through union sponsorship and aggressively involve
themselves in community day care efforts.
- that the Wisconsin AFL-CIO "actively and vigorously support
the adoption of the maternity leave policy as proposed by the Department
of Industry, Labor and Human Relations and negotiate for insurance
programs which eliminate discriminatory provisions pertaining to pregnancy
and maternity leaves."
- that women be considered for appointments to local and state commissions
and that two rank and file members, one being a woman, be appointed
to the State Legislative Committee which presently has no rank and
file member on it
- increased efforts in organizing unorganized women. Unfortunately,
the original motion which requested the development of specific
programs toward this end was presented in a somewhat diluted version.
The sentiment, however, remained unchanged.
The conference
went beyond the exchange of ideas and the analysis of oppression. From
the beginning, the women agreed that "crying and moaning"
was not what they had gotten together for, but that their sharing of
experiences should lead to developing action and tactics. Solidarity,
courage and confidence in yourself and your sisters -- this was the
outcome of union women getting together, freely discussing their problems
and frustrations and committing themselves to immediate and far-reaching
change.
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