The Labor Wire
March 1, 2018
Today marks the beginning of Women’s History Month, kicking off a celebration of the leaders, organizers and working women at the heart of the fight for social and economic justice. As women continue to organize, march and run for office in unprecedented numbers, this month is a reminder that the movements for workers’ and women’s rights have always been interwoven.
Message of the Day—Janus Is an Attack on Women
As AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told the crowd at Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza on Saturday, women would be disproportionately impacted by an anti-worker ruling in Janus v. AFSCME—particularly women of color. About 1.5 million public employees are black women, more than 17% of the public-sector workforce.
For working women, a union card means higher wages, better benefits and more time to spend with their families. Union contracts narrow the gender pay gap, provide protections from harassment on the job and preserve economic security for working families across the country.
Now is the time to fight back and defend the progress secured by past generations—from the textile mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Mary Harris “Mother” Jones to Dolores Huerta.