SANTA FE – Housewives: ‘Neither few nor crazy’

The Sindicato de Amas de Casa (Housewives Trade Union), which demands ‘Pensions without contributions for workers without wages’ (jubilacion sin ingresos para trabajadoras sin salario) held an open day at their centre. Demonstrating that ‘No somos ni pocas, ni locas’ (we are neither few, nor crazy), they leafleted extensively wearing placards that read "housewife and lawyer", "housewife and fire fighter" — highlighting that even when women do waged work, we continue to do the housework unwaged . They got good media coverage, both TV and press. Those who couldn’t come to the centre were invited to put a broom outside their door as a Striking symbol that caught on in other countries.

ENTRE RIOS – women joined Santa Fe.

SAN LUIS – Debates on women’s situation were held at the university.

Rural women strike to exist

Rural women went on strike ‘to exist’, demanding money for birth certificates and identity cards which they cannot afford – without them women do not officially ‘exist’ and therefore cannot claim any entitlements.

KAMLOOPS (British Columbia) – From breakfast on

I used your information for an International Women’s Breakfast, a noon March and Rally that we had in Kamloops. It was good to know that women all over the world were holding events as well.

KINGSTON – Older women celebrate

Raging Grannies: There were 10 of us, all over 50, some of us WELL over. We brought our drums, one of our grannies brought wonderful roses, each a botanical masterpiece to give away (and we gave them ALL away, especially to single mothers who hadn’t had roses given to them lately, we noted by their tears), and had about 150 muffins and doughnuts donated by local firms. We hoped to just get women together and talking since women’s organizations so often around here do not support one another. A single women’s network turned up right away and we went outside and sang on the steps of city hall (space also donated). It was so warm we didn’t need coats.

Got articles in the daily paper, the weekly, and were on the six o’clock news, again briefly, with a longer interview on the cable channel which will be repeated. A great variety of women turned up, many of whom had not celebrated the March 8th date before. Picked up a new granny, and that night five of us sang at the university with a number of young women students.

Sang our songs again on Saturday at a rally. It had turned freezing and attendance wasn’t good. Some women told us they were choosing NOT to celebrate the 8th, but rather opting for a Person’s Day, sometime in October (when women won the right to vote, an important day but after all the work we’ve done to help women remember the 8th, not very useful).

TORONTO – Church women hold a vigil and join with others

We are a group of Catholic feminists! We belong to the Catholic Network for Women’s Equality (CNWE). Our connection with the church varies from those who maintain an ongoing connection to those who are Catholic by heritage.

We were already planning an alternate Ash Wednesday gathering at Loretto College in Toronto. When I received your notice from a friend in the women’s studies department at York University (Toronto) I forwarded it to our one list site.

The response was great and we organized a silent vigil outside the ManuLife Centre at Bay and Bloor. We sent out a press release and got good television coverage on one television station. In addition there was a major gathering at Convocation Hall the following Saturday and many of our members were able to join this gathering. This brought together a wide group of women from unions, professions, lesbian groups, social justice groups, etc. It was powerful. The group left Convocation Hall and marched what must be about 10 kilometers to Metro Hall. It was quite impressive.

VANCOUVER – Making the news

The Vancouver Chapter of the Global Women’s Strike had an eventful day. Our focus was on trying to inform the media of the Strike around the world and to let them know what our local demands were all about. Early on March 8 we were interviewed on the French CBC, called Radio Canada. We also were on Vancouver Co-op Radio, the Women’s Show and got an announcement on various other shows. We sent press releases everywhere! We joined our sisters on the March and celebrated the power of women. It was a great day!

Women in government acknowledge unwaged work

El Consejo Nacional de las Mujeres del Ecuador, CONAMU, agradece la continua información enviada respecto de la Huelga Mundial de las Mujeres y las propuestas de cada país con relación a este importante evento.

Desde el CONAMU se ha convocado al reconocimiento y valorizaciòn del trabajo doméstico no remunerado, exigiendo la aplicación de las disposiciones constitucionales referidas al valor productivo de esta labor.

Obligación del Estado de propiciar la incorporación de las mujeres al trabajo remunerado en igualdad de derechos y oportunidades, el respeto a los derechos laborales y reproductivos de las mujeres, mejorando el acceso a los sistemas de seguridad social y protección especial a las madres gestantes y en periodo de lactancia, la mujer trabajadora, la del sector informal, la del sector artesanal, la jefa de hogar y la que se encuentra en estado de viudez.

Esta convocatoria tiene como antecedente inmediato las Jornadas de discusión y propuestas sobre Trabajo doméstico (remunerado y no remunerado) y seguridad social efectuadas el 27 y 28 de enero.

Previo al Día Internacional de la Mujer, el CONAMU invitó a varias organizaciones de mujeres del país para socializar la propuesta de difusión sobre el tema del trabajo doméstico no remunerado y coordinar acciones para apoyar las iniciativas que, en conmemoración del 8 de marzo, se habían planteado desde la sociedad civil y desde el Estado. Además de la elaboración de un documento informativo sobre el tema del trabajo doméstico no remunerado, se produjo material de difusión con los siguientes mensajes:

Reconocer y valorizar el trabajo doméstico no remunerado es una responsabiblidad de todos y todas, del Estado y de la sociedad. ¡Compartido es mejor!

Para la distribución se logró la cooperación de dos empresas privadas del país (una de producción y distribución de leche y una cadena de supermercados) y de diferentes medios de comunicación (radio y periódicos que distribuyeron – en unos casos como contribución y en otro caso con pago — un adhesivo alusivo a la fecha y al tema).

Además, se trabajó en dos cuñas que aún se encuentran en el aire en las principales radiodifusoras nacionales y que estuvieron en el satélite para las radios afiliadas a la Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica, ALER.

No.2. [Llanto de niño recien nacido]

LOCUTORA Por el reconocimiento y valoración del trabajo doméstico no remunerado. Consejo Nacional de las Mujeres del Ecuador, CONAMU, por el 8 de marzo, Día Internacional de la Mujer. ¡Compartir es mejor!

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE – Lively street stall attracts many

The Wages for Housework group (WFH) held a very successful stall in Ashton market from 10-2pm. We put up a marquee, but it was very windy so we had to take it down early on. We had an excellent sound system and we relayed what was happening in other parts of the country and throughout the world, and played Red Jen’s Strike song. We had a continuous stream of women and men who came up to the stall and were delighted to see us there. They told us their stories, had tea or champagne and added their demands to the Strike demands. There were many pensioners who expressed their disgust at the meagre 75p rise to the pension. Rose, a Manchester comedienne did a performance as ‘Blair-babe’ MP Fifi, and we heckled her as she praised Tory Blair. Many people stopped to watch and were smiling. It was great to have the men’s statement to give to the men.

The Women’s Officer for the trade union UNISON (Tameside) and a churchwoman who supports Tamil people, spoke in support of the Strike. We reported over the speaker system what the Strike was about. The male partner of one of the women and a man from MSF helped clear up and set up. Demands were varied and included a rise to pensions, money to take out grandchildren, shut down Sellafield nuclear power station and help for flooded Mozambique.

The Strike was reported on the breakfast show of BBC GMR local radio — they read statistics from the press release and an interview with us. It was also in local papers.

LONDON – Sex workers march for justice

The strike was launched by sex workers. Hiding our identity behind masks, 50 women marched through Soho, the most famous red-light area in London, carrying a banner announcing SOHO ON STRIKE and demanding JUSTICE FOR SEX WORKERS. The media was waiting outside the local church hall where we had called a press conference. We explained why our demonstration was part of the Global Women’s Strike, that prostitute women are women and workers like everyone else who contribute to the life and economy of the local community. Yet we face discrimination from Westminster Council, the local authority, which is trying to evict us from our homes in order to redevelop the area. A number of women spoke, mothers and grandmothers, some who have lived and worked in Soho for 20 years to support themselves and their families. We have been circulating a petition against the eviction which hundreds of local residents and businesses are signing. The event was reported on the regional TV News and most newspapers published major articles — all coverage was sympathetic and supportive of our right to stay! (See press coverage.)

500 at Wages for Housework Celebration & Protest

The central Strike event followed. It was an all-day Celebration and Protest at the Union Chapel (Highbury & Islington) attended by 500 women, children and men. We had a speakout – we reported about the Soho march and press conference; asylum seekers, rape survivors, single mothers, women who do the ‘double day’, older women, lesbian women, women with disabilities and others spoke about their situation and organising. A Chilean woman — tortured under the Pinochet dictatorship and assaulted by his supporters in London — got an ovation when she described the untiring work of a year and a half of daily pickets demanding that he stand trial for his crimes. Other women put their thoughts on the computer set up for this purpose. The audience enjoyed an unusual tarot group reading on the future of the movement for valuing women’s work; films and poets, dancers, musicians and other performers of many races and nationalities. One high point was Songlines International, a 24-woman choir.

Selma James, founder of the International Wages for Housework Campaign and chair of the event, briefly addressed the gathering about what the FIRST global strike in history has already achieved. (See transcript.) A number of women gave news and read messages from other countries.

Children enjoyed the childcare run by Payday Men’s Network. The food was inexpensive and delicious. Everybody agreed that it was a lovely Strike Out!

KUMASI – Forum on wages for housework

GROOTS International: Some of our members held a forum on grassroot participation and used the occasion to talk about the Wages For Housework Campaign. The rest joined Ghanaian women NG0s for a peace march dubbed "World March 2000" organized by the National Council on Women and Development. The following issues were addressed after the march, HIV/AIDS, POVERTY, VIOLENCE and PEACE.

Our media ladies took over the activities for the day in Ghana. In all Ghana had a successful celebration.

TEMA – Dangme East and West district – Rural communities thank precious mothers

Forces of Light Our activities of drama/concert started from the 2nd March 2000 in the rural villages when women usually wake up between 3 am-4 am looking for water and getting ready for the children to go to school and after this they go to the farm. At about 4.30 pm the women return from the farm, look for more water, prepare the evening meal and then go to bed at about 10 pm. Sometimes in the night they are in ‘trouble’ with their husbands without having full and sound rest.

Every village we went we had a lot of men sympathisers who later joined in our activities.

The regional capital activities were carried out with educated women which did not have much impact on the illiterate women city dwellers who in many cases are labourers/house-helps to these few educated and rich women. The city activities were too selective since they were all in English.

We had two radio talks on GAR FM and Radio Gold stations who also highlighted the event on the 5th March and 6th March.

We had a lot of encouragement and support from village teachers and other groups who promised to offer services should in case we have some external funds for our income-generating and water/sanitation projects.

On the 8th March we marched through the district principal street together with school children who were released in solidarity with their precious mothers. Some of our placards read: ‘Women – Universal Teachers from Infancy to Adulthood’; ‘Women – Your Sacrifices Must Be Compensated"; "Strike Hard For Gender Equality"; "Sweet Mothers We Shall Not Cheat You Again"; "CONGRATS PRECIOUS MOTHERS".

Please, let this not be the last event. Let us concentrate on the illiterate rural women so that they may also know their roles and rights – Illiteracy is no crime, let us help them.

GEORGETOWN Vigil against violence

Over 20 women from Red Thread held a multiracial vigil to conmemorate and demand justice for victims of violence. The vigil took place on the spot where a woman had been murdered a year ago. The family of another murdered woman who has been campaigning for justice for seven years spoke, as did a group organising against domestic violence. Men joined in support.

BUXTON Men had a workshop to discuss support for the Strike.

Chhattisgarh Women’s Organisation (CWO)

Demands of the Strike included:

- Stop poverty and violence against women.

Strike actions took place in Raigur District on 8 March, 1000 women; Masmund District on 13 March, 1500 women; and in the city of Raipur on 14 March, 2000 women, including Dalit and Tribal women. They marched from the villages to raise their problems with local government officials in each of the areas. The work they do is agricultural, work in the forest, some do housework in landlords houses, as well as their own housework.

500 women travelled from Raipur to Bhopal by train (14-hour train journey) and 80 women went from Raigar to Bhopal. No one paid the train fare as part of Strike protest. About 80 women met with the Chief Minister in Bhopal and gave him a memorandum with 24 demands, including on violence against women and women’s poverty.

Government officials in each area were forced to speak to the women directly. This was a main achievement of the Strike. Usually if a woman raises problems in the village, the officials won’t talk to her. But when a group of women went down to the office in Raigar District, all the officers had to come out and speak to the women. Women were beating plates shouting "We Want Food!" Other chants included: "We Want to Stop Violence Against Women"; "Equal Wage For Equal Work"; "Wages For Every Work"; "We Are Not Flowers, We Are Fire"; "Naya Jamana Ayega – A New Age Is Coming!"

There was newspaper and TV coverage in Bhopal. (Not in the local area because it is very far from a city or town.) CWO made its own video.

Men suported the Strike by helping with posters and preparations for the rallies and went on the marches. They also went to Bhopal. Some men in the villages prepared food for the women who were going on the marches, looked after the children and helped with the housework.

Margaretta D’Arcy – Women Count Network, Women in Media & Entertainment – Margaretta was the first to call for a women’s strike in Ireland and asked the International Wages for Housework Campaign to back her.

I feel that the whole concept of calling for all women to strike on International Women’s Day has paid off, certainly here in Ireland. We now have a National Paid Holiday demand (for February 1st, St Brigid’s Day) recognized, going through the political process, and backed by the Irish Labour Party. Associated with the Paid Holiday demand is the demand for measuring & valuing of women’s unwaged work, to be included in satellite accounts, as laid down at Beijing. Also the Women’s Section of Sinn Fein has agreed the importance of measuring and valuing.

The process of the campaign in Ireland has really been more interesting than what happened on 8th March itself. We first went public in May 1999, with the "Women’s Dail," whereby we gained the commitment of Senator David Norris to put the National Paid Holiday demand through the Senate. We had to provide him with enough public support to give him the confidence to take this initiative; so a campaign was immediately begun to achieve endorsements from national representatives and local government bodies. We asked the politicians who supported us to ask questions in the Dail (one of the chambers of the Irish parliament) on the subject, putting the government to the test and securing official statements recognise the value of women’s contribution to society. Three county councils, Kerry, Clare and Galway, unanimously passed motions in favour of the Paid Holiday. (It is important to understand that many members of town and county councils are also members of the Oireachtas – the two chambers of the national parliament, Dail and Senate.) There are two visible signs of our continuous 10-month pressure: (1) there is to be a review of the right of women in the home to have a pension, and (2) in the next census there is to be an item asking if people give unpaid help to a family member, and, if so, to quantify it.

In the west of Ireland, we had a highly publicised "official" launch of the Paid Holiday campaign, in October, by which time we had sufficient endorsements to get the media to take it seriously, and to convince the staff of the National Women’s Council that it was a viable cause. As a result, the "official" National Launch took place in Dublin on February 1st, under the auspices of the NWCI. By this time, everyone agreed that March 8th was too close to St Patrick’s Day (March 17th) and that St Brigid’s Day, with its feminist mythological resonance, was more suitable for the National Holiday. By common consent the March 8th Strike was not mentioned at the Launch in case of confusion in the press. After the launch a slogan for March 8th was produced by the NWCI – "Take ten from eleven!" i.e. women were to down tools for 10 minutes at 11 am and demand the National Paid Holiday. In Galway we added our own original slogan (deriving from the resolution passed at the NCWI Annual General Meeting in October 1998): "All Women Strike for a Change – at 11 am!"

We sent press releases out from Galway, about the Global Strike and the Irish activity, to every radio station, along with a tape of the famous Irish blues singer Mary Coughlan as well as the Global Women’s Strike song. The response was amazing, from almost every radio station in the country. About eight campaigning women from different parts of Ireland, as well as the chair of the NWCI were interviewed on a range of different programmes, and the importance of measuring and valuing unwaged work has been well-aired everywhere – all the interviewers were extremely sympathetic. The Irish language newspaper, TV and radio were particularity supportive.

In Galway city we had about 200 women coming to our event at the Town Hail Theatre, which lasted from 11 am until 3.30 pm. It consisted of an exhibition of international women’s posters, music, songs, poetry and speechesThere were women from Canada, USA, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and asylum seekers from Nigeria, the Congo, the Ivory Coast and Angola. The asylum-seekers made a powerful contribution with passionate speeches and songs. There were also young women from the Travellers’ community. Irish language TV and radio reported the event. There were also three "actiontheatre" events: one at 11 am, "Taking our Time" to stop the traffic; the second at 1.30, at Dunnes Stores, solidarity action with sweatshop workers in Saipan and 13 recently-sacked Dunnes workers (mainly women with young children); and the third at 3.30, "Payback Time" at the tax offices, demanding the return of the £14 billion owed to us. We’d had a tip-off that the tax office would be closed to prevent us from entering, so a group of women went in before 3.30 and got a signed receipt of our official claims as women workers. I think we can with some pride assert that the city was ours for the day: even though the police were called to remove us from Dunnes and to keep us away from the tax office, they decided to take no action and showed sympathy with our cause – we told them we supported them when they had their one-day strike last year.

We have since heard that in Kerry, Clare and Westmeath, women held public gatherings at 11 am. A group of archaeologists downed tools for 10 minutes to discuss women’s issues. A group of Dublin women office workers stopped work for 10 minutes and wrote letters off to the TDs (members of parliament). Women working in Galway shops and the public library told me they had taken time off at 11 am. Some women lecturers in Galway university promoted the Strike and marked the hour. From this feedback one would think that a great number of women throughout the country did do something at 11 am in their own way. So, altogether, it would appear that some inroads have indeed been made. And the Value of Women’s Unwaged Work is now in the public domain.

One sour footnote: of the women MPs who were headhunted into political parties because of their involvement with the NWCI not one of them responded to the campaign by word or deed. The "liberal’’ women journalists on the Irish Times blatantly ignored the campaign.

Women On-Line Israel joined the strike and placed a stand at Tel Aviv University on 8 March between 10.00-14.00 for students and lecturers to sign your petition on the discrimination in women’s wages. Quoting your slogan "When Women Stop the World Stops", we add that we should encourage more girls and women to technology, science and hi-tech areas where money and power prevail. Otherwise the "Feminist Digital Gap" will increase the social-economic existing gender gap.

Assemblea delle Donne del WIA–Welfare International Association

The demonstration in Campo dei Fiori in the centre of Rome, a historical square for feminists, anti-clerics, the place where witches and heretics were burnt, was nice but a bit empty because I organised alone everything in one month. I organised a stage on a truck, music and lights; banners saying: "Women do 2/3 of the world’s work for 5% of the income – No thanks!" and: "Legal and Free Abortion – Don’t Touch Law 194!", because now the Pope has so much power in Italy, that very probably abortion will soon not be legal anymore. It is already very difficult to have an abortion. I also made nice posters about "women and the church", "sterilization", " Italian welfare and European welfare", "8 March Global Strike". I had lots of booklets about contraception. I wrote also three booklets – about the double work of women I translated Selma James a little bit; about welfare I translated the Dutch law; and about home schooling. I made many photocopies and many booklets to sell. I read on the stage some letters about Women’s Conference in Beijing, poverty and violence, prostitution, housework and so on.  A man who is helping women’s groups in Rome was very interested and will organize a meeting for me and other groups. 

Before the meeting I contacted many women’s groups and associations, and many said that they would come, and they came indeed, but stayed only for a short time. There was at least one woman photo-reporter, she made very nice photos. Some people that I never knew before helped us a lot: a man from Equador played guitar on the stage; a girl who was working there helped me to read letters and women’s poems on the stage.

We demand that from now International Women’s Day, 8 March should be a National Paid Holiday like 1 May, with no lesser historic and political significance.

Society for the Advancement of Women Malawi NGOs had a press conference with 200 women on the 7th of March, prior to the International Day when the government had organised their own activities.

The strike was called off to next year but we still managed to have 200 women for a Press Conference. It was ok, grassroots women voiced out their views about their positions in the villages and the horrendous work they do which is not recognized and how their poverty situation has made no improvements.
"The wife of Chief Malili was the spokeswoman and also other grassroots women were given opportunity to speak. Women NGOs tried their best and we hope that next year it will take place in full.  We don’t mind about the date but we shall have the Strike take place.

MEXICO

Jornada and Fiesta

Las Hijas del Maiz held a jornada of discussion and fiesta in Mexico City. We know that women in a number of places also joined the Strike but we haven’t had their reports. They were planning to raise their support for indigenous women’s self-determination, implementation of the San Andres Accord, the withdrawal of the military from Chiapas, and the release of students, many of whom are women, arrested after the military broke up the university occupation which went on for almost a year.

Parents declare "Bad Hair Day"

Media Release in support of Global Women’s Strike: Wednesday 8th March has been declared a ‘Bad Hair Day’ by Parents As Partners, a campaign for the economic recognition of parents’ partnerships. Parents As Partners will hold a rally in Garden Place over the lunch hour on Wednesday, to which local Members of Parliament will be invited to address the issue of how to achieve economic visibility for non-employed spouses who work as parents at home. "The current situation is an abuse of our human rights" says Christina Reymer, "since we are discriminated against on the basis of our marital status, yet our spouses are taxed as if they were single people. There is no recognition that a share of that income is rightfully ours, and that both partners’ work, paid and unpaid, is necessary for the support of our children." On the basis that marriage is a partnership of equals, we feel our partnerships should be recognised for tax purposes, so that we are each taxed on a half share of earned income, irrespective of which partner earned the income. That is the only logical way of giving recognition to the unpaid work of parenting, without creating dependency upon the state.

All parents, whether in paid work or not, are invited to come along to Garden Place during Wednesday lunchtime, scruff up their hair, and wear a button declaring their support for the Parents As Partners campaign.

Bad Hair Day was staged on Wednesday 8 March, in Garden Place, Hamilton. While it attracted a lot of very positive support from passers-by, the media singularly failed to take advantage of the opportunity to publicise the issues at hand. The only data release on Time Use Survey (from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Statistics NZ) received a passing reference, probably because it reported men working (in paid work) two hours longer than women a day, while women did two hours more unpaid work than men. It is obvious that women, and particularly women’s unpaid work, does not rank highly on the newsworthy stakes. Nevertheless, we need to keep this in the forefront of the public arena.

LIMA – Domestic workers broadcast and demonstrate

The Centro de Capacitacion para las Trabajoras del Hogar CCTH (Centre for the Empowerment of Domestic Workers) publicised the Strike everyday in their hour-long daily radio programme Sonco Warmi (corazon de mujer – the heart of women). They played songs, announcements and interviews about the Strike, adding their demands for rights for domestic workers whose work is undervalued. On 8 March, 200 women from CCTH joined the 5,000 International Women’s Day demonstration through the centre of the city. Adelinda Diaz, CCTH president, spoke in the main square

A media blitz!

The Strike received lots of media attention and wages for housework was widely debated. Women in villages and cities took time off, organising picnics and other activities. The following article was published in one of the most widely circulated national dailies. "Some statements like ‘spreading their legs’ were not really Tex’s words but that of the reporter. Still, the article solicited lots of follow-up write-ups and phone calls."

BAGUIO CITY – Women to stage Global Strike on March 8 (Vincent Cabreza, Philippine Daily Inquirer 28 Feb 2000) "Will the world stop turning when the female half of the species collectively stop working? Women here will start testing that premise on the Philippine leg of a global women’s strike on March 8 which gender rights activists are staging to prove that women ‘have always been running the planet.’ ‘We go by the principle that women’s oppression is rooted in the fact that their work is never valued. We hope that if all women stop working, then the world stops and may help define this basic gender issue," said Tex Layog, chair of the Baguio-based Foundation for Huwomanity Central Development. The FHCD is coordinating with other organizations involved in the global protest – including the London-based International Women’s Wages Group, the US Prostitutes Collective, the Women in Hellwork Organization for Rights and Employment (War) and Payback International – to launch a synchronized strike in the Philippines.

"The campaign targets a large sector of the country’s female population, including prostituted women, housewives and professionals. It has chosen to focus, however, on a ‘dormant and very unpopular crusade to obtain wages even for the lowly housewife.’ Layog said 49 percent of the country’s population consists of women with an average number of three children. Not all women would be joining the protest, he said. ‘Hardline feminist groups feel we are handling a crusade better given to activism for more jobs or more food,’ Layog said. Layog explained that women are not expected to go out into the streets during the protest on March 8. ‘We want them to strike in their work areas by not doing what they are expected to do. Housewives can stop cooking for a day. Prostitutes can stop opening their legs to customers,’ he said. ‘We want to stress that women have lost the sex wars because all the so-called progress in rights that they have achieved were mere lip service,’ he explained. He said single parenthood, espoused by ‘career feminists,’ did not solve issues of economic value because women who ended up working for their families lost their own roles to nannies. ‘Instead of liberating women from unjust labor, feminists created a new layer of women laborers who are not granted full economic value for their work. Even your own mothers often feel they deserve more from their work although societies thinly disguise this kind of exploitation (by intoning women’s) moral duties as mothers. We are not bucking motherhood here. We are bucking the little value given motherhood,’ he said.

"Organizers have acknowledged the feat of Cordillera women in a 30-year-old global campaign to obtain "economic value for all women laborers" because of the indigenous women’s dominance in Cordillera economic structures. "Women from Kalinga, for example, have become mythical and almost legendary in their role as farmers beside their male counterparts’ hunter role. The males have lost this role, but the women continue on as the dominant economic backbone of lgorot families,’ said Lynn Madalang, who has been studying Cordillera sexuality for decades. But Madalang said the accolades given to Cordillera women were deceptive. ‘In reality, women in the Cordillera have become slaves to their roles because lgorot males have stopped working. There is no more value (attached to) hunting game. Food is now grown. But the females have not lost their own roles even when their work does not get the little value it deserves,’ Madalang said.

Hello. A big thank you for all your hard work – quite an inspiration reading your
website! There were some actions in Portugal, but the real difference for me was the media here, practically all the newspapers carried women’s stories front page
on 8th March. Below is the text of the one published in the English language
newspaper The News. If you don’t have any other news from Portugal contact
me and I’ll send you what I can.

COSATU Supports Strike demands

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) issued the following statement:

"COSATU salutes the women of the world – March 8, 2000

"Today is International Women’s Day. COSATU would like to take this opportunity to salute all the women around the globe for their courage and for the contributions they continue to make in the fight against poverty, violence, oppression, injustice, wars, famine, disease.

"Despite the massive contribution women make around the world, they still fall into the category of the poorest and the most oppressed. Massive technological advances and the development of the global village have done little to benefit women around the world. In fact, in many instances it has actually increased their hardships. Multinational companies find it easier to search the globe for areas that offer cheap labour and poor working conditions. Women form the bulk of casual and informal labour. It is women who are mostly to be found in sweatshops and who are least likely to be organised. And when they are organised into unions, women struggle to climb the ladders of power in those movements.

"Women who do not have formal employment lead equally difficult lives, characterised by poverty and hardship. It is a well known fact that while women continue to produce most of the worlds food they also are the most likely to face starvation. Gender inequalities throughout the world ensure that men, even poor men, are always better off than women.

"Because of this imbalance in gender relations, we believe it is important to analyse the issue of poverty from the view of women.

"Women and girls do 2/3 of the world’s work for 5% of the income.

"So when women stop everything stops.

"While $700 billion a year is spent on military budgets world-wide, less than $20 billion is spent on the essentials of life (accessible clean water, health, sanitation and basic education)! The gap between the rich and the rest is "grotesque" and growing: the wealth of the three richest families is greater than the yearly income of 600m people in the poorest countries. 1/3 of the world’s population depends on firewood for fuel which is collected by women and children. In Africa, women and girls grow 80% of the food consumed there. In Asia, many women and girls spend up to five hours a day gathering firewood. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 25% of the population - up to 90% among Native people - have no access to safe drinking water. In industrialised countries, women doing waged work still earn only about 50% of what men earn.

"Women’s yearly unwaged contribution comes to at least $11 trillion. Society, and even the market, would not survive without the unwaged work of women, in the home, on the land, in family businesses, in places of worship, in neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities. We further call for the abolition of "Third World debt". The work women do - massively increased by structural adjustment programmes imposed by the International Monetary Fund - has more than repaid the debt. In any case, these "loans" must be contextualised within 500 years of colonialism and theft? We demand that all women have access to clean drinking water and ecologically sound technology – all women deserve cookers, fridges, washing machines, computers . . . just because women are poor doesn’t mean they have fewer needs.

"In addition to the spectre of poverty haunting women across the world, they face a daily threat of violence. In the past century we have seen a massive increase in the levels of rape and domestic violence. Capitalism has widened the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" and has ensured that women have become even more disempowered. Violent crimes however are not limited to the poor – women from all classes find themselves victims of rape, domestic violence and abuse. This takes a sharper form however when women are poor, because they are often forced to stay with abusive partners because of their financial dependence. In addition to this, the security systems are very seldom sympathetic to the poor, especially when they are women. This results in very few women reporting incidents of rape and domestic abuse.

"In South Africa the situation is also very grim for many women.

- Poor women are trapped in abusive relationships because of their economic dependence

- The reproductive roles given to women limit their ability to conduct sustainable economic activity

- Womenget employed in the most exploitative areas of labour because of their low level of education and skills

- Women have more difficulties in accessing land

- And because of their subservient status women are more likely to contract HIVAIDS than men

- Women,especially unemployed women in rural areas, townships and informal settlements experience the worst effects of poverty.

"We as representatives of the organised working class are determined to change this situation changes. We will fight for an end to poverty and economic oppression of women. We will fight for an end to violence and abuse against women. We will fight for economic and social justice across the globe!

"We demand the following for women across the globe:

· Affordable and accessible housing and transportation.

· Protection against all violence – at home, in the factory, in the office, on the farm, on the street . . .

· Pay equity for all – equal pay for work of equal value internationally.

· Wages for caring work, whether in the family or not. What work is more valuable than raising children and caring for others?

· Paid maternity leave, breast-feeding breaks and other benefits that recognise women’s biological work rather than penalise us for being women.

· Equal opportunities in the workplace and measures to redress the effects of patriarchal oppression COSATU salutes all those heroines who have worked tirelessly to advance the struggles of the poor and the oppressed (who are mainly women). We continue to be inspired by these revolutionaries, and believe it is fitting a day should be set aside to pay them their well deserved tributes.

Women all over Spain join the Strike

In Catalunya, the Strike Committee, the local authority, trade unions and the March Collective agreed a stoppage at 12 noon. Hundreds of women gathered in the main square in Barcelona – a joint statement was read, followed by a speak-out by women on strike (lesbian, immigrant, church and student women, and a full time housewife). There was live radio connection with Argentina and England. In the afternoon several thousands took part in the International Women’s Day demonstration through the center of the city -- the strikers led a whole contingent to invade a department store in support of its workers who were protesting against exploitation (the store insists on its badly paid women employees to be thin). Cleaning staff, students and teachers in some university departments also went on Strike. Women in Bilbao, Valencia, Zaragoza and many other cities also took part.

Full report in Spanish

Hasta la fecha hemos recibido información de:

CATALUNYA

12 mediodía – Parada de las mujeres en toda Catalunya para leer el Manifiesto por un Milenio sin Pobreza ni Violencia. Organizada por la Coordinadora de la Huelga Mundial de Mujeres, el Consell de Dones de Catalunya, la Federación de Municipios de Catalunya, la Asociación de Municipios de Catalunya, los sindicatos, la Comisión de la Marcha Mundial de Mujeres . . . Hubo paradas en muchos ayuntamientos.

REUS: al menos 8 mujeres realizaron la huelga todo el día. Hicieron una concentración a la que asistieron unas 60 personas y luego una manifestación hasta la plaza céntrica donde se leyó el manifiesto.

BARCELONA

300 mujeres en Plaza Sant Jaume apoyando la parada y la huelga, hubo mucha cobertura por la prensa y la televisión. Departamentos del ayuntamiento, asociaciones, cooperativas y otras empresas como las librerías de mujeres que cerraron y se congregaron para leer el manifiesto contra la pobreza y la violencia de la mujer, reivindicar las demandas de la huelga y sacar pancartas con los lemas "Para el mundo para cambiarlo", "Por un Milenio $in Pobreza" y "¿Cómo se puede escapar de la violencia domestica con solo 36.000 pesetas al año para las madres?" entre otros.

A las 12.30 hubo una rueda de prensa con aportaciones de mujeres en huelga que incluyeron: una mujer inmigrante, una mujer cuidando de su madre enferma que no recibe ninguna prestación, una estudiante, una ama de casa de toda la vida a la que se le quitó la pensión de invalidez absoluta. Hubo una "Tarde de reivindicación y disfrute de nuestro Tiempo Libre" en la plaza con un taller de autodefensa, poesía, danza japonesa, y preparación de pancartas. Retransmisión de Radio Contrabanda con entrevistas en directo a mujeres en Huelga en Argentina e Inglaterra. La manifestación unitaria del 8 de marzo fue más grande y animada que nunca. Las de la huelga encabezaron la invasión de Zara, protestando por la explotación de mujeres trabajadoras, en la producción sumergida de los textiles, los bajos sueldos de las dependientas y la promoción de la anorexia mediante la política de tallas pequeñas.

Las 3000 manifestantes llegaron a la Plaza Sant Jaume donde se empezó la fiesta – "Deja al Manolo que se haga la cena solo y vente a la juerga. Te la has ganado" – con comida y actuaciones de Aso.Amistad de Mujeres de Filipinas, Las Barbarías, Bocombo y las Desmascaradas!

* La cooperativa OPS en Barcelona difundió información de la huelga en su página web, e informó a tod@s sus clientes a través de un mailing de su plan de trabajo el día 8 para las mujeres de OPS: que incluyó un desayuno juntas, asistir a un acto de mujeres, un aperitivo y debate sobre parte del libro "Solas" de Carmen Alborch, una cena, ver una película o vídeo . . . etc. Las cuatro mujeres que trabajan en la redacción Editorial Claret hicieron una parada de 20 minutos delante la puerta del negocio con la pancarta "Paremos el mundo para cambiarlo".

* Las asociaciones Cruz Roja, Intermón, Cooperacció, Món 3, Sodepau, Vetermón y FABV apoyaron la Huelga y pararon a las 12h, algunas-os asistieron a la Plaza Sant Jaume, o fuera de sus sedes.

* En las universidades hubo paradas, talleres, exposiciones y otras acciones en varios departamentos. Las mujeres de la limpieza de Belles Artes redactaron la pancarta "Las que hacemos el trabajo invisible pero imprescindible" y en su carrito otra pancarta decía "hacer el doble de trabajo cobrando la mitad del sueldo es esclavitud, y encima no podemos hacer huelga", - cuando vino el jefe de su compania las estudiantes y profesoras las defendieron. En la Facultad de Pedagogía leyeron un manifiesto, y hubo poesía y exposiciones. Las huelguistas organizaron un boicot de consumidoras en el bar para que las trabajadoras pudieron participar durante el acto.

VALENCIA

En la Universidad asociaciones de estudiantes convocaron un paro de una hora. Las delegadas de la CGT en la Universidad de Valencia redactaron una carta abierta dirigida al Rector de la Universidad haciéndole llegar sus quejas y pidiéndole que instara a la comunidad universitaria a seguir el paro. El rector respondió incitando, entre otras cosas, a la comunidad universitaria a participar en los actos previstos para ese día. Entonces CGT invitó, desde su página Web, a las trabajadoras a seguir el paro convocado por las estudiantes.

TORIS Los servicios sociales convocaron una parada de una hora en la que participaron 30 mujeres. Leyeron un manifiesto que, entre otras cosas, propuso: creación de más escuelas, facilitar las condiciones generales en las familias monoparentales, que se reconozca el trabajo de las mujeres en casa, que los derechos humanos esten garantizados por los impuestos que pagamos, no queremos asistencialismo ni caridad . . .

ZARAGOZA

La Coordinadora del 8 de Marzo, que incluye organizaciones de mujeres, colectivos sociales, asociaciones de barrio, sindicatos y partidos políticos, apoyó la convocatoria de la Huelga y convocaron a una parada a las 12h. El cartel del 8 de marzo tuvo el logotipo de la Huelga y el eslogan "Paremos el Mundo para Cambiarlo".

Las acciones de la Huelga incluyieron el paro de las 12 en la Plaza Paraíso, el vermú en la universidad, participar en la manifestación y la fiesta, la programación especial de mujeres de Radio Topo, una Mesa Redonda Universidad "Paremos el mundo para cambiarlo" Jueves 2 de marzo y un Encuentro con Mujeres Inmigrantes, Sábado 4 de marzo. En todos los actos y en los medios de comunicación el paro y sus demandas han tenido bastante protagonismo, hubo muchas más mujeres que otros años en todas las actividades, animadas por el tema del paro. Tanto en la Universidad como en el ayuntamiento hubo repercusión, pararon bastantes trabajadoras.

ARAGON otros lugares – las mujeres de la UAGA, sindicato agrícola y ganadero aragonés, se adhirieron a la huelga, y también mujeres en varios pueblos: EJEA, CASPE, DAROCA, también desde HUESCA les pidieron información.

LAS LIBRERIAS DE MUJERES en Barcelona y Zaragoza cerraron por la mañana o entre 12-13h, y en Bilbao ¡Neskaixe cerró todo el día!

Domestic workers march out

The National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE) participated in the Street Parade hosted by the United Nations in collaboration with Ministry of Gender Affairs and NGOs of Trinidad & Tobago in observance of International Women’s Day. The Theme of the Street Parade was "Join the Band Against Violence Against Women".

The band comprised of three hundred women, men and children marching from the Memorial Park, through the streets of Port of Spain to Brian Lara Promenade. Forty members mostly domestic workers of NUDE travelled from Arima to the capital Port of Spain (16 miles) to participate in the celebrations.

We formed one of five sections in, the band which focused on Domestic Violence and Human Rights issues. We marched behind the Banner of NUDE which was lifted high in the air and led by the President of NUDE Clotil Walcott. The women marched and chanted songs in T-Shirts that were distributed to the different organizations by the United Nations with slogans highlighting domestic violence.

Our section marched with placards to highlight our issues. Placards with messages such as "To Government: Recognise Domestics as Workers Now", "Stop Exploitation of Domestic Workers" and "When Women Stop Everything Stops". The last placard was a hit with the women from other sections who asked us for placards to hold.

Our section was featured on the television News Report which gave us good coverage. But we were not able to get any reports on the daily newspapers which hardly highlighted anything on the march and where they did mention they excluded mentioning NUDE or our lovely placards, or our call for a Global Strike.

We also distributed six hundred pamphlets calling on women, men and children to join the Global Strike, in particular grassroots who were overworked and whose work was undervalued.

At the end of the march the women, men and children converged on the Brian Lara Promenade and women from the different organizations offered solidarity messages. Clotil Walcott spoke and called on everyone to take the Day Off on International Women’s Day, in recognition of women’s unpaid contribution to society.

Kaabong Women’s Group – Kaabong is a sub-county in Dodoth County, Kotido district, and shares a common border with Kenya (to the East) and Sudan (to the North). The districts of Lira (South West), Kitgum (West) and Moroto (South) are its Ugandan neighbours, Kotido and Moroto districts make up Karamoja, notorious for its cattle rustling herdsmen and admittedly the most backward region in the whole of Uganda. The 1991 population and household census put Kotido District’s population at 196,006 of which 103,525 are women who are mainly illiterate.

Being a young organisation, we have confined our activities to four village   communities in Kotido district, like Kaabong, which experiences the most hardship of famine.

Karamoja as a region is a semi arid area with a lot of water scarcity which leads to movement for long distance in search for safe drinking water, the region itself is the most backward in Uganda with no appropriate technology, few infrastructure-like only one hospital found in the whole district to cater for a very large number of the population. Human rights violation especially among women is of the highest in the country, with women owning nothing but hard working in a homestead while the men go out cattle raiding and hunting.

With this violation of our rights, all women of Kaabong were mobilised by our group on      8 March 2000 to demonstrate by carrying pots on their heads and move along the streets while carrying babies on their backs as a sign of a strike and abuse of our rights through hard unwaged work and no woman was allowed to do any kind of work that day. We demanded equal working opportunity among men and women in our homestead.

We look forward for a planned and full strike for 8 March 2001.

AUSTIN (TEXAS) On the radio...

WINGS: Women’s International News Gathering Service sent a report to the UNESCO newsletter, which is reporting what media outlets did to celebrate International Women’s Day (they had asked that March 8 be a day when women were put in editorial control).
"Women’s International News Gathering Service celebrates international women’s day every week of the year. We’re a syndicated radio program entirely by and about women around the world, which is distributed to noncommercial radio stations in English-speaking countries.

On March 8, 2000, no one was in our editorial offices, out of respect for the Global Women’s Strike for a Change. However, we previously sent out tapes to our satellite outlets and subscribing stations, and to the Austin International Women’s Day Multimedia Festival that was taking place locally March 8 . . .

The line-up enclosed with the WINGS newscast, distributed to radio stations for the week of March 8, included:
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S NEWSCAST (Jan/Feb) Time: 28:58
1. (5:45) WOMEN STRIKE MARCH 8. In/outcues: "[music] What do you think
would happen if we women went on strike? . under Actions on the web site www.now.org" On tape: Famous endorsers (e.g. Jewelle Gomez, Dorothy Allison) of women’s strike day March 8; senator of Irish Dail. Producer: Margaretta D’Arcy, Radio Pirate Woman, Galway, Ireland. Song: "Wages Due" by Boo Watson, performed by Sandy Opatow.

Strike email: womenstrike8m@server101.com.
Suggested intro: ARE YOU READY TO STRIKE? LISTEN TO THIS . . .

LOS ANGELES (California) Women’s Festival of Resistance

We added the demand of: No welfare ‘reform’ that denies that every mother is a working mother. The Strike was marked with a day-long "Women’s Festival of Resistance", kicked off with a rousing morning press conference and celebration at the Crossroads Women’s Center in South Central LA. Flanked by colorful puppet-birds with signs that read "rise up/end poverty", Margaret Prescod of International Black Women for Wages for Housework and Nancy Malleret, a single mother of two from East LA, introduced the diverse panel – a high school student, a grandmother, a former prisoner, a janitor (caretaker) from Local SEIU 1877, and a representative from the Every Mother is a Working Mother Network – each of whom spoke about the issues they wanted visible in the Strike.

A representative from the LA Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, which had endorsed the strike, and from the Women’s Forum pressing for reparations from Japan for "comfort women" sexually enslaved during World War II, also participated. The event included the LA premiere of the Strike 2000 CD by Redjen, the London-based pop artist, as well as the debut of the new LA chapter of the "Raging Grannies", who performed a Strike song written for the occasion by Granny Julianne Spillman. Supporters from Alexandria House – strike headquarters for the day – and Community Coalition were among those at the morning kick-off.

Both major Spanish-language television stations, the LA Times, Associated Press, ECO Communications and CNN covered the Strike. La Opinion and LA Downtown News ran earlier stories, and radio interviews on several stations including KPFK, reflected how much interest there was in the Strike, both in the media and in the community.

Carrying pots and pans, brooms and other tools of women’s trade, the strikers moved on to join a women’s contingent in support of the ‘Justice for Janitors’ march in Westwood organized by SEIU Local 1877, now in negotiations and pressing for a pay raise for janitors who earn as little as $6.80 per hour and clean 70% of the office buildings in LA (unionized). The march of more than 2000 followed in the tradition of the first International Women’s Day which began on March 8, 1907 when women garment workers in New York. City went on strike for a living wage and a 10-hour day. More than half the janitors are women, and many work a 20-hour day, including unwaged caring work at home. A giant puppet, "the mother of all janitors", led the protest at which 34 women were arrested in a civil disobedience action that shut down Wilshire Boulevard during busy midday traffic.

The janitors and their supporters who were arrested received ‘Woman Warrior’ awards in recognition of their work at the final Strike event later that night, an evening of Celebration which included live musical performances by local singer/songwriters (many in the ‘Songs for Social Change’ network), as well as food and dancing. The room cheered when Rosa of Local 1877 spoke (in Spanish) for the group receiving the awards: ‘I am just a janitor, but I am proud to be in the fight for justice and respect and dignity. I am not half a person, I am a whole person and I am at the same level as everyone else in this fight. Where I put my foot is where everyone else should walk as well. Long live the Global Women’s Strike!’

Also honored was the Landrum family, who are leading the campaign for justice in the police shooting of 18-year-old Irvin Landrum in Claremont last year. Special recognition was given to Nancy Berlin and Sister Judy Vaughn of Alexandria House, both of whom have been tireless fighters for social justice for many years – they were presented with strike T-shirts. (Alexandria House is a transitional housing program for women and children that offers numerous community services.) Alex Aleman of the Homecare Workers Union gave a statement linking the struggle of homecare workers to the Global Strike demand for "decent wages for caring work". Unions and others participating in the events expressed interest in working on a broader strike for 2001. 150 women and men participated in the evening celebration, including 40 children who had their own tent and program.

Men also supported the Strike – throughout the day, men at Alexandria answered the phones, worked in the after-school program and cooked. A number of men volunteered to perform different jobs for the strike including videotaping the events, giving free massages, cooking (including men in Food Not Bombs which donated food), and running the children’s program in the evening. Local groups that endorsed the Strike included ACORN, California Food Advocates, Coalition Against Police Abuse, Community Coalition, Every Mother is a Working Mother Network, Human Services Alliance, Institute for Popular Education Southern CA, LA Alliance for a New Economy, LA Coalition of Labor Union Women and LA Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness.

MILWAUKEE (Wisconsin) A ‘Bill to Billy’

The Welfare Warriors who have been organising against workfare, marked the event by presenting a ‘Bill to Billy’ (Clinton, that is) – a bill to the President for the mothering work of moms on welfare.

MONTEREY (CA) What one woman can do!

News Coverage from a 59-year-old Domestic Goddess. On March 8 my local paper printed a picture of me holding a broom and a poster about the Global Women’s Strike, with the caption: ‘Place your broom outside your door to signify the Women’s Global Strike for political, social and economic justice for all women.’ Headline: Women to go on strike worldwide Copy: ‘Women, put your brooms outside your door and go on strike,’ said Jean Richards of Greenfield, a Commissioner with the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women. Your broom, placed outside your door on Wednesday, March 8, will signify to passers by that you support the Women’s Global  Strike for justice for all women.

I also took my broom and poster and went to our local shopping center for two hours on March 6, distributing information about the Strike (as well as information on voting on March 7 in California). It was a lot of fun! I’ll do even more next year. 

* Dolores Huerta, cofounder of United Farmworkers Union, announced the Strike during her address to the Monterey Peninsula College’s 5th Annual Multicultural Conference in Monterey, on March 4. She encouraged the hundreds of attendees to put a broom by their front door to signify that they are a supporter of this strike for women’s political, economic and social equality, globally. Dolores was the keynote speaker for the Conference and she was terrific! 

NEW YORK Women held a press conference on March 7th at the office of the lawyers representing some of Pinochet’s victims. On the 8th leafleted the UN Commission for the Status of Women and held a party.

PHILADELPHIA (Pensylvania) Pay Equity Now!

The largest gathering we have ever pulled off where so many labor groups were represented! About 45 people from a range of labor and community organizations. Chaired by the Wages for Housework Campaign, the press conference heard from representatives of CLUW, Phila. NOW, the United Childcare Union, ACORN, Penn Students Against Sweatshops, WABA and the Utility Workers Union. Others who came, included HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees), Women’s Way, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, a contingent of students and their teacher from La Salle University, the city Health Department, several people from UNITE, the Million Mom March, Grail, the Jewish Labor Committee, and from 2000 African American Women.

There was an impressive display of banners up front, and the room was packed. But people were furious that the press hadn’t bothered to come – this was not only the biggest International Women’s Day event in Phila, it was the only IWD event! A woman from Philly WFH had the brilliant idea of sending a delegation to the Philadelphia Inquirer to object to the lack of coverage, despite our many faxes and phone calls to them. A group of seven people requested to meet with the editor, and ended up with the deputy managing editor, Mr. Dixon, who was clearly impressed with both the range in the delegation and the groups represented at the press conference. As a result, a reporter called Phoebe later and an article appeared the following morning in the paper. A great victory!

* We followed the press conference with a party and speak-out at the Irish Center, which turned out to be a lovely event where people got to know each other.

* Gloria Johnson, national president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, spoke in support of the pay equity petition a few days later at the national Working Women’s Convention in Chicago organized by the Women’s Department of the AFL-CIO.

SALINAS (CA) Hartnell Community College had a Women’s Symposium on March 8 from noon to 3 pm, sponsored by the Associated Students of Hartnel College.  Approximately 300 students, faculty and public members were present when Symposium organizer Deidra Brick announced the Global Women’s Strike. She urged Symposium attendees to "put your broom outside your door" to signify to passersby that you support the Global Women’s Strike for political, social and economic justice for all women."  Her announcement was received with a round of applause.

ROANOKE (Virginia)

I passed along the information to strike on March 8. I took the Sunday off beforehand as well as most of the Saturday. I had been very stressed out from my mothering at home job and couldn’t wait until the 8th. I felt rejuvenated afterwards and ready to carry on with my duties of raising my children.
I am blessed with a loving and supportive husband. I am very grateful for the income that a trust set up by my family provides for me. I can’t imagine how other women do what they need to do with so little support from society. I hope that movements like the one you have started make a difference in women’s lives. There is still so much needed to be done.

SAN FRANCISCO (CA) Celebration & Protest – Board of Supervisors passes resolution

WFH held a multicultural day of celebration and protest with films and speak-out at the Mission Cultural Center. People came and went throughout the day, stayed to watch a video or two and take part in the speakout. Issues raised included the criminalization of women and violence against sex workers.

The City of San Francisco passed a resolution introduced by Tom Ammiano, the President of the Board of Supervisors, in support of the Strike and calling on President Clinton and Congress to establish March 8 as a national paid holiday in recognition of women’s contribution to society.