Voice of the Unions Feb 2002                                                   p7

What is YOUR union planning for International Women's Day?

By Isabel Song

FOR TWO YEARS on 8 March, International Women's Day, women and girls from over 60 countries have come together to demand 'an end to no pay, low pay and too much work'. They took time off from their crushing workload -  waged and unwaged - as part of the Global Women's Strike. As we are organising for this year's Strike, our world is in even greater turmoil, with wars in Afghanistan and many other countries, while starvation is facing millions.

The Women's Strike in Argentina

There has never been so much wealth in the world and there have never been so many of us, particularly the women and children, who are so deprived.

Yet in peace and war, 'women's work' forms the backbone of every community -  and of life itself.

Most of this work, world-wide and essential to every home and community, is done without any pay, but it mostly remains unaccounted and unremarked and when women go out to a waged job as well then we face a double day's work! Childcare, health care, housework and community work don't go away. Moreover, because most caring work is done by women for no wages, most of their paid employment - which is often also caring work - is undervalued and poorly paid by employers.

The Global Women's Strike calls for society to 'invest in caring not killing'. Payment, for all caring work is a central demand. A strike is the strongest weapon that workers have, and women, who do two thirds of the world's work, are the hardest workers. When we stop, everything is disrupted.

Each year the Strike has gone further in bringing waged workers together with women who work unwaged at home. In Britain union support came most notably from UNISON branches and members. Hospital ancillary workers who were on strike in Dudley (reported in Voice) took part in the GWS, saying that time and profit-driven privatisation of their jobs would render them unable to deliver efficient patient care. Others used the Strike to press for 'freedom of movement' and against the government's refusal, despite its promises, to end the hated voucher system.

In Los Angeles the Homecare Workers' and Garment Workers' Unions called out their members. In Philadelphia, the local Coalition of Labour Union Women, AFL-CIO (equivalent of the TUC) and AFSCME (roughly equivalent of UNISON) sponsored a 'two hour lunch break for women against no pay and low pay and for pay equity'. In Argentina, the Strike united women from unions normally bitterly divided on party lines, along with women journalists, pensioners and younger housewives. These same women are now organising to ensure that women's needs are recognised in the current explosive crisis. In Peru the Strike was called by CCTH-the union of domestic workers, and by Indigenous women in the Andes. In Spain a national union called for a two-hour General Strike, Women in Ireland picketed the tax office for the money we women are owed. Women in Uganda walked for three days without food in order to demonstrate and celebrate with women globally. In India 5000 village women marched to the state capital protesting the exploitation of women farm workers.

Internationally, Payday, which coordinates men's support, issued a startling collection of statements from men, spelling out how the Strike speaks to their needs and to the women partners and daughters they care about.

Can anyone, least of all those in trade unions, deny that production should be at the service of caring, not killing or profit? Yet when we demand money and resources to relieve horrendous poverty and overwork we are told there is no money - no money for caring - yet there is always money for killing. £800 billion a year is spent on military budgets worldwide, £40 billion for Bush's `new war'.