Huelga Mundial de Mujeres -- PAREMOS EL MUNDO PARA CAMBIARLO

8 March, International Women’s Day, saw the first Global Women’s Strike, demanding a millennium which values all women's work and all women's lives, and an end to no pay, low pay and too much work.

The Strike was first called by women in Ireland who are demanding an annual paid day off in recognition of their enormous contribution to society. It was made global by the International Wages for Housework Campaign to protest the $800 billion a year spent on military budgets world-wide, while less than $20 billion is spent on the essentials of life – clean water, health, sanitation, basic education. Women of different races and nationalities, including from Latin America and Spain, were part of the London Strike Committee.

Women in at least 60 countries took action on behalf of the demands of the Strike: wages for all caring work; pay equity internationally; paid maternity leave and breastfeeding breaks; protection from violence in the home and outside; abolition of Third World debt; clean water and non-polluting technology; affordable and accessible housing and transport. Women applied these demands to their specific needs and to their ongoing campaigns: for example, for land, for welfare, for pensions, for other rights.

• Argentina -- the Housewives Union in Santa Fe, which demands 'Pensions without contributions For workers without wages', [jubilacion sin ingresos para trabajadoras sin salario] held an open day at their centre. Those who couldn’t attend were invited to put a broom outside their door as a Striking symbol that caught on in other countries.
• Burkina Faso -- rural women struck to exist, demanding money for birth certificates and identity cards.
• India -- village women struck against housework; in Raipur, Ragard and Mahasmund women marched; some of these women met with government ministers in Bhopal and Delhi.
• Ireland -- Margaretta D’Arcy and singer Mary Coughlin got the Strike’s theme song played on many radio stations. At 11am women stopped work for 10 minutes. In Galway African asylum seekers and Irish women together celebrated at the Town Hall, and picketed Dunne's store in solidarity with a protest against sweatshops in the Philippines.
• Mexico -- Las Hijas del Maiz held a jornada of discussion and fiesta in Mexico City. Many raised their support for indigenous women's self-determination, implementation of the San Andres Accord and the withdrawal of the military in Chiapas, as well as for the release of university students, many of whom are women.
• Peru -- the Centro de Capacitacion para las Trabajadoras del Hogar marched through Lima with 5000 women.
• South Africa -- the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) issued a statement supporting the Strike demands.
• Spain -- Hundreds of women held a speakout in Barcelona’s main square and thousands marched through the city centre, some invading a department store which insists that sales staff stay slim. Actions took place in Bilbao, Valencia, Zaragoza and many other cities.
• US -- Los Angeles women marched with the Justice for Janitors campaign [mainly women caretakers]; a New York press conference took place at the office of lawyers representing victims of Pinochet; Philadelphia, backed by trade unions, launched a petition for pay equity; San Francisco city council supported with an official declaration.

In London, England, the Strike was launched by sex workers. Hiding their identity behind masks, they marched through Soho and held a press conference demanding justice against eviction from their homes. The central event was an all-day celebration at the Union Chapel attended by 450 women and children for a speakout, group tarot reading, films and poets, dancers, musicians and other performers -- even a 24-woman international choir. A Chilean woman -- tortured under the dictatorship and assaulted by Pinochet supporters in London -- got an ovation when she described the untiring work of a year and a half of daily pickets demanding that Pinochet stands trial for his crimes.

Payday Men’s Network co-ordinated men's support for the Strike, gathering statements and donations, organising childcare and food.

Jacky, who leafleted, attended a Strike planning meeting of students and helped with the London event, comments:

The day was very interesting and knowledgeable. I loved the cheap books. There were lots of really good information leaflets. The entertainment and the speakers were brilliant. My sister came all the way from Sutton with her three kids. She was sorry there were not more brothers taking part and said she’d get them there next year. The crèche was brilliant. As a mother, I have never been to a crèche that has a play station.

Since the Battle of Seattle against the World Trade Organisation, everyone accepts that grassroots organising must be as global as the market. We are now beginning to organise for Strike 2001 -- those who need a lot of notice (like some trade unions) will have plenty of time to work out their participation!

Our weekly protest picket opposite Downing Street, every Wednesday between 1-2pm will build momentum for 8 March 2001. The first Women’s Wednesdays in Whitehall on 5 April will protest the Immigration and Asylum Act and the media witch-hunt against women and children who are forced to beg to survive.

To join us or for more info, contact the Wages for Housework Campaign

Tel: 020-7482 2496
Fax: 020-7209 4761

e-mail: womenstrike8m@server101.com

webpage: http://womenstrike8m@server101.com

HOME