San Francisco, 
Global Women's Strike, 2004

Calling all women to the 5th GLOBAL WOMEN’S STRIKE,  
“Invest in Caring Not Killing"!
Calling all men to join with women as we STOP THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT!
Actions in over 60 countries, from Venezuela to Peru, India, Uganda, England

Defend a ‘Caring Economy’ in Venezuela,
 Condemn US in Haiti 
– the 1st independent Black republic

Mon March 8, Internat’l Women’s Day
Federal Building San Francisco 3:30-5:30 pm, 450 Golden Gate (near Polk St)
Men welcome too!¨

* Oppose all US intervention that prevents grassroots people, starting with women who are the poorest of the poor, from creating an economy at the service of human beings not corporations. 
* Stand with Caribbean women who condemn the US coup in Haiti and demand that President Aristide be freed and the coup leader brought to justice.
* Publicize how women in Venezuela won Article 88 in the Constitution, entitling housewives to social security, health care and more. Women want that everywhere. ¨
* Demand that our caring work as mothers, grandmothers, and others is recognized in welfare and other policies as a critical part of building a caring economy in the US.

Followed by: Film Premier, and celebration
Location: ‘Wild Awakenings’ Café 148 McAllister, SF, 6-9pm
Brand new film on Venezuela: “Women the Heart of Venezuela’s Revolution”& clips Nora Castaneda US tour
Film on Haiti: “We Will Bend But Not Break”
Info: 415-626-4114 email:sf@crossroadswomen.net www.globalwomenstrike.net

Invest in Caring Not Killing!

The Global Women’s Strike is part of the movement against war and occupation. However governments justify war, in whatever country, of whatever race or religion, from Palestine to Iraq, women point to the suffering and the tragic loss of life. We have been campaigning for recognition of all the unwaged work women do, and for pay equity, joint levers against poverty, exploitation and discrimination of every kind. Women do 2/3 of the world’s work & although in every country all this work is basic to the welfare and even survival of humanity, it is devalued and ignored by the Market, and women get only 5% of the world’s assets in
return. 

In Venezuela, we are working with the women who are building a caring economy and won Article 88 of the Constitution, which recognizes housework as an economic activity that creates added value and produces social welfare and wealth, entitling housewives to social security. We want an Article 88 wherever we are! The Strike has been spreading news of such momentous victories and supporting the revolutionary process there. Venezuela is the world’s 5th largest producer of oil, yet 80% of the population, mainly women and children of African and Indigenous descent are poor. In 2002 the US backed a coup against President Chavez, elected to combat poverty and corruption. A popular movement spearheaded by grassroots women reversed the coup. The US continues to finance the opposition, now pushing for a referendum to prevent the Venezuelan people from advancing their anti-poverty programs.

The US has forced President Bertrand Aristide out of Haiti at gunpoint, and it must not succeed in Venezuela. Neither will it succeed in hiding the truth about US involvement in preventing the people of Haiti – who 200 years ago won the first independent Black republic – from ridding themselves of the continuing impact of French and US imperialism, furious at what Black people, “their property”, had accomplished against them. Caribbean women have said: “The coup is the latest action in the 200-year effort by the colonial powers…to defeat the struggle for freedom of Black people of Haiti and to prevent them from serving as an inspiration to others…we must defend Haiti…We must act in defence of the other countries of the Americas where the US is also working… to bring about regime change…We will not silently permit US destabilization in Venezuela, a Caribbean country”.

Demands of the Global Women's Strike
* Payment for all caring work – in wages, pensions, land & other resources. What is more valuable than raising children & caring for others? Invest in life & welfare, not military budgets & prisons.
* Pay equity for all, women & men, in the global market. 
* Food security for all, starting with breastfeeding mothers. Paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks & other benefits - stop penalizing us for being women.
* Don’t pay ‘Third World Debt’. Women owe nothing, they owe us.
* Accessible clean water, healthcare, housing, transportation, literacy.
* Non-polluting energy & technology which shortens the hours we work. We all need cookers/stoves, fridges, washing machines, computers, & time off!
* Protection & asylum from all violence & persecution, including by family members & people in positions of authority.
* Freedom of movement. Capital travels freely, why not people?

SF events coordinated by GWS Planning Group/SF. Sponsors: Venezuela Solidarity Group; Haiti Action Committee; KPFA Radio; ANSWER; Tri Valley Cares; Wages Due Lesbians; US PROStitutes Collective Endorsers: Chiapas Support Group; Berkeley Women in Black; Mourning Mothers Affinity Group; and more….
The GWS was founded by the International Wages for Housework Campaign and is an ongoing network of organizations and individuals. Contact: PO Box 14512, SF 94114. Email: sf@crossroadswomen.net
Checkout the website of Payday Men’s Network who support the GWS at www.refusingtokill.net