March 8, 2008 marks the Centenary of International Women’s Day (IWD), when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay, voting rights and the end to child labor. Their courage and determination to stand up for women workers’ rights continue to inspire trade unionists 100 years later.
Nonetheless, in virtually every country, women face multiple forms of discrimination in both policy and practice. There are 1.2 billion women in work today – about 40 percent of total world employment – yet globally, women still:
- earn 12-60% less than men, even in occupations such as nursing and teaching; in the United States, women are paid 77.6% of men’s hourly earnings;
- make up 60% of the 550 million working poor;
- ace higher levels of unemployment than ever before;
- are concentrated in low-paid, unprotected, temporary or casual work;
- lack maternity protection rights and face violence and sexual harassment at or near the workplace;
- do not enjoy the same level of social protection as their male counterparts.
Much work needs to be done.
On this historic date, the AFL-CIO proudly endorses and joins in the International Trade Union Confederation (representing 168 million workers) and Global Union Federations launch of a two-year Global Campaign for Decent Work, Decent Life for Women. This campaign is an important opportunity to strengthen gender equality both at work and in the labor movement. It advocates decent work for women and gender equality in labor policies and agreements. It seeks gender equality in trade union structures, policies and activities and significant increases in the number of women organized into unions and in elected positions.
The AFL-CIO further expresses its strong support for the broader “Decent Work, Decent Life” campaign launched in 2007, by the ITUC, ETUC, Global Progressive Forum, Solidar and Social Alert International, which aims to build awareness of Decent Work and show that it is fundamental to democracy and social cohesion. On October 7, 2008 – the “World Day for Decent Work” – we will highlight the necessity of passing the Employee Free Choice Act as critical to ensuring decent work in the United States.