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International Women's DayBy VVAW"THE RISING OF THE WOMEN MEANS THE RISING OF US ALL" March 8th is recognized around the world as International Women's Day. This widely celebrated holiday was set aside to honor women involved in struggle and working women everywhere. On the occasion of International Women's Day, we should take note of the history of this holiday, as well as the history of women's struggles in the US. International Women's Day was originated in honor of two all-women strikes which took place in New York City. On March 8, 1857, garment workers went on strike, marched and picketed for better working conditions, equal rights for women, and a 10-hour work day. This strike was brutally broken by New York police. Years later, on March 9, 1908, women in New York's needle trades marched in honor of the 1857 strike, demanding an end to sweatshops and child labor, and the right to vote. This march was joined by women from other factories, women living in slum tenements, and the wealthier women fighting for women's suffrage. These women came together in this first Women's Day event to raise their voices for better working and living conditions. Again, police broke the ranks of women with force and violence. Two years later, in 1910, March 8th was proclaimed as International Women's Day for the purpose of commemorating the two U.S. demonstrations and to honor women throughout the world. Women's involvement in labor struggles began long before the 1908 Women's Day celebration. As industrialization began and flourished in the North in the early 1800's, poor women were forced into the life of the factories. Women were seen as a cheap source of labor for the industrialists and women were needed to run the power looms and other factory machines. The exploitation of women as a cheap labor force was realized and first spoken against by women strikers in 1824. During this year, 102 women cotton workers in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, walked off their jobs with their male co-workers. This strike marked the beginning of women's involvement in U.S. labor struggles and set the stage for future organizing efforts. In 1824, the example for the later suffrage movement was established as women proved that they were not passive and weak beings. It took an individual of strength to work a 12-14 hour day in unsafe and inhuman factory conditions, while earning as little as $1.25 a week (one-fourth the wage generally earned by men for a comparable job). The right to form a trade union became one of the major demands of perhaps the most famous early women's strikes. In 1834, in the Lowell, Massachusetts textile mills, owners declared a 25% wage cut. This declaration was met with over 1000 women marching out of the mills and into the streets where demonstrations were conducted until the strike was broken. Though the strike was unsuccessful, women continued organizing and two years later, another massive walk-out was conducted as 2500 workers at Lowell formed the Factory Girls' Association. This group was smashed by industrialists shortly after its formation, but was rebuilt in 1844 under then name of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association. Similar Associations were instrumental in winning the 10-hour work day and are credited with the initiation of the earliest reforms of the textile industry working conditions. The courage displayed by these women not only succeeded in defeating their bosses rule, but also gained them recognition by fellow male workers. In 1846, three women were accepted to join five male co-workers on the New England Labor Reform League board of directors. This was the first time that women took an active leadership role alongside men in the task of unionizing the industrial North. While women workers in the North were fighting their wage-slavery, black women were integrally involved in the struggle for their freedom from a more brutal form of slavery -- actual human bondage. Two of the most vocal and effective fighters of Southern slavery were women -- Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Tubman was a child when the famous Nat Turner slave revolt occurred and it was only a few years after the rebellion that she helped the first of over 300 slaves escape to freedom. Tubman was instrumental in making the underground railroad a reality, as she guarded slaves from one friendly farm to another on the way to the North. She defended her passengers with a revolver and never lost any of the people she was helping. Due to her successes, the slavemasters mistook "Moses" (as she was called) to be a man and offered a high price for "his" capture. Sojourner Truth was also an ex-slave who spent most of her life working for an end to the slavery of her people. Truth was constantly traveling and speaking at Abolitionist meetings. While she spoke of freeing the slaves, she also discussed the issue of women's suffrage and played an active role in the struggle for the right to vote. These women, along with many other black sisters, have played a glorious role in the fight for equality and justice which is a vital part of the history of women in this country. Though women have played an important role in destroying slavery and in working to free themselves from the brutal conditions of the factories, things did not always go smoothly for the sisters. Despite the spirit displayed by women in numerous strikes, the national labor unions were often reluctant to allow women to join their ranks. By 1873, only the cigar makers' and the printers' unions (out of 32 national unions) had women members. Yet, the majority of organizing among women was continually being done by women. Finally, in the 1880's, this began to change as large unions such as the Knights of Labor and the A.F. of L. began hiring full-time women organizers for the expressed purpose of raising the level of consciousness of women workers. This progressive step in union organizing proved fruitful and in a 10-year period alone (1895-1905) working women took part in over 1200 strikes. The idea that women were able to organize and carry-out a long, difficult struggle proved itself out in 1909 with the "Uprising of the Twenty Thousand." During the winter of this year, a mass meeting of women from all the garment shops in New York City was called. A vote to strike was called for, and the next day between 20,000-30,000 women walked out of their factories. This was the first general strike by women and it continued through 13 weeks of bitter cold weather, numerous arrests and beatings. The strike was eventually broken but it served as the "proving ground" that labor organizing was not something for men alone. Since this "Uprising," women have continued to follow in the same heroic path as did their ancestors. As the struggle for human dignity and true equality goes on, women have and must continue to take leading roles in the tasks ahead of us. Their spirit and willingness to engage in long-term struggle should be an inspiration for the women and men of today as we continue the work which has been left to us. Not only are there lessons to be learned from the history of women in this country, but we must take a close and careful look at the role women have played in the struggles presently going on around the world. U.S. imperialism is being opposed by liberation struggles of third world countries in all corners of the world. Integral to the liberation of these countries is the unity which exists among the people -- between men and women. In Indochina, in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America we have seen the men and women working side-by-side -- in the villages, in the fields, and in battle -- for the freedom of their people. The successes of these struggles would be difficult to imagine if women were not involved on an equal basis with men in the day-to-day battles for independence. This unity in work and in purpose is the lesson that we in the U.S. must learn from. In order to bring about the liberation of women, we must first define exactly who the enemy of women is in this country. The enemy is not men; the enemy is imperialism. It is the corporate owners and the politicians who work for them that are keeping women in a subordinate position -- both in the home and on the job. It is the same enemy that the people of Indochina have been fighting -- those few rulers who tell us what our wages are to be, what our history books will print, what jobs we are "qualified" to hold, and how we are to treat our brothers and sisters. It is imperialism which has divided men and women against themselves and it is high time that this division cease. If we are to learn from the people of the world who are opposing U.S. imperialism and carry on the struggle to defeat this enemy from within, we must do it in unity. "Women's liberation" is a worthy slogan for the struggle that is ahead of us. If women are to be liberated from domestic and wage slavery and free to participate in productive labor, it will be the task of women to fight for the economic and social equality (not only formal equality). The liberation of women will be a major part of the liberation of society as a whole because when women are finally free to equally participate in the running of their society, U.S. imperialism will be destroyed. International Women's Day is a tribute to working and struggling women everywhere. It is a holiday which signals the uniting of women, both with their sisters and their brothers; it is a signal that women are dedicating themselves to struggling for their own liberation and the liberation of society as a whole; and it is a signal that now is the time to gather our strength and courage, just as our ancestors did, and move onward to bring about and claim our victories. International Women's Day is a sign of the rising of the women -- women who are willing to meet their responsibilities and carry the struggle against imperialism forward. The spirit of International Women's Day is well expressed by a voice from our past in the following poem inspired by striking women textile workers in the early 1900's: As we come marching, marching, we bring the
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