nternational Women's Day (IWD).
International Women's
Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year. It commemorates the movement for
women's rights.
While the first
observance of a Women's Day was held on February 28, 1909 in New York, March 8
was suggested by the 1910 International Woman's Conference to become an
International Woman's Day.
Η Διεθνής Ημέρα της
Γυναίκας.
Η Διεθνής Ημέρα της
Γυναίκας (IWD) γιορτάζεται στις 8 Μαρτίου κάθε χρόνο. Εορτάζει το κίνημα για τα
δικαιώματα των γυναικών.
Ενώ η πρώτη τήρηση της
Ημέρας της Γυναίκας πραγματοποιήθηκε στις 28 Φεβρουαρίου του 1909 στη Νέα
Υόρκη, η 8η Μαρτίου προτάθηκε από τη Διεθνή Διάσκεψη Γυναικών του 1910 για να
γίνει Διεθνής Ημέρα της Γυναίκας.
New York City, March 8,
1857. This is a historical look at the origins of International Women's Day in
the USA and how it spread throughout the World.
International Women's
Day, a holiday celebrated world wide, honors working Women and Women’s struggle
everywhere. Taught that Women's Place in History is relatively undistinguished,
it should be a real source of pride and inspiration to American Women to know
that International Women's Day originated in honor of two all Women strikes
which took place in the U.S.A.
On March 8, 1857,
garment Workers in New York City marched and picketed, demanding improved
Working Conditions, a 10hour day and Equal Rights for Women. Their ranks were
broken up by the Police. 51 years later, March 8, 1908, their sisters in the
needle trades in New York marched again, honoring the 1857 march, demanding the
Vote and an end to sweatshops and Child Labor. The Police were present on this
occasion too.
In 1910 at the Second
International, a World wide Socialist Party Congress, German Socialist Clara
Zetkin proposed that March 8th be proclaimed International Women's Day, to
commemorate the US Demonstrations and honor Working Women the World over.
Zetkin, a renowned Revolutionary Theoretician, who argued with Lenin on Women's
Rights, was considered a grave threat to the European Governments of her time;
the Kaiser called her the most dangerous sorceress in the Empire.
The Labor Struggle in
the U.S.A. is an exciting one, but it traditionally concentrates on Men. A
little examination shows that Women carried their weight and their share from
the beginning, both supporting the men’s organizing and quite soon, after
realizing that Women's needs were ignored in the existing Unions, forming
women's caucuses or all Women's Unions. The first all Women Strikes took place
in the 1820's in the New England tailoring trades. The idea of Women striking
and demanding better Conditions, decent Wages and shorter hours, apparently
provided great amusement to the townsfolk of the peaceful mill towns. It would
be interesting to know how our sisters a century and a half ago felt about not
having their lives and aspirations taken seriously.
The most famous of the
early Strikes took place at the Lowell Cotton Mills in Massachusetts. Here
young Women worked 81 hours a week for 3 dollars, 1/4 of which went for room
and board at the Lowell Company boarding houses. The Factories originally
opened at 7 am, but fore Men, noticing that Women were less energetic if they
ate before working, changed the opening hour to 5 am., with a breakfast break
at 7 a.m. (for 1.5 hour). In 1834, after Several Wage cuts, the Lowell Women
walked out, only to return several days later at the reduced rates. They were
courageous, but the Company had the power; a poor record or a disciplinary
action could lead to blacklisting. In 1836 they walked out again, singing
through the streets of the town: Oh, isn't it a pity such a pretty girl as I
Should be sent to the factory to pine away and die. Again they returned to work
within a few days. In l844 serious organizing led to the Lowell Female Labor
Reform Association. Their prime demand was the 10hour day. The Leadership and
Activity of this Union is credited with initiating some of the earliest Reforms
in the Conditions of the Textile Industries.
In the period of
intense labor activity following the Civil War, when widowhood and general hard
times forced thousands of Women into the Labor Force, thus causing panic and
hostility on the part of Men, Women found themselves excluded from most of the National
Trade Unions. So they formed their own, including the Daughters of St. Crispin,
a Union of Women Shoemakers. During this era Unions were formed by Woman Cigar
Makers, Umbrella Sewers and Printers, as well as Tailoresses and Laundresses.
The Clothing Workers
formed some of the most famous Unions in U.S. History, notably the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union, founded about 1900. The garment
trade shops in the big cities, such as New York, were deplorable. Fire hazards
were rife, light was scant, the sound of machinery deafening, the environment
polluted. Women were fined for virtually anything - talking, laughing, singing,
machine oil stains on the Fabric, stitches too large or too small. Overtime was
constant and required, but pay for it was not. With the support of the National
Women's Trade Union League, founded in 1903 -a combination of Working Women and
Middle Class, often Professional Women who supported the Working Women's
Struggle- the shirtwaist makers launched a series of Strikes against Leiserson
and Company and Triangle Waist Company, two of the most notorious Shops in New
York. Called the "Uprising of the 20,000", these actions culminated
in the first long-term General Strike by Women, putting to death the tiresome
arguments that they were unable to organize and carry out a long hard struggle.
For 13 weeks in the bitter dead of winter, women between 16 and 25 years of age
picketed daily and daily were clubbed by Police and carried off in "Black
Maria" Police vans. The Courts were biased in favor of the Sweatshop
Owners; one magistrate charged a Striker: "you're on Strike against God
and Nature, whose prime Law it is that man shall earn his bread in the sweat of
his brow. You are on strike against God". This elicited a cablegram from George
Bernard Shaw, who with other Europeans was following the course of U.S. Labor
History. He wrote: "Delightful. Medieval America always in intimate
personal confidence of the Almighty". The Strike was ultimately broken, as
settlements were made shop by shop, but the talent and endurance of the Women
made it impossible for people to go on claiming that Labor organizing was for
men only.
The Story of American
Working Women is often to Kenly recognized by referring to great heroines of
the Movement Mother Jones, Ella Reeve Bloor, Kate Mullaney, Sojourner Truth and
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. These were Remarkable Women and so were their stories.
A good cure for depression is to read a chapter of Flynn's autobiography or
reread the account of Mother Jones terrorizing scabs and participating in the
1919 steel strike at the age of 90. But it should not be forgotten that these
were individual women, and that the bulk of the organizing, struggling, as well
as succeeding and failing, was done by ordinary women whom we will never know.
These were Women who, realized the tactical necessity of standing and working
together lest they be destroyed individually, Women who put to shame the
ridiculous theories of Woman's Place, Women who in the famous Lawrence Textile
Strike carried picket signs reading "We want Bread and Roses, too",
symbolizing their Demands for not only a Living Wage, but a decent and Human
Life and so inspired James Oppenheim’s song "Bread and Roses":
This has been but a
Fraction of the History of American Working Women; part of this Fraction was
enough to inspire an International Holiday. Russia first celebrated March 8
after the Revolution; it is not often recognized that one of the major sparks
of the Russian Revolution was a mass strike in 1917 by Russian Women Textile
Workers. Chinese Women began celebrating in l924, paralleling a strong Women's
Movement in the Chinese Communist Party. When the Women’s Liberation Movement
began in the U.S. and Britain, Women's Day was rediscovered and revived as a Feminist
Holiday. In 1970 the Revolutionary Uruguayan Tupamaros celebrated March 8 by
freeing 13 Women Prisoners from Uruguay's Jails.
As we come marching,
marching, in the beauty of, the day cognized by referring to great heroines of
the Movement Mother Jones, Ella Reeve Bloor, Kate Mullaney, Sojourner Truth and
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. These were Remarkable Women and so were their stories.
A good cure for depression is to read a chapter of Flynn's autobiography or
reread the account of Mother Jones terrorizing scabs and participating in the
1919 steel strike at the age of 90. But it should not be forgotten that these
were individual women, and that the bulk of the' organizing, struggling, as
well as succeeding and failing, was done by ordinary women whom we will never
know. These were Women who, realized the tactical necessity of standing and
working together lest they be destroyed individually, Women who put to shame
the ridiculous theories of Woman's Place, Women who in the famous Lawrence
Textile Strike carried picket signs reading "We want Bread and Roses,
too", symbolizing their Demands for not only a Living Wage, but a decent
and Human Life and so inspired James Oppenheim’s song "Bread and
Roses":
As we come marching,
marching, in the beauty of, the day
A Million darkened
kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray
Are touched with all
the radiance that a sudden sun discloses.
For the people hear us
singing, Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.
As we come marching,
marching, we bring the greater days
The rising of the women
means the, rising of the race
No more the drudge and
idler that toil where one reposes.
But a sharing of life's
glories, Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.
, Academic (Economy &
Law)
On International
Women’s Day, let’s celebrate who are working relentlessly to claim Women’s
Rights and realize their full potential.
I fight widespread
action for Equality. I'm pushing for Equal access to Services, fighting and
against Domestic Violence.
Την Παγκόσμια Ημέρα της
Γυναίκας, ας γιορτάσουμε με όσες κι όσους εργάζονται αμείλικτα γιά να
διεκδικήσουν τα Δικαιώματα των Γυναικών και ν' αξιοποιήσουν πλήρως τις
δυνατότητές τους.
Αγωνίζομαι δ' ευρεία
δράση γιά την Ισότητα. Πιέζω γιά Ισότιμη πρόσβαση στις υπηρεσίες και
καταπολεμώντας την Ενδοοικογενειακή Βία.
Γιορτάζουμε τη μοναδική
συνεισφορά των Γυναικών στον Κόσμο μας και στο μέλλον μας. Μην περιμένετε
Γυναίκες τους άλλους να μιλήσουν γιά εσάς. Εσείς μπορείτε ν' αλλάξετε τον
Κόσμο.
We celebrate the unique
contribution of Women in our World and in our future. Do not expect Women to
talk to others about you. You can change the World.
Professor Vasilios Gikas, Academic and Politician
