March 2, 2002
3rd Global Women's Strike March 8:
Invest in Caring Not Killing
Women press "for a world which values all women's work & every life and to end 'America's new war' and all wars"
International Women's Day, March 8, 2002 will mark the third Global Women's Strike (GWS) with the theme "Invest in Caring Not Killing". The Strike calls for a total change of social and economic priorities for the whole society beginning with women.
According to the UN, women do 2/3 of the world's work, and 2/3 of this work is unwaged. Women charge that "never before has there been so much wealth -- yet so many of us with so little." With the Strike, women the global caregivers give their collective "No" to globalization and militarization. Prioritizing the production of things over caring for people threatens human life and the life of the planet. Women in the US have added, "Yes to Welfare, No to War" to the theme of the Strike.
International strike demands begin with payment for all caring work -- in wages, pensions, land and other resources. Based on that entitlement, we also demand: pay equity internationally * paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks and other benefits * accessible clean water, healthcare, housing, transport, literacy and information * non-polluting energy and technology to shorten our hours and burden of work * protection and asylum from all violence and persecution * freedom of movement (immigration and asylum rights). Our demand that so-called "Third World debt" not be paid &endash; "We owe nothing, they owe us" &endash; is based on acknowledging how hard women work, and for how little reward, around the globe.
For the past two years, women and girls in over 60 countries have gone on Strike to "Stop the World and Change It", often with dramatic results. Women in Uganda last year won some free hospital care for all from the government. Women also report that husbands gave them land and animals -- crucial to their financial independence -- finally recognizing all the work they do, and the power of our international connection. (See GWS website for personal statements from women in Uganda.) A demonstration of thousands of village women in India confronted local officials. Domestic workers in Peru demanded to be recognized as real workers in labor legislation. Prostitute women in London's (England) Soho protested eviction from their homes.
So far this year women in the following countries have said they are Striking: Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Belarus, Canada, Colombia, Congo, England, India, Ireland, Italy, France, Ghana, Guyana, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago and Uganda, Uruguay (see international highlights at end) and in the US.
Taking their lead from grassroots women in Argentina who are protesting the collapsed economy caused by policies of the World Bank working with a corrupt government, striking women in many places are planning "cacerolazos" &endash; pots-and-pans protests &endash; and "escobazos" &endash; a broom protest to sweep out the global killers.
Activities in the US include · Philadelphia: women's Strike bus will "Follow the Money Trail" to pots-and-pans protests at banks, "welfare-to-work" agencies, drug companies and defense contractors · Los Angeles: women's march and rally will stop to "call out the thieves" at sites symbolic of the military, multinationals and environmental destruction, and at a Welfare Office to oppose "welfare reform". · San Francisco: march will include cacerolazos at the Welfare Department and Federal Building against war-mongering and corporate thievery. · Milwaukee: Welfare Warriors will lead a photo bus tour of "Bloated Big Business". · Utah: Jedi for Women will hold a press conference at the Capitol. · NYC: protesting mental institutions and sweatshops, and celebrations. Street theater, costumes, music, poetry, art and lots of noise will register women's serious demand to redirect military spending to caring, feeding, healing, learning.
"Democracy Now" with distinguished journalist Amy Goodman (Pacifica Network) will broadcast live Strike coverage, including interviews with women in different countries. (For local broadcast times and stations, or to listen online, go to <http://www.democracynow.org/>www.democracynow.org)
The Global Women's Strike is coordinated by the Wages for Housework Campaign. Payday is coordinating men's increasingly widespread support.
For up-to-the minute Strike news in English and Spanish, plus leaflets in 18 languages, visit http://womenstrike8m.server101.com. Also available: 40-second Webcast and 27-minute video of Strike 2000 on VHS (in English, Spanish subtitles). The Strike website has news from around the globe with photos and reports of last year's stike: http://womenstrike8m.server101.com
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
ARGENTINA: The Sindicato de Amas de Casa (Housewives Union) in Santa Fe is holding daily women's assemblies in the poorest neighborhoods as part of the popular uprising. Coordinating GWS actions, the "Escobazo" (the Sweep) will press their demands to deal with the Argentinean crisis.
ENGLAND: London Strike Committee is organizing a Whistle-Stop Tour and "Cacerolazo" (pots and pans protest) to Sweep Out the Global Killers: Shell, Ministry of Defence, Institute of Directors, finishing at the World Bank.
GUYANA: Red Thread multi-racial women's group holding a "Cacerolazo" (pots & pans protest) in Linden bringing together Indigenous, Indo and Afro-Guyanese women, together calling for an end to exorbitant prices for electricity, phones and water, and for affordable land and housing materials for single mothers.
IRELAND: Women in Media & Entertainment holding a 10-hour vigil outside a church in Galway to exchange music, poetry, and other "creative contributions".
NEW ZEALAND: Auckland International Women's Day Group holding a "Value Women's Work" rally and march, demanding equal pay, support for National Caregivers Day, free childcare, support for nurses and against the oppressive conditions of immigrants and refugees.
PERU: Aymara Centre "Pacha Aru" co-ordinating activities in Aymara and Quechua communities in the Andes; working closely with the Domestic Workers Centre which is pulling together a network of grassroots women's groups and trade unions in Lima and the rest of the country.
SPAIN: WFH Campaign coordinating national events, including "occupation" by women of Barcelona's main Plaza San Jaime, demanding welfare benefits for all women, including immigrants; several branches of National Union Confederacion General del Trabajo (CGT) supporting Strike actions; Basque country feminist collective calling a one-hour stoppage.
UNITED STATES: events in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Boston, Los Angeles, Wisconsin &endash; opposing war-mongering and corporate thievery, and ending welfare "reform" which is cutting mothers' money, forcing them to take any job anywhere at any wage.