Why Women Should Strike — and not Just on Women’s Day
As we get ready to mark the International Women’s Day with demonstrations, some groups are taking protest a step further by calling for a general women’s strike on March 8. Women are asked not only to walk off the job, but also to set aside “invisible” domestic work like cooking and taking care of children.
In Spain, a one-day strike is already underway and it has the support of mayors and major unions. But is such a strike possible in the U.S., and will it truly be effective in advancing women’s rights? I think that we must follow Spain in organizing a one-day walkout of as many women as possible. In addition, labor unions and worker organizations must reclaim strikes as their most powerful weapon. The recent West Virginia Strike demonstrates just how much such actions can accomplish.
In the U.S., mainstream feminism tends to focus on cultural issues and place the spotlight on well-off professional women. This was the case with much of the #MeToo movement despite the fact that the misconduct it brought to light took place in workplaces, and was made possible by systemic power imbalance and pay inequality.
Though a very small minority of women holds high managerial jobs, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In got a huge amount of publicity a few years ago. This was followed by a debate about Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article lamenting that “women can’t have it all.”
In fact, the question that most women ask is not “how can I have it all?” But “how can I get by?” As the cost of living continues to rise and wages stagnate, the lack of economic security is the greatest obstacle in the struggle for gender equality. Even as we watch Hollywood celebrate the gains of the #MeToo movement, we have to remember that speaking out hasn’t become much easier for women employed in contingent, minimum-wage or sub-minimum wage jobs.
The history of the International Women’s Day is bound with women’s labor activism, as the first “National Woman’s Day” was celebrated in the U.S. to commemorate the 1908 textile workers’ strike. The strike, along with slow-downs and other actions that disrupt work, was organized labor’s most important weapon well into the 1930s.
However, as unions became subject to restrictive laws in the 1940s and were further disempowered by redbaiting and Reagan-era policies, strikes became increasingly rare. Today, most public sector unions sign contracts that prohibit strikes for the duration of the agreement. In New York State, public sector strikes are outlawed altogether, and those who engage in them incur heavy fines. Because both workers and the public are unused to strikes, many view them as dangerous and needlessly disruptive.
Unionized workplaces still offer some of the best working conditions, but the reluctance to strike has weakened unions as guardians of workers’ rights and agents of change. I’ve been a member and an activist in several higher education unions over the years. As contract negotiations wore on, I watched unions compromise on the pay and benefits of the poorest and most vulnerable workers — groups where women are usually a majority.
A general Women’s Strike on March 8 will send a strong message about the importance of women’s work within and outside the home. It will also remind us that the strike is a powerful strategy that can — and should — be used by any marginalized group, and not a relic of the Progressive Era.
Yet such a strike is not enough. Women must strike alongside their male coworkers to achieve concrete economic gains in their workplaces. The recent West Virginia teachers’ strike shows just how much such actions can achieve. On February 22nd teachers and school workers in 55 counties walked off the job, demanding a 5 percent pay raise and adequate benefits. A “right-to-work” state that does not recognize public-sector unions, West Virginia left its teachers severely underpaid. The teachers demonstrated great courage and strong solidarity by organizing an illegal “wildcat” strike that shut down all of the states’ public schools. The workers rallied in the state capital and refused to compromise even as the strike continued into its second week. After nine days, the state legislature greed to the workers’ demands.
As labor activist Jane McAlvey argues, the West Virginia teachers’ strike shows a way forward for organized labor as “right-to-work” may become a nationwide policy with the Janus supreme court ruling. I think that we have to recognize it as the way forward for gender equality, too. Despite the in-roads women have made in the professional world, women are still a majority in many underpaid, low-status occupations. As the #MeToo movement shows, those in elite professions are often not as secure and empowered as they may seem.
Let’s strike on March 8 to protest against inequality and demonstrate the importance of women’s work; but let’s also make that strike the beginning of an organizing strategy in which women work together to achieve economic equality through labor activism and solidarity across occupational lines.
