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Students celebra More than 130 teachers in Madison and its surrounding counties will be retiring this June–a retirement rate that’s 62 percent higher than the average from the past five years. Of course, it’s not just teachers who find their retirement on the line. The number of Wisconsin public employees that have filed for retirement in 2011 is up nearly 80 percent over the same period last year. Read more »         Tuesday was Equal Pay Day, and if the ongoing Supreme Court case is any indication, Walmart still has a long way to go on this issue. Late last month, over one million female employees from more than 3,000 Walmart branches presented their class-action lawsuit against America’s largest private employer to the nation’s highest court. The women allege rampant and widespread sex discrimination by the retail giant, including unequal pay. Read more » Today, April 12 , is Equal Pay Day in the United States. Strategically chosen, the date marks how long it takes women to make up for the disparity in pay between genders. Just think, 102 days passed this year before women finally earned the same salary as men in comparable jobs during the past year. Guest Post by Author and Labor Scholar Brigid O’Farrell. When my phone rang in Moss Beach, California, I was surprised to find a young girl calling from a small town in Ohio, not far from Columbus. She and her friends in eighth grade were writing a play about Eleanor Roosevelt for a school project. She saw my book on the internet, She Was One of Us: Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Worker. They wanted their drama to address the workers in Ohio and Wisconsin. “Eleanor Roosevelt went into a coal mine, didn’t she?” the girl asked. “Do you think she would be supporting the workers today?” Read more » This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Workers and communities across the country honor the memory of the 146 women and children who perished as a result of locked doors and employer negligence. In 1911 outrage toward such callous disregard for workers galvanized Americans to press for better working conditions, and today, the 100th anniversary gives us an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of workplace safety. Read more » In last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama asserted that the United States “measures progress by the successes of its people. By the jobs they can find and quality of life those jobs offer.” If that’s the case, it’s time to stop the attack on public employees now. Anti-worker politicians across the country are scrambling to find someone to bear the brunt of massive federal budget cuts and the growing deficit. And they’ve settled on middle-class workers—threatening to cut jobs and nix government benefits many workers and their families depend on. Read more » The American Rights at Work blog team is about to close up shop for the holidays. But before we do, here’s a roundup of some of our favorite posts from 2010, from most to least recent. Happy Holidays! Read more »
“Made in Dagenham” is a dramatization of the 1968 Ford sewing machinists strike at the Ford Dagenham assembly plant in England, where women were classified as “unskilled” workers and paid considerably less than their male co-workers. They eventually brought Ford’s assembly line to a halt, walking out in protest against sexual discrimination and the unequal pay. Their actions were instrumental in England’s Equal Pay Act of 1970. Read more » They say you never feel more American than when you’re on the National Mall. And they’re right. This past Saturday, American Rights at Work joined teachers from California, janitors from Michigan, and doctors from Florida on the Mall at the One Nation Rally. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial amongst the tens of thousands who traveled to DC for the rally, we heard America’s call for jobs, justice, and education loud and clear. Read more » Even though women are the largest demographic in the workplace, life in the office can still be an isolating experience for them. And as unions are looking for fresh ways to reach out to the evolving workforce, researchers are working to understand women’s role in the modern labor movement and how it can be amplified in the future. Following last week’s survey on women, organizing and social networking (hyperlink to blog), two more studies on women and unions have recently been published. Read more » |
Posts Tagged ‘women workers’
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