Women's Committee Report - April 2003

The Women's Committee would like to report that Saturday, May 31st is our 2nd annual Fun Run for Guide Dogs. You can bring the whole family and choose to either run, jog, or walk. There will be prizes, trophies, and the Guide Dog puppies will also be there to see. You will get a t-shirt with registration and have your registration fee waived if you get pledges that total $30 or more. Also, we have a volunteer sign-up sheet on the back table if you would like to help us out on the day of the event.

Next, we have a calendar of issues from the Coalition of Labor Union Women (better known as CLUW). On the calendar, some of the awareness issues for the month of April are:

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April 15th is National Pay Equity Day (Equal Pay Day)
April 28th is Workers Memorial Day

On the issue of sexual harassment, despite much public education through the media and through training programs from unions, employers, and advocacy groups, the number of complaints filed rises every year. Sexual harassment remains a serious workplace problem extracting from its victims high economic and emotional costs. Please take it seriously.

Equal Pay Day is April 15th and is held every year on that day to bring light to the struggles women face to get equal pay - yes, even in a unionized workplace. How can that be? Studies show that women get paid less because employers still discriminate in several ways. Two of the ways are: 1) Jobs traditionally held by women pay less; 2) Women are not given the same opportunities men are. Also, the color "Red" is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are still in the "red" with their pay. So, support your working sisters everywhere and wear "red" on April 15th.

April 28th is Workers Memorial Day. Trade Unionists around the world mark this day as an International Day of Mourning because even as far as we've come on safety in the workplace, 60,000 or more workers die each year from on the job injuries and illnesses. So we still have more work to do. See the back table for informational handouts on all of these issues!

That's all we have except for this one last thought - as famous labor activist Mother Jones once said, mourn for the dead and fight like heck for the living!!!