War on public employee unions is an assault on women

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4800

By Glenda Holste
7 March 2011

ST. PAUL - logo for International Women's DayQuick quiz about what conservative ideologues hope to accomplish in their war on public employee unions.

Choose the answer that best describes what the anti-worker politicos want:
a. To redistribute the wealth from the undeserving middle class to the deserving rich
b. To suck the political and economic stuffing out of folks who aren’t their kind
c. To show off for the clueless Tea Partiers who think the money conservatives are on their side instead of the Koch brothers’ side in the class battle
d. To push women back down where they belong
e. All of the above

Of course, a and b are the primary objectives. C and d represent less obvious but beneficial outcomes if the ideologues crush public worker unions. So e, “all of the above,” amounts to the “right” answer.



On this 100th International Women's Day, let’s examine why the war on public employee unions in the United State amounts to an assault on women. The obvious answers are women constitute the majority of membership and have proven difficulty in achieving equal pay without a union contract. So if the rightist ideologues destroy the unions, they reduce women’s power. If they get the unions, they can reduce can reduce women’s pay, which can accelerate the race to the economic bottom for all workers. The irony is inescapable.

International Women’s Day officially began 100 years ago with rallies to support the rights of women to gainful employment, education and to vote. Long before it went international, March 8 marked important risings by women. This first we know of was on March 8, 1857, when women textile workers in New York took to the streets to demand better wages and safe working conditions.

FULL story at link.