Helping Women Workers Helps Us All

by James Parks, Sep 16, 2009

Flight Attendants-CWA President Pat Friend said the resolution on ‘Women, Work and Family’ speaks to decent work for women and men.

Delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention today took steps to further secure basic workplace rights for working women, who make up 40 percent of the global workforce, but suffer a disproportionate amount of discrimination on the job. Women also are sexually assaulted on the job and denied the time to take care of family responsibilities.  

Resolution #14, ”Women, Work and Family,” says equal treatment of women is essential on the job and throughout society.

United Steelworkers (USW) Vice President Fred Redmond put it this way:

“Employers must provide equal pay for work of equal value and ensure that women have safe workplaces free of violence and sexual harassment. Government must abolish discrimination against women. Every segment of society shares the duty to respect and protect maternity and parenting.”

The resolution calls on the U.S. government to ratify several International Labor Organization (ILO) standards on organizing and bargaining, equal pay, abolition of forced labor, prohibitions of gender discrimination, ending child labor, maternity protection and protecting workers with family responsibilities.

It also commits the federation to work to pass the Healthy Families Act to provide paid sick leave, expand the Family and Medical Leave Act, enact the Paycheck Fairness Act and reduce financial and other barriers to higher education for women.

These are not actions that just help women, said Flight Attendants-CWA President Patricia Friend.

The resolution speaks to decent work for women and men. All workers should be able to work without fear of discrimination. There is no better time to move forward to bring fairness to the workplace.     

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