CWLU Herstory Blog

What do you do if you need to take time off work to care for a sick child or parent? Does having children hurt your career? Unequal pay. Maternity leave. Spiraling health care costs. Family and children plus a full-time career.

Working people face these issues every day. But all too often, women especially don’t have the resources or support to help meet these challenges.

Working America and the AFL-CIO are conducting a nationwide survey on what it's like to be a working woman. If you’re a working woman, your opinion matters greatly. Please take a moment to complete the Ask a Working Woman survey and share your thoughts and experiences.

 

Ellen Bravo wrote this article which was posted on the AFL-CIO blog. She is former director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women and author of Taking on the Big Boys: Or Why Feminism Is Good for Families, Business and the Nation.

Congratulations, working women! As of today, your salary since January 1, 2007, has finally reached the total earned by your male colleagues in 2007 alone. What’s more, this pay gap is all your fault!

According to the media, the problem is that women just don’t ask. If we learned to speak up in salary negotiations, pay equity would be a hard fact.

An ABC News segment called the negotiation process “something that each of us has the ability to control….No employer has an obligation to whisper in the woman’s ear, ‘Hey, you know, you just lost out on more money because you didn’t speak up.’”

Our panel of celebrity judges will pick several of the winners, while visitors to the website will choose the recipient of the “Our America” award.

Plus, some of the winning videos will appear in television ads—in part to engage voters and 2008 political candidates in a national dialogue about what is necessary to get America back on track.

 

Labor singer Anne Feeney's new cd "Dump the Bosses off Your Back" is now available at CDBaby and Anne assures us that its her best cd yet. For those of you unfamiliar with Anne Feeney's music, you are in for a real treat. If you don't believe me, head on over to her website and listen to some of her MP3's. Anne Feeney is “the best labor singer in North America,” according to Utah Phillips. Based in her hometown Pittsburgh, PA, Anne is on the road more than 200 days a year, singing in union halls, on picket lines, at rallies, riots, folk clubs, festivals, conferences, conventions and colleges.

She is a Kerrville New Folk winner, and her songwriting has garnered praise from folk legends like Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Anne’s anthem, “Have You Been to Jail for Justice?” is featured in several films, and is featured on two recordings by Peter, Paul and Mary. (and it's being sung in paddywagons everywhere!)

Anne Feeney also leads tours of Ireland and if your idea of an Irish vacation is everything that the West of Ireland has to offer, she still has some spots open for the summer of 2008. Visit her Irish Tour page for details.

 

This annual event brings together young organizers from unions and community groups and Chicago area college students interested in learning about working for change. Panelists from Illinois Action Now, UNITE HERE, AFSCME Council 31, IEA-NEA and others will share their experiences as organizers. Some of the invited groups are looking for interns and new staff.
Saturday, April 5th
11:00am to 1:00pm (lunch included)
Gage Gallery,
Roosevelt University,
18 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago

To rsvp please contact:
Carrie Breitbach This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it