Global Women's Strike 2007

national | anti-capitalism | press release Wednesday February 21, 2007 21:57 by Global Women's Strike Ireland at allwomencount dot net

Celebrating International Women’s Day around the world

The Global Women’s Strike and Payday, a network of men, campaign together to win economic and social recognition for unwaged caring work and to demand the return of military budgets to the community, starting with women the first carers everywhere. We demand a world which invests in caring not killing. (Demands below)

Since March 2006, the organizations which co-ordinate the Strike and Payday in different countries have:

*Organized against the war in Iraq and the “war on terror”, including fighting for the right to protest in front of the UK parliament
*Worked with the mothers and other relatives of US and UK soldiers who refused to go to war, especially Lt Ehren Watada´s mother Carolyn Ho *Supported Israeli and other conscripts, gay and straight, who refused to join the military, especially Mehmet Tarhan in Turkey *Campaigned against prison for life for UK refusers
*Demonstrated to stop US war planes and torture flights refueling at Irish airports...

*Marched against military atrocities in northern Uganda to make a way for multinationals, and protested against lack of water and food here
*Worked against the murderous and racist US-UN occupation in Haiti and gave Haitians a platform in the US to speak for their struggle *Won in India the release of hundreds of women, men and children from bonded labour, marched against rape by landlords, and brought rural Dalit and Tribal women and urban domestic workers together *Won greater recognition for domestic workers´ rights in Trinidad & Tobago and in Peru where the workers have formed a trade union and are running self-help workshops for Indigenous and other rural women migrating to the city
*Gathered support for women in Mexico organizing against electoral fraud, rape and other repression
*Opposed the building of large dams that would drown Kurdish villages in Turkey
*Organized across race divides to fight racial and domestic violence in Guyana, and won back most of the new tax imposed on basic foods and other necessities
* Campaigned in the US for a health food co-op to boycott Israeli goods, and fasted in the UK to protest the bombing of Lebanon *Worked with survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita for survival money, housing and reconstruction by government, and to expose theft by aid agencies *Protested the distribution of formula milk that undermines breastfeeding in Africa and Iraq, and defended the right of breastfeeding mothers who are HIV+
*Helped win housing and money for mothers in Venezuela; attended as a network (72 people from 9 countries) the World Social Forum there, launched our new book on the Women’s Development Bank and made a film of our journey to publicize the revolution to which women are central
*Co-ordinated a European speaking tour for two grassroots organizers who represent the Strike and Payday in Venezuela *Campaigned for sex workers´ right to safety and protection, for single mothers´ right to an income for their caring work, and for the right of people with disabilities and older people to a decent income, healthcare, services and transport
*Helped win asylum in the UK for many women fleeing homophobia, rape and other torture in dictatorships and proxy wars in Africa and elsewhere
*Petitioned in Spain for wages for those who care for relatives and for benefits to be extended to all mothers
*Worked with anti-rape organizations for rapists and racist attackers to be prosecuted and convicted, and for survivors to be compensated rather than persecuted, and their anonymity protected
*Publicly challenged the voluntary sector and those feminists who make careers claiming to speak for us while they implement government policies of privatization, cuts and deportation
*Gathered support from lawyers and journalists for a fair trial for death row Black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal
*Made visible the justice work of women fighting for their loved ones who have been killed, imprisoned or injured
*Made holistic health treatment available
*Deepened our knowledge of Marx and our understanding of how he can help us to change our world …

And we worked hard to maintain and expand our international network, via email, websites, travel, and Skype phoning; run our women’s centres (a new Strike centre in India!), update our technology and learn new skills and languages. We have translated materials on most initiatives into many languages, especially Spanish, Turkish, Italian, Hindi, German, Arabic, French and English. We got some media coverage for this work and for other grassroots struggles, in particular on an hour-long weekly radio programme in Los Angeles hosted by the co-ordinator of Women of Colour in the Global Women’s Strike. Yes, it’s been a busy year and more work lies ahead, but we have many more friends and are more effective as the movement grows stronger internationally.

Our ongoing connection with the developing revolution in Venezuela is a power for all we do. In one country at least the government is not training guns against us or imprisoning “troublemakers”. Instead, the creative efforts of women and the grassroots generally to reshape the whole society from the bottom up are reinforced and represented by President Chávez. The Strike’s films about this revolution are circulating with subtitles in a number of countries.

As a grassroots movement we confront the poisoning and destruction of the soil, the air, the water, the food, the climate and thus the health of the planet and of all of us. Everywhere women are struggling with a double and triple working day, the richest have got richer and most of us have got poorer. While feminism has helped to ensure that more women are in positions of power, most of them have followed orders rather than respond to the needs of the grassroots. Now is the time for our movement to re-examine every question.

Power to the sisters to stop the world and change it!

DEMANDS OF THE STRIKE

· Payment for all caring work - in wages, pensions, land & other
resources. What is more valuable than raising children & caring
for others? Invest in life & welfare, not military budgets or
prisons

· Pay equity for all, women & men, in the global market.

· Food security for breastfeeding mothers, paid maternity leave
and maternity breaks. Stop penalizing us for being women.

· Don't pay 'Third World debt'. We owe nothing, they owe us.

· Accessible clean water, healthcare, housing, transport, literacy.

· Non-polluting energy & technology which shortens the hours we
work. We all need cookers, fridges, washing machines,
computers, & time off!

· Protection & asylum from all violence & persecution, including
by family members & people in positions of authority.

· Freedom of movement. Capital travels freely, why not people?

SEE EVENT NOTICES FOR DATES ON THE FILM TOUR THE GLOBAL WOMEN STRIKE IS ORGANISING IN IRELAND FOR THE 8TH GLOBAL WOMEN'S STRIKE