Women Organizing Globally
Women in the labor movement came together in Washington, D.C., today for an informative discussion on current labor campaigns and organizing struggles led by women in the U.S. and abroad. The panel featured speakers who have encountered first-hand the global struggles and successes of women workers, in countries like Morocco and Honduras. The event was organized by STITCHand the Metro DC Coalition of Labor Union Womenand was held in honor of Women’s History Month.
As part of a delegation of worker rights activists, Lupita Aguila Arteaga, a member of STITCH, recently traveled to Morocco and described her experiences working with women workers there. STITCH is an organization that, among other activities, sends delegations of union organizers and labor activists to exchange organizing strategies with women unionists and activists abroad.
“Morocco has a young working population that works primarily in agriculture. Eighty percent of the agricultural workers are women and women do much of the hard labor, including picking the olives for olive oil and grapes for wine,” Arteaga explained to the audience. Arteaga and her delegation found Moroccan women workers willing and ready to stand up and take part in activities, including role-playing of organizing strategies, like talking with co-workers about joining the union.
The program also included a discussion on the 2009 Honduran coup with Blanca Estela Dole Duran of the Honduran Feminist Collective of University Women (COFEMUN). Duran described the impact of brutal violencein the country against women, including high rates of femicide during the coup.
Workers in Honduras are calling on brothers and sisters to stand in solidarity with their March 30th civic strike, called by resistance organizations, unions and student groups in the country. The Honduran people are standing up against human rights violations, attacks on unions and privatization plans for education and public services.