Radical America - Vol 18 No 5 - 1984 - September October

8/8/2019 Radical America - Vol 18 No 5 - 1984 - September October

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LIBRARY

Vl 18,N.5 M 2 1 ;

YALEJTKCOMf] WRHMINEK STKE.UrOlT

POJ FRM blf IALY, CND


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Edtor Margaret Cerullo John Demeter Marla Erlen Phyll Ewen Ted erman Joe InterranteJm OBren Donna Pnn Ken Schloer al Sullvan Deb Whpp en nn oder Elzabethrac and nn Wthorn nten Vrgna Bullock.

Staff John Demeter

ocate Edtor Peter Bknd Carl Bogg Frank Brodhead Paul Buhle Jorge C CorraleoMargery Dave Ellen DuBo Barbara Ehrenrech John Ehrenrech Dan eorgaka Martnlaberman nda ordon Jm reen llen unter Mke Kazn Ken awrence Staughton yndBetty Mandel Mark Naon Bran Peteron Shela Rowbotham Jame Stark nnmare TrogerMartha Vcnu Stan Wer Davd Wdgery and Renner Wunderlch

er: e ad rai by Nk Thrke.

Vo. Sptmbr-Ocober

Radia Ama woms unsotd manuss, t an un hm ony if suffint osag is inudd. Wtsa aso snd asas o nqus o Manus Coodnao /o Rada Aa.

D P 3 u v a (ont xt fo a sng su og th tnav Eduaton Pojt In. at 3 Unon Sua Somv 023 2 ogt Radia Ariausion ats: $ a $2 fo 2 as $0 a fo unmod tid o fxd ino F o isonsdd $3 a to a s fo foign susions Dou s o institutions Buk s: 0 dution fom o fo v o o os U. dsuton a Pgon. Tsttng Gay Community News

Tos and mstas fd E Nwan. SN 33

ond ass osag ad a Boson Mass and addona os os

POSTMASTER: Sed ade chage o RADAL AMRA Uo Sqare, # Somervle MA RADAL AMRA is aaa on ol fo Xo nvs Mos 300 o Z Road Ann AoM 0 and ndd n Anav n nd Bo Bao MD 22 s aso ndd

Amerca Hor ad Lfe Socologcal Abrac and Wome Sude Arac. s nv s nd


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AERC

VOL18, NO.5

INTRODUCTION

BEEP, BEEP, YALE'S CHEAPLooking at the Yle Strike

Aldo Cupo, Molly Ladd-Tylor, BeverlyLett, and David Montgomery

COMPARABLE WORTH, NCOMPARABLE PAYTe ssue at YaleTeresa Amott and Julie Matthaei

THE GENESIS OF CONTEMPORARY ITALIANFEMINSM

LETTER

ITALY:

Joanne Brkan

Working Class Militancy, Feminism, andTrade Union PoliticsBianca Beccalli

STRATEGY, COMPROMSE AND REVOLTViewing the Italin Workers' Movement

rank BodheadWELL BE HERE RGHT TO THE END ANDAFTER

POEM

Women and the British Mners' StrikeLoreta Loach

Susan Eisenberg

SHARING THE SHOP FLOOR

Women and Men on the Assembly LineStan Gray

1984

2

7

21

31

37

39

52

59

66

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the male world of work, prestige, and powerAs secretaries and dean's assistants, working inabs, libraries and galeries, women at Yale seemen's weaknesses; they know the faculty members and administrators they work for can'tspel, get turned down for grants, aren'tprepared for classes or meetings, sexually harassstudents The emergence of women's consciousness at Yale also recals Sara Evans' discussion4which linked the emergence of feminism towomen's prior activism in the Civi RightsMovement and the New Left It was in thecourse of organizing a union and sustaining astrike, rather than simply from being at work,that women at Yale gained a sense of power and

value This experience, in tension with the denial of their work and skils by Yale, deepened theclerical and technicals' deinition of what was atissue

Nick ThorkelsonPF

David Montgomery suggests that the issuesand tactics of the Yale strike may offer us newmodels for "strikes of the future He is certainy right to poit to women's centrality to thefuture of the labr movement In this country ata time when union membership in genera is faling (from 226 of the abor force in 90 toaround 8% today), the percentage of womenmembers has grown (from 21 % to 2) Women are inuentia in those areas where there hasbeen union growth over the past decade (health,

the pubic sector, clerical and service work)Old fashioned tactics may be ineffective in asituation in which employers are apparentywiling and able to sit out ong strikes The unexpected threat (used at Yale) to go back to work,

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as wel as to leave it, may be the kind of creativetactics workers wil need In fact, as we look atthe history of women's participation in unionactivity, we may begin to see that wheneverwomen have organized themseves, their tacticshave broken with traditional forms From theLadies Auxiliaries' activities involving theatreand entertainment to cerical workers in the1930s jamming switchboards so that management scabs couldn't do their jobs, to the publicawards' given by organizations like 9 to 5 (forthe worst treatment of secretaries), women havebrought a complex understanding to the dynamics or workpace organizing

Secondly, comparable worth also represents a

challenge to traditional union strategies whichhave replicated capitaist assumptions about thelegitimacy of skill-based job hierarchy, a factthat may expain the long historical hiatus sincecomparable worth was first proposed by a woman unionist on the War Labor Board in the1940's and its current consideration

The particular shape of the strugge at aepoints to ways in which womencentered unionswill need to rdefine union demands, struc

tures, and tactics Unions' own survival myforce the replacement of the traditional question "Why don't more women join or becomeactive in unions by a new and more radicone: "hat would unions have to look like forwomen to become involved in them?5

The deveopment of feminist consciousnessout of the experience of union activism is ntparticuar to the US Bianca Beccalli, in her rticle "Itay: Working Class Militancy, Femnism, and Trade Union Politics documents

women's entry into the sphere of paid work ntheir involvement in trade union activity Yet,unike the U S, the Italian women fellegitimate in focussing poitically on personllife issues as part of their union activism

In the 90's tradeunion feminists sought space for women to clarify their distinct experience and needs as women within the tradeunion movement, as part of mounting a challenge to the mae world of work and power

rather than simpy seeing integration into it as inow exists Joanne Barkan's "The Genesis fContemporary Italian Feminism analyzes tsources of this particularly interesting eperience She describes the growth of feminis


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out of te Italian New Left incuding its initialrejection by working class women and te Italian Communist Party Se focusses on testrugge over abotion troug wic feminismgained politica visibility and legitimacy and

transformed poitical debate in Itay Beccalifocusses specificaly on te spread of te miitant feminism embodied in te national abortion strugge into te trade unions

Of particuar interest Beccalli questions telong term effectiveness of te form feminismtook witin te trade unions Te womenscoice to create a separate space to pursue teirdistinct needs accordig to Beccali resulted inno rc caenges to trade union structuresand traditions In te end te women were confined witin te space tey created Se suggeststat rater tan an empasis on gender difference a focus on equality is a surer route forwomen to seek power Women's demand forsimple integration in a context of economiccrisis and a diminised left may od outradica potentia In teir effort to maintain andextend teir position in te word of workwomen wi sustain a consciousness of owpower works and wat it takes to dislodge its

old Yet again te question for womenworkers may be "Wat would unions ave tolook ike for women to remain active in tem?Te insigts from te autonomous womensorganizing witin te union may prove epfulin redesigning and uprooting te maledominated forms

Finaly te discussion of working classfeminism in Itay and te pubication of JoanneBarkan's recent book Vn f Emncn T n Wrkr ' mn Snc945 (from wic we are excerpting) also provides an unexpected occasion for us to return toan old Rc Amrc interest in te development of te Italian eft since te Hot Autumnof 1969 Frank Brodeads review of Barkan'sbook provides an occasion for a former editorto ook again at te reevance of te Itaiandebates about trade union democracy and terole of te Communist Party for leftists in teUS as we confront te eigties

ak Bho (Village Voice Dm ) do

m h Ya admao ahoaa o o

al h mda' a o h am

2 Doad ma ad Hd Hama dWomen Work and Wages: Equal Pay For Jos of Equa

Value (Waho D : Naoa Aadmy P )

Fo a l do o h da oy L. Fld

omaa Woh: owad hoy ad Pa

h Ud a, Signs (W )

aa va, Personal Politics The Roots of Women's

Lieration in the iil Rights Movement and the New Left(Nw ok adom Ho 7)

h o am a a y oy Fd o

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BEEP, BEEP, YALE'S CHEAPLookng Yl Srk

A RADICAL AMERICA FORUM with Aldo Cupo, Molly add-Taylor,Beverly ett and David Montgomery

Thrugh he effrs f a unn mvemen ha began 15 years ag, clercal and echncawrkers a Yale Unversy and her unn, Lca , acheved a cnrac wh he unversyn January 21, 1985 The resun f he dspue wh Yale was pssbe nly afer a enweek srke durng he Fal semeser, ncudng whdrawal f servces by Lcal 5, servceand manenance wrkers a Yale Lcal 5 rafed her cnrac n January 28 Key vcres n he cnrac were wages, yearrund jb secury, dena, and medcal benefs Theaverage wage ncrease was 5 percen ver hree years A sepsysem n he refrm f hesaary srucure makes a sgnfcan sep wards crrecng sme f he lng erm salarydscrmnan agans he c nd 's, 82 percen f whm are wmen Fr example, blackwmen wl receve sgnfcan ncreases snce hey end have he ms years f servce A

senry cred, r brdge n years f servce, alws wrkers ake me ff whu penaly, whch mples he ably ake maerny eave Labeled, "P ubc Enemy N 1 byManhaan Grup ecnmss, cmparable wrh was n specfcaly addressed n hedeas f he cnrac Due n par he nana aenn hs cncep receved durng heYae srke, s nw n abr's agenda, as we as a key par f he brader prgram frwmen's equay, n and usde he wrkpace

Wh flws s an eded versn f he ranscrp f a frum n he Yale srke spnsredby RADAL AMERA n Bsn n Dec 6, 198 The frum ccured a a crcal uncure n he cnrac srugge when he srkers had made he decsn g back wrk,emprarly f necessary, ver he sx week hlday recess Tw unn members, a facuymember, and a graduae suden a Yale dscuss he far reachng mpac f he srke n heYale and New Haven cmmunes They deal he creave rganzng sraeges f Lca and her supprers, and he precedens he success f he unn se, even n he mds f he

sruggle, n erms f wmen's wrk and wmen's ves

al haks o Ka allad gada sd Ama Hsoy a Ya ad om RADIAL AMERIA o sg h om ad o Loal 26 Ho saa ad Isoal moys o hosg RA doslah Fas Db Wh K hloss A Who, Vga Blo Maga lo ad Maa l shad


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ths lns whch was an answr t th numbr f rblms whch w wr facng n thstrt as wll as a chanc t catch th unvrstffguard agan rst cal 35s cntractcms u agan n Januar 9 and w nd thstrngth and th wll t surt thm and thrcntract snc th hav surtd us and havhnrd ur ct lns fr tn ws hnthr s alwas th rblm f attrtn ljust drbblng bac t wr Its artcularl dffcult fr sm f ur l snc w ma slttl mn (th avrag clrcal and tchncalat al mas $1300) Culd wth a strwr facng hardsh

"Beep, Beep Yale's Cheap

h factrs that hav strngthnd ur struggl hav bn th unt btwn cal 35 andcal 3 blu cllar and wht cllar wrrsth surt f th studnts and th facult andth dsrutn wv bn abl t crat at alIn addtn th surt f th Nw Havn cmmunt has bn wdsrad In Nw Havnthrs bn a grat dal f surt frm th

Blac cmmunt frm sm churchs dwntwn frm thr labr unns Nw Havn sdffrnt frm Bstn r Cambrdg al s awght n th mddl f Nw Havn Evrbds xtrml agr t s us wn s that th canwn bcaus thr ar lnt f l n NwHavn wh ar trng t gt al t a smtaxs r mn n lu f taxs t th ct Whav a bumr stcr that sas B Bals Cha End Ecnmc Dscrmnatnat al Pl drv b all th tm and ar

cnstantl bng thr hrns W fl th surt frm th cmmunt whn wr ut thrn th ct lns and vrbd s drvng bbng hrns Bfr th artal agrmnt lasttm w dd sm actns at lunchtm and nfth thngs that gt al t ralz th dsrutn was that wth all f us standng utsdthr w just hard hrns fr abut an hurOn mmbr f th ngtatng cmmtt sadsh was walng hm n da and assd sm

ds bra dancng n th strt t th tun fB B als Cha!Th struggl nw th str has changd ur

faml lvs as wll as ur wr lvs; wmn

standng u at th wrlac ar als standngu at hm Man wmn n cal 3 ar snglmthrs wh hav bn strugglng t surtthr famls And th str has bn s cnsumng that th cmmunt and famls argalvanzd t surt th wmn wh ar utr xaml thr was a dmnstratn fchldrn f th strrs

h qustn nw has bn hw can w cntnu t d ths thngs n th fac f th lss fsm f ur majr surt: whn th studntsand facult ar gng t g awa fr thChrstmas rcss Hw can w ta th struggland t alv? h da was and ts a unquda t ta th struggl nsd t g bac t

wr fr sx ws and f bth cntracts ar ntsttld b mdJanuar w wll g bac ut nth strt h nt that I rall want t gtacrss s that ths struggl s a lngtrm struggl: t startd fftn ars ag and ts gng tcntnu untl th unvrst rcgnzs th ncsst t rcgnz us as human bngs wth thrght t a bttr lf fr urslvs

H gae them my final offer. Now what do tey wan!"

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lly add-ayl: One f the things tht hsmde the unin suessful is tht they hvergnized the entire mmunity nt just thewrkers m here s witness t tht ft The

key wrd f the strike hs been "rgnizeThere re hundreds r rgnizers n the Ylempus nw students s well s uninmembers

wnt t tlk speifilly but student ndfulty supprt think students hve supprtedthe unin fr tw resns The first is tht thestrike mpletely disrupted university life Thtdisruptin fred students t nfrnt theunins issues nd they pressured Yle tnegtite s tht their edutin uld beresumed The send resn fr student supprtis tht sex disrimintin exists n ll levels tYle (nd siety) Tremendus numbers fwmen students supprted the striking wrkersWhen we sked undergrdutes t sign petitins but 80 perent f the wmen wuldsign nd mybe 15 per ent f the men There is rel "gender gp in unin supprt First letme tlk but the disruptin t Yle

Whdawal eces

The le dministrtin relly underestimted nt nly the supprt tht leril ndtehnil wrkers wuld hve frm the rest fthe mmunity but the extent t whih thewithdrwl f their servies wuld drmtillydisrupt the university There re but 2500wrkers in the brgining unit but 1,600 fwhm hve been ut n strike nd n dditinl1 ,servie nd mintenne wrkers Ll35 wh went ut with them The prlngedstrike hs hit Yle hrd Finnil id nd dmissins re in hs The librries hve beenseveely hurt The rt gllery hs shut dwnThe dinng hls e lsed exept fr ne whh wsstffed by sbs The gym hs shrter hurs

n the beginning f the fll we undertk mssive effrt t mve lsses ff mpus inrder tht the rudiments f edutin uld gn withut peple being fed with rssing the

piket line Abut 500 lsses were mved ffmpus nd were meeting in peples prtments in resturnts nd mvie theters (Peple mplin tht they nt see t tke ntes

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beuse everythings drk everyne ets pprn while they re in lss) Mny lsses hvedifferent ltin every week s eh weeyu lse hlf the lss beuse they went t thewrng ltin

Yle hs been in quite turmil Reserh hsfr the mst prt grund t hlt The sbs inthe ibrries nt find the bks Edutin in

fundmenl wy hs relly been disruptedAnd the withdrwl f Ll 35 hurt t Bthrms re filthy trsh piled high in hllwysnd the grunds re mess The lsing f thedining hlls hs been signifint prtiulrly fundergrdutes fr muh f their sil life iscentered there. So despite administration prop-

aganda, students have deeply felt and sufferedfrm the withdrwl f servies lled by thestrike nd by Yles filure t negtite seriusly

Yle terribly underestimted the impt fleril nd tehnil emplyees withdrwingservies t belied tht leril (lrgelywmens wrk ws mrginl nd esily repled This ws ritil errr n Yles prt Onef the min jbs leril wrkers d prtiulrly the dministrtive ssistnts in the deptments nd residentil lleges is help peple djust t Yle mking life esier in myrid wys suh s helping peple find their wy

frm pint A t pint B nd rgnizing theuniversity sil life Withut thse serviesthe tensin nd diffiulty f dily life inresedfr the students nd fulty n mpus


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"Yu Cant Eat Pestge

T Yal community" tat t administration rids itsl on so muc surd trmn-

dously during t cours o t strik and inact tat's n a major stratgy o t uniont's not so muc to sto scas rom coming towork or to rnt studnts rom crossing tickt lin ut to go atr t gloriid ulicimag" o Yal tat Yal dnds on to und-rais to rcruit uality" studnts and acultyto rairm its rstigious rutation. T strikas xosd wat's truly ind t imag o aarmonious Yal community. t's com ryclar to ryody on camus tat t Yal

community is rally a andul o wit mn(and on wit woman) wo run t administration An xtraordinarily w ol mak dcisions and studnts and aculty don't a anyoic in wat gos on at Yal t's not just tclrical and tcnical workrs or t sric andmaintnanc workrs ow w a studntstalking aout ll w nd a union" Grad-uat studnt tacing assisants say Hy youknow TA salaris ar rtty low and t

aculty is saying ll w don't a a acultysnat

"Chaengng the Unchalengeabe

As Locals 3 and 35 a n out trusing ol to tak a stand and as morstudnts tacing assistants and aculty aoicd tir suort w a ound tat socalld acadmic rdom and r sc dos

not rally xist at Yal. T Yal Unirsityandoo says tat w sould tink t un-tinkal mntion t unmntional andcallng t uncallngal " ut many gsturs o solidarity wit t union a n mtwit trats

At t ginning o t strik sixcrladrs wnt to t irst ootall gamwaring Sttl" innd on tir swatrs andwr calld into t coac's oic and tratnd wit ing trown o t tam. sat down

and talkd wit tm and sad ll wat doyou do in a situation lik tis wn you' ntratnd? You organiz. You com togtrand you conront it So ty wnt on TV and

t nxt day t administration ackd down.Ty'r still out tr waring tos swatrs

Graduat studnts in comutr scinc wrtratnd wit ing ird and losing tir

stinds i ty didn't do c&t work and tyorganizd Tis as and trougout tntir camus Undrgraduats ld sitins int lirary to xand lirary ours and tywr tratnd wit susnsion. Or 00studnts ild a class action suit against tunirsity or rac o contract 15 studntswitld tuition and ut it into an scrow account managd y local clrgy caus tywr not gtting t kind o srics ty aidor. On Jan. t irst day o sring

smstr's classs 3 studnts sat in at Prsi-dnt Giamatti's oic and asically ld ouro t unirsity's to oicials ostag or twoours.

At on oint during t strik Yal ordr mals to rsmn caus so w olwr crossing t ickt lin to go into t ondining all tat was on. dcidd to a aickt lin insid t uilding ut t ad-ministration tratnd studnts wit susn-

sion i ty wnt isid a uilding waring asign. So w wnt insid a uilding waring signsand w ar still r

C LAOGNZJYale Banner..

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On o our most succssul oranzng actionswas a trday gnral strk. ld it ustor anksgiing acaton and aout ityaculty mmrs and lots o tacing assistants

canclld classs. r was a lot o studnt support or t gnral strk; twn twotirdsand truartrs o t nursing scool wntout to support t moratorum as dd aout 20pr cnt o t undrgraduats Many dpart-mnts n t umanits, t dnty scool, tscool o managmnt and t law scool as-cally sut down or tos tr days Sortlyor moratorium, w ad t largstacuty mtng tats n ld at Yal snc tBlack Pantr tral (970). y otd (y raisng tr ands n ront o t admnstration r osss) on nding artraton, wic s ad-octd y t unon. t lost narrowly.

Wmen's Wk

On o t most complling aspcts o tstrk as n t gndr gap among t sup-

portrs r is a corrlation twn prdominantly mal dpartmnts lik nursing orEnglis, and wr tr is lots o support or tunon On o t rasons or tis s t impacto t womns momnt, and t consciousnss alrady dlopd around issusposd y t strik Yals clrcal andtcnicals ar paid ry low salars tarag is lss tan $3,500 atr 6 yars o src and womn and mnority workrs arn lssmony n toug ty tnd to a moryars o mploymnt Lik many womn woar studnts at Yal, was a clrcal workror ntrd graduat scool. Many

Local34 stikes espod to passig motoists at a ally fo Loal Vigiia Blaisdell photo

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studnts a n clrcal workrs durng tsummr, and w aror no llusons aoutwr a lot o us wll nd u atr Yal

Furtr, t rocss o organzng asrougt o lgt an undrstandng o com

aral wort Local 3 's stratgy as not nto say, m a scrtary and sould mak asmuc as a truck drr," ut ratr, do mortant work and t s not alud " As womngan to organz at Yal and to talk to acotr, ts rocss nald tm to s and tol good aout tr work wn or t adsmd nsl T act o conomc dscrmnaton s somtng w all know w wll acwrr w go, as long as womn arn 59 cnts

on t dollar or ry man n ts socty Sot womn at Yal know tat t c&t's ar outtr gtng or us

T otr rason or t gndr ga s t waywomn studnts and aculty ar tratd at YalAltoug t's dcult to gt ard gurs, t sclar womn on t aculty ac a comaralstuaton n trms o salary Also, only 5 rcnt o t tnurd aculty s mal, and tatrcntag as dclnd or t last yars

By and larg, womn aculty ar mor suort o t unon tan mn aculty, ut tr arso w o tm and womn aculty a mucmor to los n trms o sakng out n aor ot unon Tr s also a lot o sxual arass-mnt and olnc aganst womn (otn y Yalmn) wc t admnstraton asn't taknsrously omn ar ralzng tat t wasn'tcaus o Yal's nolnc tat Yal got to cod n 1969 t was troug ol out ont strts, troug t womn's momnt

organzngomn studnts dnty wt t clrcal

workrs and ar gtng or tm caus tstrk as trown lgt on t tratmnt wrc at Yal, and sown tat womn can gtYal and wn Camus womn's grous lk tomn's Cntr and womns ac grousa trown many o tr rsourcs nd tstrk, and natonal organzatons lk NOand Black omn or ags or ouswork

a com to Nw an to sow tr suortOn o t most xctng tngs aout t str ks tat w' ormd a grou o womn rom all drnt sctors o camus aculty, graduat studnts, undrgraduats, and clrcal work

rs ar comng togtr to organz, rcognzngt ladrs tat t unon o clrcal workrsas rodd us ar comng togtraround our common ntrsts as womn and togt conomc dscrmnaton, wc acts all

womn no mattr wr w ar

ke he Futue

Dad ntgmey On o t most mortanttngs to tnk aout n ts strk s t way nwc t 's srng as a rw or wat many ous ar gong to go troug n drnt sttngsn yars to com and srng as somtng o atral run, or tactcs and stratgs tat ar gong

to ncssary n t struggls t laor mo-mnt acs rom ts ont onTs s a strk o t utur, rst o all, -

caus t's takng lac n suc a ostl sttng,startng rom t racng rom our lod oc-cuant o t t ous and gong on, alas,troug many o tos wo ran aganst m t 'st sam noton tat our salaton ls only nt marktlac, and n t strngs o ac n-ddual, as a sls dog gtng aganst ac

otr sls dog, t lngt and radt o tsland Noody can orgt PATCO to ts day ast onng sgnal or tos wo st out o lny actng collctly Notng, t sms to m,mos mor drctly aganst t wol slstrust tan wat's n gong on rgt r atYal Frst and ormost, t workrs r aormd ts unon, and takn as tr majortargt a wag scal asd on t markt standards o a socty n wc ry occuatonrdomnatly stad y womn s lowr ad

tan jos tat ar rdomnatly stad ymn Tr s no way tat any iniiu can doa loody tng aout ts T only cang tatcan mad as to a cang wtn tatstructur tsl and t as to a collctundrtakng

Scondly w know tat t cty o Nwan, accordng to t cnsus, s on o toorst cts n t Untd Stats ndd, Nwan's ral clam to am s tat t ncom

ga twn t cty and t surroundng su-urs s t ggst n Amrca Ts mans tat,wn autorts ar askd aout t low scalsacd y mnorty workrs at Yal, t aswr(rodd constantly n our loly rag t Jur

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n Curir is tat indd t larg numrso minority workrs in low paid positions isidnc o gnrity y Yal caus it proids mploymnt to undrualiid poplTos wo ormd Local 3 and tos in Local

35 wo wnt out in sympaty tink tat tis is aunc o crap. Ty s tat t only possilway to cang t low wags at Yal is y collc-ti action But ty also sown troug allt studis tat ty carrid out tat its notust t ustion o t unirsity asing its lowscals on t low salaris gnrally paid towomn and to lacks ut also tat t salarisar low n y w Han standards nlow tlocal clrical and tcnical salaris or

t rgion o w Han Yal stands at toom o t markt.T popl at Yal dcidd ty ad

noug o tis kind o gnrosity. Ty adnoug o susidizing" t ngrossing o tunirsitys ndowmnt. Ty ar tird o a ntproi o irtyi million dollars wic tunirsity turnd last yar only to tn turnaround and ar t unirsity say tat tr isno way tat it can do anyting aout t arningso is clrical and tcnical workrs Most im

portant tn spcially in t contxt o ourostil political nironmnt Yals clrical andtcnical workrs a sown tat cangs canstill mad troug union actiity Scondlytis union as takn t asic pattrns o t

wag sgrgation in tis country ad on andsaid tat somting must don aout tat atYal Tird ty a usd nw and ctitcnius o doing it.

1

Act ke A a nster

cannot orgt tat t mmrs o Local3 prod tat it was possil to pull tmslstogtr and win a collcti argaining lction

in tis day and ag Tat in itsl was uit anaccomplismnt. Rmmr tat in 983 lsstan al o all t LRB lctions wr won yunions and in argaining units o mor tan2000 lss tan 10 wr won y unions. So ortos o you wo say only 39 ots " tis is nosmall acimnt. t was imprssi to pulltogtr a ictory in a unit o tis siz in tisday and ag against t wol attry o tcnius tat ry company uss against

womr is trying to organiz. n morsigniicant a major strik was moilizd againstan institution tats ry dicult or n impossil to urt nancially or a sort priodo tim. ts not lik a manuacturing concrnwos sals could sut o and oom tmony stops t suz is on tm ty gottatalk. t maks you tink o wat or xamplinsuranc works all around Amrica will upagainst as ty unioniz mor and mor. Or tprolms ospital workrs ac as mor and

mor prossional managrial associationscom in or n aout manuacturing irms allparts o multiplant companis wic can asily sit tir work rom on plac to anotr gin to s tat ryody is incrasingly

acd wit tis sam situation at do you doagainst an outit tat is so ard to urt?

at as n dmonstratd r is irst andormost you act lik a Gila monstr Ha you


17/90

r sn a Gia monstr? A Gila monstr comsout o t dsrt and its and it nvr lts goT ictim can sak and jum and scram andstom or monts yars on nd And tis asto t ssnc o any union tactics today T

old Sam Gomrs gam o Pull t lug sutr down lads and wait until t comanycoms and talks" dosn't work against annmy lik tis . Tis dosn't man you gi uTis mans tat normous imagination as to rougt to lay Partial agrmnts can su-mnt or rlac comt contracts Dmo-cratic inolmnt o t wol mmrsi isital so tat ryody knows wat' s going onand ys gins giing a nw maning todmocracy at lssons al o us at Yal a

ad just rom watcing tis union in ractic!nstad o just trowing a ustion on t looror ol to dat out o nowr and mak adcision t ustion is datd or days orwks or a mting taks lac So y ttim ol com togtr ryody knowswat or s as to tink aout tat ustion

Bor tis last dcision to go ack was madt wol loody unirsity ad turnd into onig dating socity t was clar tat mor in

tllctua actiity took lac at Ya last wktan all t rst o its istory comind in rysrt and ry ar and ry rstaurant al uand down tat ara And tis was asolutlyncssary caus you can only us tactics lik

tisi ryody undrstands wat's going onand ryody is inod in t dcision Youcan't just a a tgram go out rom Jon LLwis and a tis sort o inandout stratgy

tang lac So r t lssons tat a ndmonstratd ar imaginati and tr 'sn somting nw ry singl wk on tosickt lins Tr a n grat noniolntdmonstrations massi arrsts o articiants

and rallis in wic otr ol a comrom otr aras o t Nortast all o wicga constant suort Anyon wo as n onstrik knows tat tr is noting tat gis aoost uit lik sing 20 30 0 a undrdol rom somac ls com marcing in tosay r wit you " Tat ysical rsncmaks all t dirnc in t world And tis iswat as mad it ossil it sms to m tomak suc an imaginati manur as as justn don

xtraordinary ting is tat Yal was com-ltly ald y tis dcision o t strikrs togo ack to t jo T administration wntananas Tr's only on sort o tactic tatty coud ossily us to sto tat sort oting a lockout. But ow could Yal's administration lock out its mloys and tnturn to t studnts and say 'r romotingyour ducation"? Now tis on was tougTy wr conusd and t strang ting is

tat t irst incras in t mony or madsinc Stmr cam in rsons to t trato t workrs to go ck to work

Also it' s imortant to rmmr tat in acstag o a struggl lik tis t dynamics cangcaus soon Yal got t walngt and nowty' got a nw stratgy: attmtingto rsuad ryody tat now tat ty'r ral-ly ack it's all or And out grat nwsaragain as ig ditorials ll it' s inisd sn 'ttat nic? Tr's noting mor to do " Clarlyt workrs on t jo will tr organizingac otr to carry on t struggl troug tisstag at work and in t utur to carry it on andgo o work again i nd

at is imortant r is tis constant snso total inolmnt o t mmrsi irst oall Scondly t amazing solidarity tat tmmrs o Loca 3 , maintnanc and custodial workrs o Yal a dmonstratd witmor tan 8 r cnt o tm staying o or tn

wks in suort o t mmrs o Local 3And tis kind o solidarity as you ard was adcisi considration in t minds o t olwo dcidd to go ack togtr so tat ty

1


18/90

could always stick togtr as on unit tatigts togtr t mans imagination solidarity dmocracy always racing out as Mollydscrid to ryon ls in t community tot studnts to t aculty to t ntir rgion

to mak tis attl ryodys igtt is crucially imortant to nd ry ossilsuort to tis strik not ony caus raising

wagso clrical and tcnical workrs at al isgong to g an normous oost to similarworkrs al around t w ngland ara utaso caus ts is a strik o t utur and

ts is a ac wr t tactics and stratgiswc many o you ar going to a to usagain and agan n t attls to com ar ingtstd out.

Ad Cup Our union is ry unconntonalAong t way w uilt t union troug asris o many dirnt rograms T ryrst rogram was to uild t organizing com-mtt rmmr irst ad a lunc mting int als Pizza rstaurant wr was xc-tng t organizr to and m a card so tat could sign it said Okay m rady to gowrs my card? And said ll wdont a on dont intnd on aing anyor a wil at w want to do is organizSo listnd to im and it mad sns to m tmad sns tat t union wasnt somtingtat was going to dro rom t sky tat sign acard and snd it in t mad sns tat i wantd to gt a union at al tn d a to

do som work

16

"andng gehe

slowly gan to st u mor lunc mtingsand gt ol in my uilding wo didnt knowor trust t organizr ut did trust m caus

d workd wit tm or our yars nat al aout sn igt yars now Tat wast ry irst rogram: uild t organizing

committ And wn wd racd a crtanoint aout a yar into t dr tr wasanotr rogram wic w calld standingtogtr and it culminatd in a lst o 00 o

l going ulic wic is somting tat adnr and at al T mmrs o torganizng commit signd a ulic statmntwic said Standing Togtr Ar Local3 Ad tn tr was a long ag o namst was a ry xciting tim and it rougt aouta ig issu tat ol a struggld wit aalong and tat is t issu o organizing asusing Pusing ol on st ast wrty tougt ty could go Pusing workrs tostand u and toug

Many o our organizing committ mmrsstartd out y saying ll all rigt m ort union m crazy will do anyting or tunion will sign my nam ulicly t oss canir m dont car m roud o ing romt union ut your not going to ask m to gtmy coworkr to stick r nck ot And wsaid rong r going to ask you to gtyour coworkr not to stick r nck out utsign and go ulic caus tat sas all o our

ncks From t ry ginning o tis unionits n dats discussions and toug actionstat rougt wit tm a lot o controrsy utwic rstd on t asic li tat i w us


19/90

ac otr and struggl wit ac otr andrspct ac otr, ultimatly wat w do ispus Yal n mmrs say to m, don'tik ing pusd," rpy, t ats ing

crusd

he Hgh Rad and he w Rad

continud on, organid and ntuallyrok down a lot o t ar popl a aoutwat it mans to in a union wr acing

t immns walt and powr tat t unirsi-ty as Anyody wo's n tr or anyamount o tim just knows in tir ons watan opponnt you'r up against at Yal wrclar tat in organiing w wr always takingt ig road n contrast, al as alwaystakn t low road And wn say t igroad man tat w' nr n araid to gttogtr and mak som ry diicult dcisions ' nr n araid to ad popl

' nr n araid to ncourag pop,asicaly to say tat w'r wort somtingOn t otr and, Yal as rspondd to our

orts to ttr oursls and to organi, yiring two o t nastist law irms On was aocal law irm in artord, wic trid tosquas our attmpts to a a union ction,and now ty a ird Sayort, Saw, Fairwat, and Graldson, on o t top union-usting law irms in t country n askd

aout t issu o comparal wort, on o

Ya's top administrators said, wouldn't now aout t compara wort o a scrtry to a truck drir sing as ow ' nrld itr jo" A long sris o commntssuc as tat sow ow Ya as consistntly

takn t low road, trying to squas popl'srdom o spc, and t community, tryingryting tat ty could to just old onto tirimmns walt and powr n t ac o tis,

organiing as raly moilid us so tat, asDaid said, w'r just a orc tat kps comingat 'm

On April 3rd, atr w ad otd to go out onstrik, w ad a mont intrim priod adtakn a rsounding strik ot or 300 poplin a ot o 500 pop dcidd to go out onstri So w ga t unirsity a mont toargain Ty didn't do anyting until t lastw days, wn all o us in t workplac woruttons wic said, do not want to strik, ut wil" ad many dirnt actions, atlunctim or xampl, wr a tousand po-pl would attnd But ky was tat scrtaris,a tcnicians, and lirary workrs wrcallnging tir suprisors Ty stood upand took tir suprisors on so tat tr wasno mistak tat it was Jon illm or anotrladr, ut tat it was t popl in tworkplac wo wr rally, rally rady to goand igt

a said tat in daling wit Yal w adan arsnal o wapons On o tos waponswas t witdrawal o srics tat a strikrings, ut tat's ony on amongst plnty ootrs wic sowd t unirsity tat w wrgoing to igt, wr dtrmind to igt and tatw would continu to igt until ty rcognidus as quals at t argainin tal A lot opopl didn't undrstand tat on o t kyprolms at Ya was tat ty would not ar-

gain wit us t 's n or a yar now, and tystill dictat a stanc, and onc ry w montsty mo sixtnts o on pr cnt on som-ting and claim ty' compromisd Dspittat rustration, w' pron tat onc w startto argain on somting w aci a sttlmntwic can sn in t partial contract aci-d in April

T programs, toug, a alwas uilt ontaking our strngt and sprading it out so tatw gt strongr ry day won y 39 ots

in a unit o clos to 6 yt 500 popl otdto go out on strik Mor popl otd to go outon strik tan otd or t union So tis asalrady sown tat, as w kp uilding, w canmo to t rst o t Yal community Plnty


20/90

o Yal studnts and aculty wo ad bndubous o t unon wr turnd around by tadmnstraton's rgdty. n act, w usuallynd tat Yal as bn our bst organr.

Cntl and Dsuptn

usd to tnk tat wat mod t unr-sty was mbarrassmnt, urtng tr natonalmag But w now s tat t ky was dsruton, and usng t unrsty to t ontwr ty lost control. Onc w wr out on tstrt Yal tougt, OK, ty'r out ' Ty'rcausng ll . Dsruton s gong on, but w nowcontrol t nsd T unon usd to a a lot

o control on t nsd, bcaus o t granc rocdur and t strong stwards andorganrs n t work lac. t a strk,

1 AWHY NO ARBN?x nde onc prbem whi La ms are

dtnd o dds w re pad h rel vlue f ewk d d a t pid v aes.

adon h bac oblweer, Yles o 8d b h neql e he ecl a ccagu Yl y c and chrc w cay le a

hh h en wd a "e lger.YA SALY DISTON B SX

G Aveg No. f Avrag Avage F-Tm Ys at Y

Epioye l Pesen Jb $14,056 % 5. .0Feme $3,290 7 (8%) 0 3.8

Sarly, bak ce tn l a Yae are pdy ls es vn hu e c ve red le

Y SAY DSRB 6 RACE

Gu AVC(! f g AeageSl FT a Ys

" a P Jb $, 58 7

B $2, . A fr rad (c \ x SOCW5 tt Ya lowe s e i A: w e e h fld b Vm bd me d l YA S DISRIBUTON B RA AN SX

G Aeg Ag Avege ue s Yas

ps Pese M 5 0 W $l0f 58 9 $ 5.3 0B W 7.1

N J U " :y h & r gup oo L

C o or rallYr SDtembr 5:ob "IMwo Ha"New Haven Register, New Haven Journal-Courier, Yae

Daily New Sp. 19 1984

1 8

tos organrs wr gon, out on t strt,wr ty couldn't gt at anyon. dcddto start racng n, nto t worklacs, to ullsursors out or lunc and to ask, at ar

you dong to nd t strk? Ar you gong to stback r wl your tam says tat ty'r notgong to comroms?" Scrtars took trdoctors out and sad, Do you know tat mak $13000 wl you'r ts doctor at tmdcal scool, ullng n all ts mony? A loto t doctors ddn't n know tat and wrsockd to nd out. contnud to str tcamus u, n rom t outsd, bcaus wound tat Yal bgns to mo only wn ty

l ty'r losng control.Now w a otd orwlmngly, about800 to 200 to tak t struggl back nsd,wc s anotr way o rng t control rgtaway rom Yal n rst ard ts lan lkd t as a contngncy wt Local 35, bcaust Unrsty ad trd to orc tm back ,snc ty ddn' t a scc languag n trcontract allowng tm t rgt to rsct tckt ln. T unrsty brougt Local 35 toartbraton n ordr to orc tm back to work

tougt 35 was orcd back to work, tw would go back n soldarty and tn all coout togtr agan wn tr contract was u md January.

But t mor w tougt about Yal's stratgy to st us out durng t sx wks o Xmasrcss, w rald, Hy, lt's turn t tabls. wnt n , bcaus at ts ont usng t strkaswtdrawal o srcs was not to our bst adantag. a t rgt to do tat bcaus

w a a artal contract. And w ar gong tob dong our jobs w'r not roosng sabotagor slow downs or anytng lk tat, but w'bn tllng all t sursors tat w'r gongto b callngng tm, askng tm out tolunc, usng tm. And w'r gong rgtback out n January, ty don't gt o trasss and do somtng.

Tat's bn t struggl u to ts ot.Outsmartng t nmy, usng our bransaswll

as our strngt, organng and usng trt

o t camus to solat t admnstraton. ttms ts as bcom ry dcult. t's ory ard to dnty wo n t admnstrato


21/90

maks t dcisions. Mostly its popl wodont vn liv in Hw Havn, so t Yal ad-ministration oprats lik an asnt landlord .It coms vry rustrating, ut t mor wkp going t mor w kp isolating tatgroup, and t mor popl w win ovr t

.--------------------- : SPP DEMANDSDE ECNMCS I

. Ad hep Radical A merica oiue o ow ad I pubih. I C: I I : Beomi a uaie $O/yea) o ii a ied o I eaie a i ubipio ( Yea o oy 0 o

pee ubibe). you a ju ed u a doa

io ad eabe RA o oiue edi ee ub o: pioe ad edued ae ub o he uempoyed. Pee you oa o hoo bay o e Radal

America o ak you oa bookoe o oideI ayi RA. ie u o deai o pomoioa: opie o pa o.I I a _______________

mor popl will av a sns o mpowrmnt.As Molly said, t grad studnts ar ling tatmay ty ougt to av a union, and mayw ougt to av a voic in wat appns to tndowmnt Tats wn Yal starts to gt nr-vous

Cop o rl fro hplo r o ll froh rl Clrho Ma to: Universy Mcflms Ieaa300 Noth Zeeb Rod Box 91 An bor. M 6

MOVING???

nt foret to tae aa ma with you! rop usa card with you old an new addess n plenty of times that we don't incur postae due bills andu don'tmss an issue

9


22/90

Chauy Hae, Thi Wa Cooae Amc


23/90

OMPARABLE WRTH,INCOMPARABLE PAY

The Issue at Yale

Teresa Amott and Julie Matthaei

A cera sse he Yae srke was "cmparabe wrh Lcal 3 82 perce wme,demaded pay creases he bass f he argme ha her cerca ad echca wrkreceves wer pay ha her bs a Yale whch reqre a cmparabe eve f skl, rag,d respsby becase s de by wme Fr exampe, cerca wrkers average$ 1 32 cmpared $1 8500 fr Yae rck drvers Afer e year f wrk, a ab asssa spad $ 10208 cmpared $1 39 fr a dshwasher Ths he wrkers clam, s js, a ssbe frm f sex dscrma As he arges grp f predmaly femae wrkers srke ver he sse f cmparabe wrh, Lca 3 s a he frefr f he femsspred be fr pay eqy Wha fws s a rdc he ccep f cmparbe wh, ad a dscss f s sreghs ad mas We fee a cmparabe

wrh ca crbe a scasfems ageda by rasg fdamea qess abhe wrh f wrk ad by creasg he cme f may wme wrkers Neheess, sffers frm he mas f ay pecemea refrm ad eeds be prsed as par f a braderprgram f demads

21


24/90

he Emegence he

Cmpaable Wh aegy

n t Eua Pay Act o 963 proiitdunua pay or ua work and t roadr

Cii Rigt Act o 196 t airmati actioninto motion many aumd tat t gap -twn mn and womn' wag woud co n-tad t arag aary or a woman workingutim yarround rmaind rougy 60 pr-cnt o t aary arnd y a man T contancy o t wag gap in t ac o antidicrimina-tion giation drw attntion to t act tatwomn and mn rary od t am o.Traditiona x ro and outrigt xdicrimination y mpoyr and workr a

ad t rut o xcuding womn rom motoccupation otr tan ommaking and itaor markt xtnion To paid occupa-tion opn to won ard ow pay w opportuniti or adancmnt and otn cn-trd around nurturing and ring otr.Trougout t dcad o t 1970 or 0prcnt o a womn workr wr concntrat-d in 0 occupation mot o wic wr or70 prcnt ma or xamp nuring

crtaria and crica work tacing and oodric n contrat mn pciay wit mnad mor o option and mor opportunity orig pay and promotion. For intanc tockcrk prdominanty ma arn mor tanank tr wo ar prdominanty maand rgitrd nur arn tan mai carrir. A a rut o ti occupationa grga-tion giation proiiting unua pay orua o aid to addr t art o pay inuity twn t x mn and womn arn

ing unua pay or dirnt o.T ida o compara wort wa did to

rai womn wag in madominatd oc-cupation up to t paid in ma occupa-tion o compara wort." Ao known apay uity compara wort man tat odmd to o ua au to t mpoyr"oud pay t a rgard o tir x orractyping. T irt wag comparaiity caor t court wa ad on rac Howr

uunt attmpt to appy t Cii RigtAct to nonidntica o a ocud on wagdirnc origin rom gndrad ogrgation

22

Comparablewoh is just

a disgusedaack n u

free enteesyste.

It iei the face

f the vaues tatade ths

cnty geat '

Som o t irt attmpt to roadn t concpt o ua pay mrgd during ord ar wn union uc a t UA and t Uougt dirntia pay or mn and womnworkr in ordr to prnt an ora rductionin pay ca and to gnrat gratr unity twn mn and womn workr.2 Sinc tnt rank o pay uity adocat a grownand a mor minit contruction a n pacd on t concpt omn rigt groupworking womn' organization and union

rprnting womn workr ar currnty puruing tr tratgi or aciing comparawort corrction to pay inuiti ad on xor coor itigation cocti argaining andgiation Otn a comination o ttratgi i utiizd y pay uity adocat.

Lgan. Prior to a 981 Suprm Court dci-ion t court wr uniormy unrindy tocarg o x dicrimination in pay acro di

rnt o n Dnr wr nur cargddicrimination cau t city paid tm tan tr trimmr and ign paintr t udgrud againt t nur arguing tat t doctrin o compara wort wa prgnant witt poiiity o dirupting t ntir conomicytm"3 n 1981 owr t SuprmCourt rud tat Tit V o t 96 CiiRigt Act coud appid to proiit wagdirnc in imilar ut not idntica o.

Sinc tn tr a n owr court dciion uc a on in t tat o aingtonwic a awardd ack pay to womn woo a n ytmaticay undraud.


25/90

Ad exaty We what vaus ha ar

ar ths? fr n

V

Cllecte Baganng A arity o unions in-cluding AFSCME CA UE SEU UAUE and otrs a adotd ay uity as agoal in argaining as wll as in mmrsiducation and loying Most orts aocusd on ulic mloys largly causinormation on ay scals is mor accssiand stat agncis may mor ulnral toulic rssur rougt troug communitylaor alliancs Local 101 o AFSCME in SanJos Caliornia is on o t ulic sctor suc-

css storis Ts city mloys struck to win asustantial ay incras and scial adjustmnts" to ugrad jos ld rdominanty ywomn5 Unions otn comin litigation witargaining as in t cas o an UE local wicwon ay uity raiss or womn workrsmloyd at a Massacustts Gnral ElctriclantLegslatn. Many stats a adotd lgisla-tion calling or a ay uity study o stat

mloymnt and otrs including CaliorniaMinnsota and asington a assd statuts wic ruir ulic sctor wags to ston t asis o comaral wort6 n dao alaw wic assigns ay in stat ositions on tasis o skill and rsonsiility as roducd a16 rcnt incras in ay or mal clricalworkrs Otr stats a gun to rais wagsin rdominantly womns jos witout xlicitrcours to comaral wort n Nw Mxicoor instanc or $3 million was aroriatd

in 1983 to rais t wags o t lowst aid statmloys or 80 r cnt o tm womnen toug a jo aluation study as not ytn comltd

mplementng Cmpaable Wth

T rimary mcanism or imlmntingcomaral wort in wag structurs is t jo

analysis/jo aluation study and orts oray uity usually inol ridding an xistingstudy o inrnt sx ias and/or dmanding aormal jo aluation study wr on dos notxist

Jo aluation studis wr in us long oray uity adocats rcognizd tir otntialin comaral wort struggls Gnrallysaking most larg uraucratic irms andstat agncis o not ngotiat a wag dirctlywit ac mloy ut ratr assign an m-loy to a articular rung o a jo laddr Tworkrs osition on t jo laddr dtrminsis or r wags orkrs in t sam jo wouldtus rci t sam salary wil workrs indirnt jos would aid dirntly Todtrmin ay scals larg irms us airlysystmatic jo analysis/aluation scmsotn rard y outsid consultants T irstst o t study analyzs jos troug x-amination o jo dscritions and somtims

discussions wit workrs n t most commont o aluation known as a ointactorsystm oints ar assignd to ac jo on tasis o critria (actors suc as skills ortrsonsiility and working conditions n tinal stag o t rocss dollar alus arassignd to t oints in ac catgory Tsam rocdurs and otn t sam con-sultants ar usd or jo aluations in ayuity cass n smallr irms t rocss is

muc mor inormal ut rankings o jos arstill undrtaknsit t aura o ojctiity surrounding

ts studis tr is no ojcti way to dtrmin t rlati roductiity o jos u tot diision o laor a myriad o dirntworkrs contriut to t outut o any ro-duct and it is imossil to distinguis tir di-rnt contriutions ow can on tcnicallymasur t rlati imortanc o diticiansnurss or armacological sta to a osital?

Normally osital adminstrators ay marktwags t amount ndd to attract workrs and inr t rlati wort o ts dirntworkrs rom tir wag rats Jo aluation

3


26/90

studes on te ote and attemt to detemneelate oductty o os aat om temaket To do ts tey must suectelycoose a set o actos and wegts. Tee aemany ways n wc sex ace and class as canent nto te calculatons .

One ctcal aea s te selecton and denton o actos to e ealuated Fo examle ts common to dene esonslty as suesoy esonslty oe ote wokesmacnes o money n ts case cld caewokes would ecee low onts o esonslty" een toug te os ental enomousesonslty o clden unde te caeSmlaly sklled acttes suc as nutungand gudance ae aely counted causng tad

tonal womens os to ecee lowe onts tanmens os. Boedom om outned wok snot commonly consdeed woty o ont as anadese wokng condton altoug outdoowok and eay ltng ae.

Anote ctcal aea s te wegtng o d-eent actos accomlsed ete toug tenume o onts allocated to eac acto o yte metod wc assgns dollas to onts Tsas te eect o detemnng te elate wot

o deent actos and geneally nolessostcated statstcal tecnues suc asmultle egesson analyss n eect consultng ms secalng n o ealuatons elyon eous coelatons etween exstng ayscalesand measued acto onts to edct onew clents wat a os salay sould e. Fomte esecte o te emloye te est ontan kngs ae tose wc dulcate te exstngay eacy as closely as ossle snce tsseemngly oecte" tecnue can ten e

used to legtme ay deentals Ts meanstat o ealuaton scemes usually emody exstng ay actces comlete wt sex ace ogende as. Fo examle te maxmum num-e o onts assgned o esonslty may e2000, wle adese wokng condtons aeawaded only a maxmum o 200 onts; tswoul ensue tat manageal os ay moetan sece o oeate os.

Deste tese ased metods cuent

metods o ealuatng os can stll e used town ay ases o tose n undealued"wok. Fo examle most studes ae oundtat male and emale os wt eual ont

24

ealuatons ae ad deently ecause o tewegng o deent actos mentoned aoeo ecause ms use deent ankng scemeso deent tyes o os n tese caseslegslaton o aganng ageements mandatngeual ay o os o eual ont alue (unde tesame ankng sceme can acee someweeetween e and 25 ecent ay nceases. 7

Muc moe can e won y elmnatng aom te tecnue Ts eues wde access tonomaton aout exstng o contemlated oealuaton studes. e need to dssemnate nomaton on ow consultng ms suc as HayAssocates wc sees aoxmately 40 ecent o te Fotune 500 comanes8 conductte studes and we need to agan o nut at

all stages o te ealuaton ocess Te moewe nole ouseles n te tecnue takngowe om te tecnocats te moe successwe wll ae. ogess as aleady een aceed n ts aea Most unons ae sta memeswo ae exets on te tecnue and emnstoonents o comaale wot ae cuentlyat wok exandng te dentons o actos so


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as to recognize the alue of women's traditionalwork skills (One of the most important redefinitions has been the inclusion of responsibilityfor children as a compensable factor.) Morework needs to be done to rid the method of raceand class bias

Hw Radca s Cpaae W

While comparable worth directly challengessexual inequality in the labor market, it mayalso hae the potential for other radical change

Comparable worth promises to underminemale supremacy outside the labor market aswell. Feminists hae long noted the way in

which the lower wages of women hae reinforced the traditional nuclear family andwomen's responsiblity for unpaid work in thehome.As long as women are denied access to men'sjobs, and few womens jobs pay a liing wage,women are under strong economic pressure tomarry. Married womens financial dependenceupon their husbands contributes to sexual inequality within marriage The economic costs

of leaing or being let by one's husband are illustrated by the high percentage of womenheading families on their own who lie inpoerty. The risk of poerty is highest forwomen of color; in 1982 562 percent of blackand 55 percent of Latino families headed bywomen were poor

In addition, comparable worth subjects thepay structure to scrutiny it rarely receies Conentional economic wisdom argues that in he"perfectly competitie market economy,workers are paid according to their "marginalproduct, that is, according to their contributions to the production process (In graduateschool, one of our teachers built models whichassumed that women were 60 per cent as productie as men, justifying this with the fact thatfulltime women workers earned on aerage, 60per cent as much as men) Comparable worthdebunks such conenient rationalizations of thepay structure, and the sexist assumptions they

both reflect and create, by showing that theforce behind pay differences has not been prouctiity differences but rather power andiscrimination Thus, it presents a radical criique of our system of income distribution

Both Bob and feel that a womanwho has a career can do so only atthe expense of her husband andchden.

Bob is hepng me to fynderstand this, emotionaly as weas inteectally, by doppng hisclothes n ie pies aond thehose and by ting eveyone thatmy chiden have dy skin becase Inegect them

Nicole ollander Ma can I e a feminist and still like

men? St. Martin s Press New York.

through the "free market, and presents analternatie way of achieing what the markethad promised the distribution of income toworkers according to their contributions in amanner which is fair and incentiecreating atthe same time.

Finally, while comparable worth does notdirectly attack occupational segregation by sex,

it may do so indirectly On the one hand, bymaking traditionally feminine jobs palatable towomen, comparable worth may reduce the incenties for women to seek entrance into aledominated, more priileged jobs. On the otherhad, as traditionally feminine jobs begin to offer wages comparable to those of masculinejobs, more men will find them attractie Also,as women begin to ght for and expect workingconditions comparable to those of men, theymay find men's jobs more desirable, and bemore willing to fight to get them

Badenn e Cpaae W Aenda

Comparable worth gains effectieness andconstituency when combined with other progressie demands

Conseratie economists hae warned thatraising wages for women's work would createuncontrollable inlation While frms will try to

increase their prices (nd state agencies, theirtax reenues), the inationary impact woulddepend upon the magnitude and speed of thepay euity adustment, as well as the ability offirms and goernments to pass on the costs

5


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(Ts n tun dnds uon t dg ofmonooly ow and ctzn sstanc to taxncass Fnally nflaton s not t wost ofal ls and can lmtd y t us of wagc contols long a dmand of ogsss

at s mo wosom a t otossl actons of fms and stat agncs toan ncas n t c of womns lao: auto-maton lmnaton of stat ogams andunaway sos to counts n wc womnstl od a suxlotal ao foc

Alady comutzaton s tatnng clcalwoks and jo flgt as catd massstuctual unmoymnt n t US n odfo comaal wot stuggls not to xac-a ts oms ty must usud nconjuncton wt dmands fo jo scuty tanng and lantclosng gslaton

So as to ad al undalud woks ayuty must also xtndd to nclud com-asons twn comaal ut acaly-sggatd jos En ts xtnson wl not

so al woks olms oks wtoutjos wll not nft no wl woks n tosjos cacuatd to a t ast wot Sncts a t man jo oms facd y mn

26

Ovo agazie, 1980

of colo comaal wot offs lttl totm Rasng ay fo womn n ctan jos ducs nualty twn womn and mn ont sam l of t jo acy uncass t at oty of tos at tottom of t acy T olms canonly sold y a mo comns -stuctung of wok and y a d and moadca dscusson of t wot of wok

As cuntly actcd t doctn of com-aal wot accts t da of a acy of

woks mo o lss woty" on t ass ofsom ojct cta How as adcalscom nod n dcsons aout wat fac-tos sould mt g ay w may wl gnto uston t atonal fo t acytsf f t dscusson of wat maks wokwoty s xtndd to t gass oots w maywll dtmn tat all jos a ualy woty may dcd tat woks n unsklld out-nzd jos may dong t adst wok ofall fo suc wok sas and dns t y

umanty y sould tos wos jos gtm t most ootunty to dlo and ust alts also ad t most? T tad-tonal agumnttat g ay must


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28

grops Ji is h hor o An EconomicHistory o omen in Americ: omensork, te Sexul Division o Lor, nd teDeveloment o Citlism (Nw Yorkchockn Books 1982) nd Trs hs wrin

on miirism nd on povr in SocilistReview Te omen's Review o Books, ndNew Politicl Science

!


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No women : lberaton wtot revolton - no revolton wtot women s lberaton, " tal Go Taaglone frome Art of Protest.


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THE GENESS O FCONTEPOAY TALAN

FENS

Joanne Barkan

The origins of the new feminism in Italy date back to the ate 1960s when the mass politica movements were taking shape at the universities. Enrolment was rapidy expanding, and

more of the incomng students were women. By 1967-68, the female porton of the university population was about 36 percent, a sizabe jump from ess than 29 percent in 1 96263 Many young women had their first politica experiences in the student movement and in leftorganizations, especialy the New Lef parties They acquired skils in poitical analysis andin organizing But they aso found themseves frustrated by the subordinate position they occupied in relation to men There was a pervasive indifference to their particuar interests andneeds as women They were "angels of the mimeograph machine (ange de ccoste)doing behindthescenes support work for those (mosty men) who had a public presence aseaders, speakers, and writers For the women invoved, it was not much of an improvementover the traditiona female roe as ange of the hearth They also objected to the rigid hierarchies of power in the ew Left parties They criticized the "odstye, undemocratic waysof doing politics

Over the course of several years, a large proportion of these women activists came to seethemseves as feminists They eventuay concuded that the sexuay mixed organizations sti

This essay is excerpted from Vsons of ancpaton: The Itaan Workers ' Moeent Snce 3 by Joanne Barkan (New York: Praeger, 1984) and printed with permission o f the authorand publisher Praeger Publishers 521 Fith Avenue New York NY 10175


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ld t olitics ty wantd to dvlo Tyrsignd rom t artis to orm loosly struc-turd local collctivs and consciousnss-raising grous wr ty could coul radicalidology wit nw organizational orms

T mid 970s wr a tim o ntusiastic x loration and tortical growt or t minists Ty ulisd journals and nwsarsst u coorativs and arcivs ran ookstors tatrs and womn's cntrs Amongtir most imortant orts wr t womn'salt counsling srvics conso wicty organizd in many citis and townsTroug t consori, t minists rovidd inormation on irt control aortion

motring and alt rolms Ty saw tisaltrnativ alt srvic as art o t strugglor sldtrmination and womn's controlovr tir own odis. n all tir activitis tminists took u tms tat t lt and tlaor movmnt ad largly ignord Tycriticizd t sxual division o laor in socityty xlord t rlationsi o class orssion to sxual orssion and t autonomousnatur o t lattr; ty assignd rroductivrigts a rminnt lac in t struggl orwomn's liration. T movmnt was anti-caitalist. According to adrnts minismwas rvolutionary in its otntial to transormconomic olitical and cultural norms

T minists criticizd t oldr womn'sgrous scially t Communist Partydominatd nion o talian omn (D oradoting tigtly structurd and irarcicalorms o organization. According to t mi-nists ts grous ad not sriously considrd

t nd or saratism and inancial indndnc rom maldominatd institutions tyad maintaind a als division twn watwr considrd rsonal ustions (suc assxuality and t amily and olitical issusFor t minists D's conction owomn's manciation was too narrowly o-cusd on ormal ualitis. Ty also argudtat D ll sort in its aroac to issussuc asdivorc aortion and irt control orar o alinating traditional Catolic orcs

Conscious o ing small and omognoust minist movmnt did not want to rmainan isolatd gtto o young ducatd ltistsSinc ty wr articularly intrstd in rac

3

ing out to workingclass womn ministsgan doing grassroots organizing Ty st ualt counsling srvics in workingclassnigoroods Ty ut togtr ducationalslid sows and took tm into small towns and

outlying communitis Ty gan ulisingmatrial tat would av a widr aal Tgrassroots orts incrasd tir contact witotr womn and roducd a usul xcango idas in som locals

Many workingclass womn ractd nga-tivly to minism at irst T olitics o sxuality saratism and consciousnssraisingwr nw to tm Ty lt conusd araidvn ondd D mmrs rsondd in

muc t sam way Ty wr otn antagonistic and comtitiv T talian Communist Party (PC was scially wary caus t ministsconrontd toics tat wr igly controvrsialamong Catolics and consrvativs T Party atta tim was trying to minimiz its conicts witt Cristian Dmocrats. Som w L grousmracd minism on a tortical lvlaltoug many mal mmrs ractd ostillyto t notion o saratism Mn rom on ot grous o Conin stormd a sara

tist marc in Rom in 1975 ut t otr organizations rsctd t dcision to organizvnts and rojcts or womn only

he Abn Campaign

T divorc rrndum in 197 gav mi-nists a nw oortunity Ty wr al to raist issus o womn's dndncy and t rols

o t Curc marriag and amily in t con-txt o a national dat But it was t aortion controvrsy tat mad miism a signii-cant social orc in taly T struggl or aortion rigts convincd larg numrs o womnto adot a minist rsctiv t also rougtt various olitical actions witin twomn's movmnt minists D lirtarians into a roductiv altoug otncomativ rlationsi

T camaign gan in t arly art o tdcad as rssur grw to ral t Fascistrgulations wic wr still t law o t landAccording to tis cod aortion was rmittdonly in cass o ra or incst For rligious


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cultual, and olitical easons, tee ad eenno effot to educate extensively aout itcontol o to make contacetives easily avail-ale n fact, until 1971, anote suvivingFascist law foade te advetising an sale ofcontacetives Te esult was ecouse to il-legal aotions t was estimated tat 1 5 to 2million illegal aotions wee efomed intaly eac yea. 2

n te mid1970s, some feminist gous ecame involved in oviding aotion sevicesfo women Tey eled un an illegal clinic inFloence and aanged fligts to Bitain weeaotion was allowed Tey woked on teseoects wit te Movement fo Lieation of

the Woman (MLD), a women's organizationlined to te small Radical Paty Bot MLDand te PR wee influential in catalying te divoce and aotion camaigns Tei ideological osition was lietaian, and tey devoted

he first women's demonstration in Rome Marh

most of tei enegies to singleissue stugglesMLD, wose memesi was sexually mixed,viewed women's lieation imaily in temsof civil igts Tis outlok ut MLD at oddswit te feminists on many oints, ut tacticalalliances wee still ossile

Resonding to te essue to legalie ao-tion, te Cistian Democats suoted a newand vey limited law ate tan ave all estic-tions on aotion aolised Te ote atiesut fowad oosals, none of wic was ac-cetale to te feminists So on Deceme 6,1975, 50,000 women maced in Rome to de-mand full aotion igts t was te fist a-eaance of a mass feminist movement in taly

Te seaatist event (in wic D efused toaticiate) catued te attention of temedia t foced te left, esecially te PC, toegin to take feminism somewat moe seiously By Ail 1976, te nume of women


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marching in Rom had grown to 00,000 andincludd UD Th imact was strong noughto ring down th govrnmnt.

Atr th Jun 976 lction, Parliamnt con-tinud working on aortion lgislation thatmost activist womn rgardd as inaduatBut th various olitical grouings within thwomn's movmnt could not agr on an altrnativ roosal o thir own omn hold

ing a lirtarian osition argud or simly raling th Fascist laws This would hav lgalizd aortion Th majority, howvr, main-taind that th lgal right alon was not suicint Thy wantd a law roviding or com-ltly statinancd aortions on dmand sothat oor womn would hav th sam rights inractic as walthir womn Emhasizing thright to sldtrmination, th ministsargud that th dcision to hav an aortionshould long to th woman alon and not todoctors or judgs Furthrmor, thy wantdaortion to just on art o a comrhnsivhalth car and wlar systm that not onlymt womn's nds ut was also controlld ywomn

For th nxt two yars, th aortion lgisla-tion was ntangld in th comlx ngotiationsovr Communist articiation in th govrnmnt Th Christian Dmocrats roosd onrovision atr anothr to wakn th drat

law, and th Communists wnt along with somo th limitations During th sring o 978,minists and UD mmrs joind togthr indmonstrations outsid Parliamnt to rotstth PCs comromiss This was on indica

tion o how UD had com mor autonomous o th PC during th aortion struggl.Th organization had also gun to adot anincrasingly minist viwoint

n Jun, Parliamnt inally assd on o thmor rogrssiv aortion laws in Euro trovidd or statinancd aortions withinth irst 90 days o rgnancy or any womanovr 8 yars o ag Th rason or sking anaortion could halth rlatd, conomic,social, or amilial. A doctor or rcognizdhalt acility issud th rmission or anaortion atr xamining th woman and discussing altrnativs with hr Th womn'smovmnt considrd th law only a artial victory caus crtain rovisions ll short o dsird goals For xaml, ormal authorizationor an aortion still rstd with th mdicalstalishmnt; th lawmakrs also raisd thag or aortions without arntal consntrom 6 to 8 yars; thy stiulatd that doctorshad to rorm all aortions in hositals andscially authorizd clinics

he Elun he emen

n just a short yars, th aortion camaign had com a owrul orc that involvd tns o thousands o womn dirctly andtouchd many othrs t also gav many womnthir irst contact with minism Th massmdia gratly amliid this xosur Thrwr atur rorts on minism in nwsarand magazins and dats on tlvision andradio Th rsult was that a nw and mor criti

cal consciousnss o th condition o womn intaly iltrd through socity, inluncing howwomn saw thmslvs and thir livs This didnot man that millions joind th ministmovmnt as activists, ut it did man thatmany womn idntiid or agrd in larg artwith minism

n th mantim, th movmnt ran into thortical and organizational diicultis Thrwas an ongoing dat in th collctivs andgrous on ths unrsolvd issus th aut

nomy o th minist movmnt and its rlationshi to stat and olitical institutions suhas Parliamnt and th artis; an aduatorganizational structur that would rovid chrnc ut not rroduc old hirarchis; th


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relationship between individual needs, private

life, and activism in the movement; the focus of

future activity. At first, many feminists turned

their energies to the serious problem of im

plementing the new abortion law. About two-thirds of the doctors in state institutions and en

tire staffs of Catholic hospitals declared

themselves conscientious objectors and refused

to perform abortions. (Some of them, it was

found out, were still doing clandestine abor

tions for high fees.) Feminists organized sitins

in hospials to protest the situation. They also

helped set up the neighborhood family planning

and health centers which had been promised by

law. But they found that the local political

powers and party cadres often dominated the

process and absorbed the new health facilities

into the existing institutional framework.

Because of their informal organization, the

feminists were at a disadvantage when dealing

with the bureaucracies.

By the end of the 1970s, many of the early

consciousnessraising groups, collectives, and

coordinating committees had disbanded. Oth

ers were operating at a lower level of activity.

There was less attention focused on the move-ment as a national phenomenon. Feminism had

developed during a time of general political

Semioext (e) 9

Le Nouvel Observateur 1977

mbilization. This environment had provided

ideological stimulation, organizing opportui-

ties, political interlocutors, and recruits. Oncethe mobilization had ebbed and the left had suf

fered defeats, the feminists had to adjust to a

less dynamic context. Many of them spoke of a

serious crisis, but others insisted that, despite

difficulties, the movement was still very much

alive at the local level. There was evidence that

it had spread to provinces and small towns

where feminism had never before been present.

Women there were responding to their immedi

ate needs. They came together because theywere concerned about specific problems or

shared an interest or simply wanted to be with

35


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other women The imact of feminism had notceased ut new women were finding differentways to incororate and use it

As in other estern countries the great sig-nificace of feminism i taly was to awaken

new attitudes and ercetions The change inconsciousness continued to transform socialrelatios even when the movemet itself was lessvisile There were two striking examles ofthis in the early 1980s The first was the na-tional referendum on aortion The ChristiaDemocratic arty the Vatican and the talianMovement for Life were unwilling to let theaortion law stand Assuming that the moreconservative olitical climate and the disarray

of the left would give them an advantage theCatholic forces threw themselves into a camaign to reeal the 1978 law The neofascistarty MS also suortd reeal But thereferendum held in May 198 1 showed that mosttalians endorsed the imortant reform Thevote was 68 ercent in favor of the law and only32 ercent against The setiment in 1981 af-firming a woman's right to choose motherhoodwas even stronger than aroval for divorcehad een in the 197 referendum Moreover

the roaortion vote was eually heavy insouthern norther ad cetral taly The AltoAldige a Germanseakig aline region regis-tred the only maority in favor of reeal

The second examle involved the women'sorganization At its national conventionin May 1982 the articiants confronted the issues of delegated democracy and s hierarchical structure Adoting a radical alterativethey essetially dissolved as a centralized

national organization There would e no morefulltime functionaries no unified olitical liead no rivileged relationshi with ay of theleft arties A national office would still eoen ut it would e staffed on a rotatingasis There would e oen general assemliescalled y memers rather than meetings ofdelegates scheduled y leaders n addition would no longer accet financing from theleft arties

The decisions were the result of an analysis inwhich s leaders acknowledged they werelosing memers The organization was havingdifficulty attracting young women and feminists At the same time 's leaders recog

36

nized the existence of a disersed and largelyunsee feminist movement which they elieveddid not identify with any national organizationBy decetralizing itself hoed to link uwith tha movemet t also decided to make

oe of its ulications an oen magazine whichcould e used as a voice for the entire feministmovement

The convention decisions were risky as wellas radical and not everyone suorted themBut many memers had changed durigthe course of the 1970s arriving at a oint wherethey wanted to aandon what they saw as tradi-tional ad hierarchical forms n additionthey no longer wated a close affiliation with

maledominated arties t was a ersectivenot unlike that of the New Left women whohad founded the first feminist grous At thattime had een one of the olitical forcesthat criticized fought with and distanced itselffrom the feminist A decade later the oldestwomen's organization in taly undertook asweeing selftransformation ased on anunderstading of and commitment tofeminism

Italian Womn s Guerilla Theater

FOOTOT

Yamie Ega " 67 Femim ad the Itaa

Pat tem: Wome' Pot a Deade o umoiomparatie Politics o (A 2)2762 Lee Caldwe, Chuh tate ad Fam he

ome' Movemet i Ita i Feminism and Materia/ism: Women and Modes of Production ed Aette Kuh

ad AMaie Woe (Lodo ad Boto: Routledge ad

Kega Paul 7)

3. Ritanna Armen "Una femmnista che vnce, Pacee

Guerra, March 3 1 , 1 983 , pp. 34-35.


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Joann Bakan works s wrir nd dior inNw York Ciy h ivd in Iy nd hs wri

n on Iin poiics conomics nd socimovmns for mny Amricn picions in

cding Radcal Amca

LTT :

Ba Er eay, "a: The Ue aer ( V 1 4) eem hae pkedme raw era Z ere mh he eer;he hw rae rm Er da rae e ad mae her a e awe

a Berma eer V

1

23) a

epeay rh pr Fwer he areer he mder em, Are har w e a dah rm Berma deee rae mray

rae ha re ee repe reera hrre maare B de rkey a a ha he a dreyrepe r he m ree heemaare were demed r aked, prmed ad hred?

emed, deed B Berma y eera,he ehe a we je he erm

"ede, whh Ba Er eer ed whhhe RA edr meed e rae phrae,Berma ay dw he w prpe

"A eda ry e wh rh e The re he wrd hd deed h a ry ad par - a happeed ermay - r hd aqee aehr ry ez r - a happeed amda rae ry wereeda, he wd hae rh e

wer Edey, here me ee ae rme aa hmay a whh re ere eme a mra mperae e aree reere he erm "eda r he paed,phya, wheae eerma a pepe wh de dere rae d ward heaea p w, r r ha maer az ermay reame he ew rm 1933 "1939 B w Berma, we pae ha here mee d eyd whh a ry "rh x aed qe, he de makee draw ha e a me p hr aapya ed? hd we wa aa deah

amp are e, r ee der r, erea prped?

me ake e ep rher e ppe haa ry eha h a ah a pe heear ad preset dager, perhap ma eer

ma, mass expulso ad a eprpra - ad a hrea areae maare ahr ede - a je pepe e haa, perhap, a qe he ryrh e? Ad ee ha ereme warraed, a we a ea ha he ryperpwer par ad re are der

me mra a p d ad erp r he pre ead ward hee rma a?

Th he qe wd ke a Berma awer d, a a ead mra her, hewd draw he e derey ha mh a prejded aea epeed rm h ad B wa Berma e where d you prpe draw he e er rae? rae aee hee Bak ad aza, h mpe he ezre hr aee, w rae hae he ame rh e? r w e he a he wrd mpe a ew par ha aea rh a

e ered? d e we a ere hakd he rreery mped? Ad deha e ha ead mra ke yrehd e demad a ed he U. dy rae ha derwre he aea he ped Terrre ad he eera hrre maare (yr erm) ha rae ha perperaed dead de pree rder?

e me e ear Uke Berma, d edrehe dea de pwer ar p re haeae rma ehar Raher, k here he aea ppe ad prreerae, ad her eraa ae, ree he

ha wa kw rm Berma, reay, wha de he

**

Dv D M

SPECAL BULK RATESFo classoom study gou o oganzatonnds, consd usng ulk cos o RADCALAMERCAs scal ssus suc as T Ml

Kng Camagn and Coalton Poltcs n t80s" wt dscusson o t 1983 BostonMayoal Camagn and t natonal lack lctoal momnt (Vol 17 No 6Vol 1 8 No1; Scal ssu on TE ENVRONMENT"(Vol 1 7, No 23; T Gns" (Vol 1 7 No 1; Facng Racton Scal ssu on t NwRgt and Amca n t 80s" (Vol 15, Nos12; and RADCAL AMERCA a 15 YaAntology" (Vol 6 , No 3; snd o a com

lt lstng o ack ssus and amlts ando ou dscount at scdul

37


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39/90

IALY: Working Classilitancy, Feminism andrade Union Politics

Banca Beccall

A he end o he 1 960s and n he early 1 970s, a wave o worknglass srggles hanged hesrre o Ialan rade nonsm and had a proond mpa on Ialan soey and polsThe srke rae was he hghes among he Wesern onres ( one exldes he solaed peako he Frenh May), and so was he nrease n nonaon 60 peren beween 1968 and978, brngng he overall rae p o 46 peren Ths wave o mlany was he resl o bohhanges n he omposon o he Ialan labor ore and sh wder soal and polal rendsas he sden movemen Trade nons were ready o play a leadng role whn he new wave,even a he expense o ndergong a radal renewal

The hanges n he Ialan workng lass had begn drng he es wh he massve mgraon rom he Soh o he Norh, rom he eonomally bakward areas o h onry o hemore ndsraled ones!, o a new generaon o yong, nsklled workers. Alhogh new oboh ndsry and he nons, hey were seekng represenaon They were he new olleveaor n he yle o srkes n Ialan ndsry The nons, whh had prevosly organedmanly he sklled seors o he workng lass, were weak and dd no have mh o lose Theyoo were lookng or represenaon and or new power, wherever mgh appear

When he wave o srkes began, he nons hereore red o assme he leadershp The

Ths arle s a slghly eded and revsed exerp rom a longer essay whh appears n AleCook, Val Lorwn, and Arlene Danels, eds, Woen and Trade Unons n Eeven In-dustrazed Countres (Phladelpha Temple Unversy Press, 984) and s reprned whpermsson o he ahor and pblsher *

*Temple Unversy Press, Broad and Oxord Ss, Phladelpha PA 922 3


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ric ws rdicl chg i thir orgiz-tiol strucur d olicis. h workrs writrl immigrts i cotrst o th gustworkrs of othr uro coutris d thusdifficult to igor. hrough thir umrsth mrkdl iflucd uio olicis.

Chgs i rd uio olic icludd wmhsis o qulit ( solidristic wgolic with fltrt wg icrss d rductio i th rg of th skill ctgoriswr oth itroducd i 1969) d o thhirrchicl orgiztio of work th divisioof tsks o th sho floor d rolms ofhlth d sft. Bsic chgs i trd uiosructur wr lso isitutd. w mhsisws ut o uio dmocrc: th worklc

mtigs wr giv forml owr d wworklc structur th sho stwrd'scoucil cm th sic uit of trd uioorgizio. h ifluc of h sudts'movmt ws vidt i oth th form d thcot of th uios' oliicl ctio: gistuthorit d th divisio of lor; for qulit; for dirct cio d rticitordmocrc. h ifluc ws ot olculturl; itrctios w workrs dstudts d ltr h Nw Lf) took lc th fctor gts i h strs i mtigsd i vrious orgiztios of studts dworkrs. ll of this is t vric with whthd i othr coutris whr coflicts ort s distc tw lor d th wmiddl clss socil movmts hv muchgrtr s w will s low howvr womwr mrgil to this rocss of rwl.

B h mid1970s h trordir workrsmoiliztio ws ovr h uios hd com

strog. h trditiol chrctristics of tliuioism ctrlizio oliticiztiowkss hd chgd: th uios hdchivd high dgr of cotrol ovr thworkfor; th wr strog t th worklclvl visvis th mlor d t th tiollvl visvis th stt h isitutiolizioof his w strgh st off diffrmchism roducig rwd ctrliztioi l of rticitor dmocrc d mor

ifluc for th oliticl ris i lc ofuio utoom. t h rkdfil lvl thcommimt o uit d qulit wr god th frgmttio o old d w itrsts

40

d dmds ushd th uios mor d morito th rol of mditors olic of comromis t th fctor lvl dvlod t thsm tim tht th historicl comromis ofth Commuist rt mor d mor iflucd trd uio olitics t th tiol lvl. 2

Yt th moiliztio hd som lstig ffcts irst th owr d rivilgs of tholdr skilld workrs hd shk dwom s w d wk comot of thworkforc did ot hv to fc owrfulstructur of itrsts sd o crt d siorit i th uios . Scod siv tworkof ctivists hd crtd durig th rs oftrordir collctiv thusism. Rdicltrd uio olitics hd com crucil rt

of thir livs Withi his grou of ctivisstrd uio fmiism would dvlo.

Femnst lzan nsde he Unns

h l svtis d rl ighis witssd grt chg i wom's rticiio i hlor mrkt. much discussd culirit ofh tli lor mrkt th low d flligrticitio rt of wom g to chgi th rl svtis d i 19 81 th rt stoodt 6 rct still much lowr th ht ofohr idustrilizd coutris ut dfiitl icrsig. Of h totl icrs i mlomttw 197 d 1981 (1 757 000 workrs)wom ccoutd for 1 348 000 mor ththrqurtrs (ml umlomt lso icrsd strikigl from 9.6 rct i 1974 o14.4 rct i 1981 s gist ml umlomt rt of 5.4 rct i 1981.) h iggs icrss i mlomt occurrd mog

wom of child rig g tw wtd fourtfour rs whos rticitiorts hd h lowst i itrtiol comrisos Wom ot ol rturd to workftr g thirtfiv ut std i thir jos ith ougr d most frtil g cohors.

Wom wr ivolvd i th rocss ofmoiliztio i th uios d t wrmrgil o i h fw qutittiv dtvill o woms rticitio i uiosi

tl illustrt this ttr of rticitio dclusio.4Most sourcs gr o two sic fcts: irs

woms mmrshi i uios is roughl


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ootiol to thi ticitio i th wok-foc though th vitios i som sctos. CGL * sch shows tht wom mdu 93 ct of its mmshi i 977,

wh th w 30. ct o f th wokfoc.Scod dsit this high uioiztio twoms sttio i uio hichisgos dow s o gos u th uuctic ldd. f o xcluds th uios tchicl dsctil sol (ovwhlmigl fml)wom lmost dis th 6 ct offulltim officils i th CGL d ct ofth tiol ldshi of ll uios

h st stt of sch o wom itd uios mks som dt difficult to it

t mog uid officils d v mogflltim id os wom td to ougth m ct cuitmt ol ld ol i this ut o should lso tk ito c-cout th tdc of wom i th old gcohots to do out of th wokfoc Womofficils lso o vg mo highlductd th ml os

h cuitmt of wom i th svtisws xctiol it ol mo th quld

Gl tli dl Lvoo:Codtio of tli Lo

th cuitmt of m. W do ot kow howmuch this iflux ltd th vious sx comositio of th uioizd wokfoc o thuio ldshi ut it ws i solut tms

mkl Comd with tht of oth idustilizd outis th t of fmluioiztio i tl is high d th cooligoff though which wom discougdfom skig ldshi ols ots o toof high lvl of kdfil ticitio

Wom w imott comot of thuskilld wokfoc tht fomd th ckoof th w movmt d th lso md u lg ootio of th offic woks i i-dust who i ths s ogizd d stuck

fo th fist tim h w visil i stiksd dmosttios d mss ssmlis utth l hd ldshi ositios o took thfloo i mtigs s log s th wv of collctiv thusism lstd d th w td uioidtit ws ig uilt wom's mgilitws ot v civd t ws ol i th midsvtis tht this siutio chgd

oud 975 th fist collctivs" offomd h

41


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origil iititives were tke t the locl level:i Mil d uri first, the i Geo, d ,d Rome, grous of trde uio womeorgized to discuss their roblems i the bigfctories or the uio hedqurters. Who werethese wome? Who took the iititive? Whtwere the roblems the discussed Wht kidof ctio did the tke?

"ew Fens and the Unns

he iititive to form workig wome's col-lectives ws usull tke b wome who beloged to or hd bee iflueced b the NewLeft or the ew femiism," or both. Oftethe were uio officers or rkdfilemilitts; sometimes the were studets oroug techers exterl" to the lbor movemet. either cse, ligig themselves withworkig wome ws their w to combie socilist with femiist oriettio.

he ew femiism develoed i the first hlfof the seveties, whe the first wve of middle-clss femiism beg to ifluece the secodwve of workigclss femiism, both idirectl, through the movemet's high visibilit, d

directl, through femiist militts whobrought the messge ito trde uio circles. rllel with the studet movemet's iflueceo the workig css struggles of the lte sixtiesis evidet. here is lso rllel i the formtio of the two wves of femiism. he hrdcore of the femiist movemet of the erlseveties ws mde u of studets who hd rticited i the 1968 movemet. he lrgerthemes of 1968 were to become cetrl to the

femiism movemet s well critiques of thedivisio of lbor d uthorit i societ dthe fmil d of the culturl roductio" ofsociet. hese themes were i fct soo bdoed b the emergig New Left whe thestudets' mobiliztio of 1 968 gve w to theworkers' struggles of 1969, the studetmilitts shifted their iterest to the fctories. the fce of excetioll militt workigclss, the studets sigled out d exltedclssicl MrxistLeiist theories of

strteg d orgiztio from mog themovemet's brod rr of criticl ides.Severl orgiztios grew out of this rocess,differig i the detils of their ideologies butsimilr i their orgiztios structure, i the

42

stle of their militc, d i the mrgilositio offered to wome. Wome relizedtheir mrgilit ol whe creeig crisisdeveloed i these smll orgiztios, which

combied extremel high levels of rticitiod totl scrifice of ersol life with shortterm revolutior execttios. ve beforethe officil filure of the New Left roject ithe oliticl electios of 1976, collective critiques hd begu to er i 1973 d 1974 ccomied b idividul withdrwls.emiism ws the most imortt of the critiques, combiig stress o rdicl ideologicld orgiztiol iovtio with retur tosome of the origil ides of 1968

he oliticl" origi of the ew femiismhs bee oited out i other cses i rticulr i the U.S, where the emergece of theew femiism out of the Civil Rights movemetd the New Left hs bee crefull lsed. 8Brod structurl chges re certil i thebckgroud, but rticitio i secificoliticl exeriece c be crucil i cretig femiist mobiliztio. Such coectio is evidet lso for trde uio femiism. he first

femiist collectives develoed i the res ofgretest workigclss militc the dustril uios, esecill the egieerguios ot the trditioll femle sectors ofthe ecoom, such s clothig d textes,where uios were ot rticulrl militt, ori the res where wome were ewemloed, such s services, which weremrgil to the struggles of the erl seveties.

Grous of wome beg to meet i some ofthe lrge lts i the North d i severl ofthe big cities he wome ivolved hd rticited itesivel i uio work d i theoliticl struggles of the recedig ers, dtheir discussios were i the begiig oe ddressed recisel to this exeriece he cetrltheme of discussio ws the exeriece ofworkig wome who were ctivists i teuios; it ws ot siml the geerl robleof workig wome. his ltter roblem ievitbl ws rised i the wome's collectives,

but it ever occuied ceter stge it ws telsis of the oliticl exeriece of trde

uio ctivists which ws redomit.Much of the lguge d m of te

techiques used b these grous were borrowed


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deied u, o he coy, ecogied duil uo Pickig u o he messge of heew femiism, hey sw wome o oly s vic-ims of discimiio, u so he emodi-me of leive och o life d

oliics Cosequely, hey cocluded hwome should o demd igge she of heie he, hey should develo hei leive och quliy of oouiy"fo wome ws dismissed s gol he solu-io, ised, w o chge he ues of hegme fo oh me d wome lhough heoes gis discimiio hd ee imo- i igig hese womes collcives ioeisece, ow hei swe o he oem ofiequliy wihi he lo moveme ws omoe iciio o moe oouiies,"u ew collecive eeiece i which hegol of chge i esol elioshis wouldo e defeed d mes s well s edswould e emhsied The esul of hislysis ws h wome cofoed he uioswih eques fo uoomy

he uccess o Femns Unonsm

he cofoio ewee femiiss de uios i he le seveies, he wome wohei sic demds fo uoomous e-wok of wome iside he uios. Oly selflysis d he eeiece of uoomous,decelized, oueucic sucue, heyisised, would llow he gowh of move-me of wokig wome cle of igigou el chge.

iilly, he demd me cosidele esis-ce. Uio ledes, esecily Commuiss,

cosideed seism he o wokigclssuiy d feed h he loose d ifomlchce of he womes ogiio wouldmke cel cool of clss uiy difficulThe ew movemes ides wee equly disu-ig he dicl ciique of gede oleschlleged i diffee wys oh heCholic d he Commuis uios . The Commuiss hd lwys ieded gdully omodeize" he fmily, u eve o quesioi. They wee cuious i isig seul d

fmily issues, so s o o use hei deliceelioshi wih he Cholic wold, dsusicious of dicl femiism, which heyhough of, coecly, s coeced wih heNew ef.

L'e

Bew 1975 d 978 he ewok ofwomes collecives sed idy. Coodiig commie wee foed he locld iol leves, sig i 1977 wih iol coodiig commiee of wome sho


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stwrds i th girig uio h ris dgrowth of th movmt cm gr visi i tht r wh wom workrs ththousds mrchd i srt sctios o tio uio dmostrtios (Srtism i

dmostrtios ws ovious dsrovd of th hrdcor trd uio mmrs s muchs srtism i orgiztio) h ft wig oth uios dirct suortd th growth dgitimtio of th woms grou B thd of 978 th w ro of wom i thuios ws rcogizd d th uios od dt sti goig o o th rcisforms th utoomous woms structursshoud tk miist ids th critiqu ofth fmi d gdr ros th mhsis osuit d motio wr offici cctd io trd uios discours fw srir this woud hv uthik. hrcogitio o wom movd from th r ofiovtiv uio miitc to tht of orgiztio. I th most rct stg of this rocssth CIL i 9 8 dcidd o cov tiocofrc of wom sho stwrds d uiorrsttivs th frst CIL woms cofrc sic th qu grmt ws sigd d th wom s commissios i th uioswr dissovd twt rs rir ddrssig

th ovr two thousd thusistic rticits th Commuist hd of th CILd gr scrtr of th fdrtio ofIti uos Lucio Lm ckowdgdth imortc of su oitics ov d od th strugg for quit d gistcoomic oittio

Th twork ow icuds sm firms dsm citis d to som tt th South uth

Documents

Radical America - Vol 18 No 5 - 1984 - September October