A highly successful meeting to mark International Women's Day was organised by the International Marxist Group in London last Friday. Among the speakers were women from sections of the Fourth International in Ireland, France, be used to build an effective campaign, but this was ignored by the platfotm, even though they had no alterative suggestions. It was only under cemure from the meeting that Mary Davis (Communist Party member on Haringey Trades Council) presented a belated resolution, calling on the London Trades Council to set up a body based on union district comm ittees and trades councils to organise the campaign.
The IMG members present oppo sed this on the grounds that it repres We pledge ourselves to agitate and organise to achiove the following aims:1. The tate for the job, regardless of sex, at rates negotiated by the trade unions, with a raticutal minimum wage helow which no wages should 2. Equal opportunity of entry into:
ecrapations and in promotion. compulsory day release for all 16-19 year olds in employment 4. Working conditions to be without deterioration ot previous conditions the same for women as for men.
The semoral of all begot and turesu cratic impedimonte to equality ep with megant to tenancies, mortgages, pension schecies tasation pasports control over children, social secur Ity payment lute purchase agne 6. Impouved provisons af loest authority day musseries, free of charge with extended hours to sult working mothers Provision of eury classes in day numeries. Mate nocery sch ools.
7. 18 weeks muternicy lease with tal Tull net pay spread hefore aod after Che berth of live child: 7acks afte er birth if do child is stillbot.
dismisal during pregnancy or mat:
ernity leave No kne of secontes pension or promotion prospe 8. Pamily planning clinics sapply:
ing free costruception to led exe ended to cover cuty focality Free abortion to be ready perlable.
9. Family allowance to be inorented to L2.50 per cäll, incioding the fust child.
10. To campaign amongot women to ake an sctire part in the trade in ans and in political life do tat IDey may exercise afluence continensur ate with their wuncbees and to come sign amongst men trade unionills.
that they may work to actibere thi retused to put the IMG resolution to the vote and hurriedly shut up shop. cutting off the microphone and turning out the lights!
A week later a meeting, organised to plan how to build the campaign. attracted many people from the Conference who agreed with the ING resolution. Since then, the Charter campaign has been built not only in London, but in 40 cities and towns up and down the country. The Charter has received support from 46 trade union branches, 26 Trades Councils, 35 women's groups, tenants associations, and other organisations. Thirty-eight Organising Committees for the campaign bave been formed. In London, a Coordinating Committee has been clected and is planning a delegate conferences for May:
UNDERSTANDING The significance of the Charter Les not just in what it says, but what it represents: the beganings of an understanding within the trade union movement that the many diff crent aspects of women's oppression are tied together. By drawing together demands for equal pay and abortion, chid care, tull legal equality. job opportunities, maternity leave, the Charter expands the traditional often narrow, horizons of the trade union movement.
•It is ironic that one of the most vocal of the Charter's proponents, Stuart MacKenzie (secretary of the South East Regional Council of the TECh should miss this point, In an articie in the Morning Star on 28 August, 1974, he writes If women cannot be organised to fight for decent wages then the other demands of the Charter will never be achieved. Once organised to win higher wages, then winning the other demands will be so much simpler.?
In some cases, events might well derelop like this, hut to assume from the start that women's understanding of their oppression will develop in stapes through wages militancy to "higlier things is wrong Of course women are concerned about their wages -but their position as low wage earners is both a cause and met effect of their oppression. Many women are not unwilling to light apainsl dischmination in the wage packet, but are genuinely unable to take up the fight, because of the bundens imposed on women through Jack of contraception and abortion. nursery facilities, ete.
The Communist Party has Taunched several attacks on the Charter Campaign. including the charge that the campaign is oubside the uncons.
This is clearly not true Jems are not limited to the workplace and that one of the problems faced by women is a lack of unionisation and representation within the unions.
Jous to thousands of women that, with intiation running rip, cuts in and increasingly repressive attitudes to such things as abortion, the probare only part of their problem. A Tew bon extra in the individual wage series. free and adequate abortion provisions.
the workers movement as far as these questions are concerned. But raised in the Charter?
been a focus for planning and launching further activity on the issues the platform should not he packed with such a host of celebrities in order to say Sorry, no time for notJons from the floor should not have neen restricted to trade unuonists alone. The doors should be thrown oper te aif who oppression. The campaign should be sech as a step in the fight for a socmalist society embrice all groups and individuals (unionised or not that are fighting in the interests of the workine class.
The apenda of the oculerence should also he changed To split the discussion into Women at Work and Women in the Communicy perpetuates the idea that the trade unings will deal only with wages the numer and conditions, and the Labour Switzerland, Denmark and Luxembourg It is becoming increasingly obvsocial spending, rising uneaployment.
lem of wages and working conditions packet will not provide adequate nur and contracoption, and other welfaro The South East Regional Council's conference —and the other called by trades counsils on & March- won' be gin to tackle the tasks which contron!
No how could the conference have been organised to ensure that an effective right is launched around the demand:
First, the conference shoult have raised in the Charter. For this reason, league' POLICEMEN wile-bist.ing The delegations to the conference Chisely are prepared to light against women's zhe - a fight which must rising costs. The Charter Campaign can both help to spark off fights against low pay and can build hroadLy-based support for them.
These days murseries are becoming very fashionable- even employers are beginning to set them up. Although we should not look a gift horse in the mouth, we should also make sure it isn t a Trajan horse waiting to kick us in the teeth. During the last war, when it suited the Government to replace the men who had been called up by female labour, murseries were set up by the thousand —only to be promptly closed when the women were no longer needed, We must org anise now against the further cuts in the Snited facilities being introduced by local authorities, and fight for incanuction forued to help wives where it burie but doesuc somaliy deal: wall over 30 such The onus is on the women's move ment and the labour movement to fight ferociously aprinst this react ionary nove. The Ad-Hoo Committee to lauach u campaign on aborlion set up in opposition to White's Bill -should aim for representation from the broadest possible forces. Through this carnpaign we can organise aganst the closure of hospitals providing the Limited abercion facilities existing under the Act (part and parcel of the NHS cuts imposed by the Labour Go vernment tackie those hospitals which fail to provide any contracept ion and abortion facilities, and plan a campaign to counter the effects of the reactionary propaganda which anti-abortion groups like SPUC spew forth. We can also ficht to make the entire workers movement undeistand that women should at of right have access to free abortion and contraception of demand.
We have to ask the Communist l'arty and the South Fast Regional Council -will they send representalives to the Organising Committee and commit themselves to act on this question! Where were they when the 1000 people marched against White to a mecting in Central Hail Westminster on 7 February? Where will they be in the coming months?
One taung is crear. The economic crisis and the assault on the living standards of the working class is not guing to case up. The London Organising Cummittee of the Work ing Women's Charter can paign is calane a conference to plan how best to take up the tasks which this confronts us with in London. Those who disagree with the way the Charter has been organised should build for this meeting and attend it with constructice prop cals on how they see the way forward. Then we can have a political debate on how best to fight against the oppression of women, not simply discuss the finer details of individual demands of the Charter
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