As a result of the people’s pressure to guarantee the basic freedoms for which they had just fought, the Founders of our Republic included a Bill of Rights as part of our nation’s Constitution. The women of our Republic struggled for freedom with fervor and dedication, yet only in this century did we win the right to vote. Still our rights as human beings are denied, ignored and scorned. We are not equal before the law; nor does society at large recognize our equality. Our numbers in political office remain pitifully small. There can be no real equality or freedom while any section of our people is denied its rights. In this, the United Nations International Women’s Decade, and the Bi-Centennial of the American Revolution, the need is desperate for a WOMEN’S BILL OF RIGHTS–for legislation to specifically guarantee the equality of all women in our country.
Full equality for all both women is a basic human right–its absence denies both men and women their full human dignity.
Our lives suffer from backward, pervasive concepts about women. Unequal pay scales, lack of representation, and degrading images of women projected by the mass media and the educational system are symptoms of institutionalized male supremacy.
As direct victims of racism, Black, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Native American and Asian women suffer special oppression. But the tan combination of racism and male supremacy in our country combine to damage the family life, health and well-being of women and children of ALL nationalities.
The government spends billions of our tax dollars on a military budget which brings huge profits to the giant corporations. The cost to all poor and working people is felt in intensified inflation and unemployment, and in massive budget cuts of social services.
FULL EQUALITY DEPENDS ON OUR RIGHT TO GET AND KEEP JOBS WITHOUT SACRIFICE OF FAMILY LIFE OR HEALTH. ECONOMIC SECURITY—WITHOUT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION—IS THE FOUNDATION FOR FULL EQUALITY AND DIGNITY IN SOCIETY AND IN THE FAMILY. The following basic demands are our WOMEN’S BILL OF RIGHTS:
OUR RIGHTS TO A LIVELIHOOD AND ON THE JOB
- A job at a living wage for every women and men who can work.
- A guaranteed income—with no forced work requirements—for every family at adequate standards as set by the Bureau Labor of Statistics.
- Guaranteed Federal Compensation to women, especially Black, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Asian, Latin and Native American women, for past discrimination including in hiring, job training, promotion, rate of pay, and education. Implement affirmative action programs to overcome both racist and sexual discrimination.
- Respect the private lives of welfare recipients; eliminate indignities and degrading treatment.
- Enforce equal pay for equal and comparable work.
- Preserve and extend laws to protect the health, safety and comfort of workers—such as weightlifting maximums, guaranteed rest periods, protection of women’s reproductive capacity, etc. Prohibit use of protective legislation as an excuse to discriminate against women.
- No compulsory overtime. Reduce the work week to 30 hours with no pay cut.
- Extend the minimum wage, Fair Labor Standards, and National Labor Relations Acts to cover all workers, including domestic and agricultural workers.
- Provide job training, apprenticeship, and upgrading programs in all fields and job categories.
- Strengthen Social Security coverage to guarantee a decent standard of living for older women. Provide a cost-of-living escalator, and include credit for years spent in child-rearing.
OUR RIGHT TO QUALITY EDUCATION & CHILD CARE
- Free, quality, integrated education for all children based on the multi-racial, multilingual, multi-cultural character of our population.
- Universally available, federally funded, parent controlled child care from age six months.
- Free, open admission to higher education.
- Subsidies and other necessary provisions to enable adults to return to school.
- Guarantee quality education by paying adequate salaries and providing decent working conditions for teachers.
- Rid all curricula, textbooks, and learning material of racial, national and sexual stereotypes. Bring the history of oppressed minority peoples fully into the curriculum.
- Require full integration and quality education as standards for local school districts before Federal funds are granted.
OUR RIGHT TO FIRST-RATE HEALTH CARE
- Comprehensive, federally funded health coverage.
- Paid leave for women and men care for sick children.
- Protection against forced sterilization and experimentation. Insure our right to abortion with paid leave. Safe birth control.
- Six-month maternity leave with pay; up to two years leave without loss of job or seniority.
- Decent housing and social services for older women.