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April 2004

Web Editor's Note: This issue of WomENews has been edited to comply with Federal Election Commission regulations.

Bush Administration Rolls Back Women's Rights

Over the past four years the Bush Administration has openly and covertly targeted women and taken steps to roll back women's progress in every aspect of their lives, including opportunities to succeed at work and in school, their economic security, their health and reproductive rights.

A new report by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward, reviews the Bush Administration's record in 10 major areas: women at work; girls and women at school; child care and other supports women need to maintain self-sufficiency; tax and budget policies; retirement security; health and reproductive rights; violence against women; women in the military; judicial nominations; and government offices and advisory bodies charged with safeguarding women's interests. In all of these areas, NWLC assessed at the actions and positions the Administration has taken over the past four years. Positive steps are noted and yet, overshadowed by many other actions that have negatively impacted the lives of women. NWLC finds that the Administration has turned the tide of women's advancement and is threatening to reverse years of progress on issues that affect our lives.

Over the past four years, the Bush Administration has repeatedly attacked women's advancement and passed policies to undermine working families. For example, the NWLC report found that:

• The Administration quietly abolished the Equal Pay Matters Initiative, a long-standing project of the Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL has also refused to use tools at its disposal to identify violations of equal pay laws so they can be targeted for enforcement action.
• The Department of Justice (DOJ) has weakened enforcement of the laws against job discrimination and even abandoned pending sex discrimination suits without notice or explanation.
• The DOL repealed regulations that allowed paid family leave to be made available through state unemployment compensation funds. Although the DOJ filed a brief in the Supreme Court supporting the availability of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) remedies to state employees, the FMLA requires only unpaid leave.
• The Department of Labor has proposed new regulations that would deprive millions of women of the right to overtime pay — and has even given tips to employers on how to avoid paying overtime when the law still requires it.

Government policies can and do have an impact on your life. Bush's policies for women are damaging and dangerous. This November you have the opportunity to prevent further erosion of your rights if you vote!

Read NWLC's report. Share the information with your union sisters, family, co-workers and friends. Encourage them to register and vote in November! For information on how to register to vote, visit the AFSCME Voter Registration page.

President McEntee to Speak at March for Women's Lives

Gerald W. McEntee, AFSCME International President, will be among the speakers at the March for Women's Lives on April 25, 2004 in Washington, DC. Over one million women, men and children are expected to converge on the nation's capital for the largest demonstration in support of women's personal and reproductive freedoms. AFSCME is a co-sponsor of the march and is proud to have a large delegation coming from all across the country.

For more information about the march, including one-page talking points about the march and details on how to march with AFSCME, contact the Women's Rights Department at (202) 429-5090 or womensrights@afscme.org.

Women in State Leadership Positions

Across the country, women in state leadership positions are increasing only slightly in number. According to the new report, Appointed Policy Makers in State Government — Five-Year Trend Analysis: Gender, Race and Ethnicity, by Center for Women in Government & Civil Society (CWIGCS) at the State University of New York, Albany, 32% of the top gubernatorial appointees were women. This is up slightly from 1997 when women held only 28.3% of these posts, but less than the 2001 proportion of 34.9% when more women than ever before entered executive roles.

Women's accession into leadership position is critical to women's ability to achieve equality and gain. The lack of significant representation of women in top state government positions is greatly troubling. Without women in policy-influencing positions, women's voices become marginalized and their needs are not appropriately represented in state programs, policies or decisions. This is particularly true for women of color, who already face double discrimination as a result of their gender and their ethnicity.

Read CWIGCS's report.

The Status of Working Women around the World

A new report, Global Employment Trends for Women 2004, by the International Labour Organization (ILO) finds that across the globe, more women are in the labor force than ever before. In 2003, 40%, or 1.1 billion of 2.8 billion, of the world's workers were women. However, ILO also found that despite the explosive growth of the female workforce, it has not been accompanied by comparative growth in equality for women workers or socioeconomic empowerment of women. Women continue to face higher unemployment rates and lower wages, and comprise approximately 60% of the world's 550 million working poor.

Read ILO's report.

Women's Leadership and Public Speaking Training

Be a leader in your community! AFSCME Women's Rights Department is conducting leadership and public speaking workshops with AFSCME women from locals and regional councils across the country. We will also be at the National Convention in June. Obtain the skills to be strong and convincing spokesperson for working women, and speak out on the issues important to you. For more information about these workshops, contact the WRD at womensrights@afscme.org or (202) 429-5090.

Women’s Rights Department Email List

We are working to build a comprehensive contact email list and would like your help. Please forward this to other AFSCME members that might not have received it and let them know they should contact us via email so we can add them to our database. Write to womensrights@afscme.org and tell us you'd like to be added to the database. Please include your name, local/council/unit number, email address, and mailing address.

WomENews is produced by the Women's Rights Department and written by Karen Swift.

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