Contact: Chelsey Engel, 412-562-2281, cengel@usw.org
The following statement was released by United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard today in recognition of International Women’s Day:
(Pittsburgh, PA) - “As 1,000 Women of Steel attend the opening day of the USW Women’s Conference, we honor the members of our union who are women, all workers who are women and those women who want to be workers by continuing the fight for paid family leave and equal pay for equal work.
“So many courageous women throughout history have battled the impossible to achieve great advancements, not only for themselves, but also for all generations of women to come. In 2016, we cannot let those achievements be in vain.
“The United States remains the only industrialized nation that offers no paid parental leave to anyone. Far too many hard-working American parents and their children struggle financially and suffer for lack of paid leave. Far too many new mothers are forced to ignore their own health issues, and those of their infant children, because financial pressures force them to return to work too soon in a country that denies them even one day of paid family leave.
“Today, the American dream is out of reach for so many workers, but particularly female workers who are also raising and supporting their families while being paid only 79 cents for every dollar paid to a man performing the same work, despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963. For women of color, this wage gap is even wider. This is unacceptable and we cannot allow this to continue.
“Although we commend President Obama for his recent executive action requiring companies with 100 employees or more to report to the federal government how much they pay employees broken down by race, gender, and ethnicity, the President needs the help of Congress to accomplish more.
“We call on Congress to support paycheck fairness as well as paid parental leave for all workers in the United States. Women are an essential part of this nation’s work force, and it is long past time that they are guaranteed the treatment and pay they deserve.
“The theme of this year’s International Women’s Conference is ‘Stepping Up’ and the women here will be encouraged to engage with the Union on these and other issues in order to change the landscape for women not only in the United States but across the globe.”
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations. For more information: www.usw.org.
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