Happy International Women's Day

Dear Readers,

Today Madame L hopes you will join her in celebrating the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

Not so long ago in the United States, many women, as well as men, worked in deplorable conditions in factories and sweatshops. With no unions to support them, they worked long hours in unsafe conditions for minimal pay. 

Just over 100 years ago the Triangle Shirt Factory caught on fire, and 146 workers, many of them women and the youngest 15 years old, died. They had no way out of the ninth floor of the building where they worked, as the doors were locked, some believe deliberately; firefighters' ladders couldn't reach that level, nor even could the streams of water from the hoses. Some of the women who died that day died as they jumped out of windows rather than burn alive.

Here are some stories of survivors. Here's a list of those who lost their lives that day. The site of the fire has become a national landmark.

Women make up more than half the work force but, even in the best of working conditions, earn only about 75% of what men in the same positions earn.

Women make up most of the workers in the so-called public sector: That is, most teachers, social workers, and public health medical personnel are women. And public sector workers earn less than workers in the private sector. Even when you factor in education, experience, and benefits, government workers earn 4 to 11 percent less than private sector workers in similar jobs, according to studies by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (Thanks to Leo W. Gerard for this information.)

Yet several Republican governors (Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, New Jersey, Florida, to name a few) are claiming lately that people want public-sector workers' unions to be shut down, deprived of collective bargaining rights, and so on.

But they're wrong: Even the conservative New York Times and USA Today/Gallup polls show that the over 60 percent of the American public want public servants to retain their rights.

Maybe that's because most of us realize that our children need teachers with rights, our troubled teens need social workers with living wages to counsel with them, and our elderly parents need to be cared for by doctors and nurses whose pay is commensurate with their service. 

Who will lose if Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker beats down the public-service unions of his state? Mostly women and minorities,

And all the rest of us.

How will you celebrate the day? Madame L is going to celebrate by calling and e-mailing some women she knows, sending flowers to some, and wishing them all a happy day.

Kari Henley suggests honoring the oldest woman you know. 

Here are 100 women to think of, and thank, as we enjoy our rights today. 

Madame L honors some women who made a difference for her and her family:

And here's to our daughters and their future!

Sincerely, 

Madame L