International Women’s Day
by Jennifer on 03.08.2010
Right now, there are only 17 women in the U.S. Senate out of 100 Senators. Ohio has never had a woman U.S. Senator--not even one nominated in a contested primary. We have a chance to change this.
Of the admirable women who have run in the past, none has held statewide office before running for the Senate. I do--elected in my own right with a 15% margin of victory and winning in 52 of Ohio's 88 counties. I've been told, "It's not your turn." But I know differently, and I believe you do, too.
A woman in the U.S. Senate from Ohio, the nation's 7th most populous state, will mean:
* Stronger representation on health care concerns unique to women,
* Practical, collaborative and focused approaches to helping small businesses and to creating jobs,
* A zeal for public service to help retool our manufacturing and construction economy to make Ohio a leader in clean energy jobs, and
* Fighting for the working conditions and concerns of our growing group of service workers in the health care and retail industries, many of them women.
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| People and horses draped in black walk in a procession of 100,000 in memory of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of March 25, 1911 in New York City. |
Today, March 8th, is designated as International Women's Day. It is observed officially or unofficially in many countries throughout the world. In the U.S., it has been a basis for commemorating the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City in which 146 garment workers, most of them women, lost their lives as a result of the fire and 70 others were injured. Most of the factory's 500 workers were young Italian and Jewish immigrant women who normally worked nine hours a day during the week and seven hours a day on Saturdays. It was the worst workplace disaster in New York City until the horrific events of September 11, 2001.
International Women's Day is not officially celebrated in the U.S. Yet, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire brought the increased political involvement of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and it helped inspire Frances Perkins, who had actually witnessed the fire from the street below, to push for comprehensive safety and workers' compensation laws as the future U.S. Secretary of Labor in Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential administration and an early woman leader in U.S. government.
We need more women in the U.S. Senate. And we need more women who understand that things in the Senate must change. Politics is not a game--it is how we get things done for real people--to help them provide for their families, to make sure our food is safe to eat, our water clean to drink, our workplaces safe and our homeland secure.
And maybe the U.S. could even begin to recognize International Women's Day. Please help me get to the U.S. Senate by volunteering, telling your friends, contributing and voting.