Louise Nousratpour
Friday March 14, 2008
The Morning Star
LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR witnesses Mary Macarthur's ghost leading International Women's Day celebrations.
THE ghost of early 20th century trade union leader Mary Macarthur joined TUC women delegates in celebrating International Women's Day in Eastbourne on Wednesday night.
Actress Lynn Morris resurrected Macarthur in a brilliant performance, which took the audience back to the time when women were still fighting for the right to vote and child labour was legal.
The year is 1910 and Macarthur is addressing a rally at Cradley Heath by women chainmakers, who are in the middle of a bitter dispute for better pay and conditions.
Dressed in a white frock and black hat, she gives a passionate speech describing the appalling treatment of the labouring women and children at the forge.
"In this medieval torture chamber, women, with their children around their feet, work 12 hours a day but can barely keep starvation at bay," she sighs.
"The oldest chainmaker is 79 and has worked there since she was 10. Her children and children's children are slaves of that forge, for I can call them nothing else."
Macarthur rallies the strikers to join the National Federation of Women Workers and be "as strong as the chains you make."
The chainmakers' historic victory paved the way for the minimum wage.
Nearly 100 years on, women's lives in Britain have improved greatly, but there is a long way to go as the pay gap is still shamefully wide, violence against women rife and the minimum wage barely "keeps starvation at bay."
NAPO general secretary Judy McKnight, who chaired the TUC women's second International Women's Day rally, hailed the achievements of women like Macarthur.
She stressed the importance of continuing in their footsteps, not least to ensure that "the rights we have gained are not snatched away from us."
Abortion Rights co-ordinator Louise Hutchins warned delegates that a woman's right to choose is under "serious attack" from Tory reactionaries 40 years after the Abortion Act.
She invited everyone to join in the lobby of Parliament on May 7 and put pressure on their MPs to oppose an expected amendment in the forthcoming Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill to reduce the current 24-week time limit.
"We are the majority and we should be vocal about it," Ms Hutchins added.
In a short and sharp address, National Union of Students president Gemma Tumelty told British ministers: "We are sick of asking nicely for equal pay. We demand it."
Former Bolivian health minister Dr Nila Heredia told delegates that the historic election of Bolivia's first indigenous president Evo Morales had also led to better rights for women.
"We have agreed a new constitution which seeks equality for all," she proudly announced.
"The new laws allow women to become owners of land, which was impossible before. This is a substantial victory."
Dr Heredia also reported that rules around political representation have changed in favour of women.
"Our new constitution is the result of a revolutionary social, economic and democratic process that aims to give back more rights to those who have been excluded," she added.
Closing the event, "Ms Macarthur" informed the rally that "today marks the day of victory for women chainmakers.
"All of the manufacturers have signed the white list to give women better pay.
"Today, you can hold your head high in dignity and pride."
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