Press Associates, Inc. (PAI) -- 4/2/2007


CLUW TO MOBILIZE CHAPTERS
AS PART OF EQUAL RIGHTS DRIVE


WASHINGTON (PAI)--The Coalition of Labor Union Women will mobilize its chapters “and do everything we can” to help pass the proposed constitutional amendment stating women have equal rights under the law, CLUW President Marsha Zakowski says.

The Women’s Equity Amendment, the new name for the Equal Rights Amendment, was launched March 27 at a Capitol Hill press conference.  It states that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”  It then gives Congress power “to enforce it by appropriate legislation.”

The amendment needs approval of a two-thirds majority of each house of Congress and ratification by legislatures in three-fourths of the 50 states.  It faces already announced Right Wing opposition, led by Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum.  She promptly said it could legalize gay marriage, a red flag for the Radical Right.

"How can anybody vote against women?" asked Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) at the press conference.  "We need constitutional rights, not legislative fights." Returning to the old name, Maloney said “the ERA is about the next generation."

Other backers include Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).  Conyers’ Judiciary Committee and Nadler’s subcommittee will hold hearings on the amendment.

“A bolder effort is clearly needed to finally live up to our commitment of full equality,” Kennedy said.  “The Equal Rights Amendment alone cannot remedy all discrimination, but it will clearly strengthen the ongoing efforts of women across the country to obtain equal treatment.”

Said Boxer: “It is time to ensure the promises enshrined in our Constitution--justice, fairness, equality--are made real in the lives of every woman in America.”                

Congress passed the ERA in 1972, but it fell three states short of the needed 38 for ratification.  States had to ratify it within 10 years. This version has no deadline.

That gives CLUW even more opportunity to mobilize and it intends to take it, Zakowski said.  “We were thrilled to be at the reintroduction and we expect to be there every step of the way until it gets passed.  We’ll activate our chapters, organize letter-writing campaigns, contact our representatives and do everything that needs to be done.  

“We’re happy to be working with our partners in the feminist community to accomplish something important to all women, including working women,” she added.  Caroline Frederickson, director of the Washington, D.C., office of the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Washington Post if the amendment is added to the Constitution, women might be able to more easily sue for equal pay and benefits on the job.

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