We're in this together

March is Women's History Month. It's a time to remember and celebrate the achievements of women who, often quietly, helped build this great nation. Women played the same role in building the labor movement.

Throughout labor history, women have been the backbone of many groundbreaking organizing drives and strikes. As federal injunctions often forced male workers to end their picketing, wives and women activists took their places, standing down company owners, replacement workers, and often brutal intimidation by local and state police.

The most legendary female unionist is Mother Jones, who got involved in the struggles of coal miners in 1890. She organized armies of women who with mops in one hand and their babies in the other kept watch on the mines around the clock so the company could not bring in scabs.

In 1909, a young shirtwaist maker from New York named Clara Lemlich, who had been beaten savagely on the picket line, gave an impassioned speech in Yiddish demanding a general strike for better pay and decent hours. Her actions led to a walkout of all shirtwaist workers (mostly young girls), strikes by men's garment workers and the shutdown of the entire New York garment industry.

Most people know of A. Philip Randolph, who organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African American trade union. But working behind the scenes and driving those organizing meetings were Randolph's wife and other porters' wives. They ran secret meetings out of Mrs. Randolph's beauty shop, organized pickets, created signs and fliers, and marched in the streets.

In the famous sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, that led to the unionization of General Motors in 1937, Genora Johnson formed the Women's Emergency Brigade. Not only did these women provide food and day care to the striking workers' families, they organized a children's picket line which drew worldwide attention to the strike. They trained themselves to wield heavy clubs so when police barged in with tear gas, they could break windows to release the fumes.

These same tactics were used by the wives of striking Mexican-American miners in 1951 in New Mexico, where they took their husbands' places on the picket lines and marched in 100-degree heat with babies in their arms, standing down police guns and tear gas.

It's important to remember where we come from and learn from our past, but in many ways these stories remind me of the tremendous organizing efforts of local chapters and CTA last year, and how we must keep and build on that momentum in 2006.

Believe it or not, this year we face two more elections — the fifth and sixth statewide elections since I became president. Last month I said we should be happy with our victories, but we must not be satisfied. We have an opportunity to make real education changes for our students and schools, and we have an opportunity to elect a governor who will make sure that public education is the top priority of this state.

CTA's State Council of Education is recommending Phil Angelides for governor. As state treasurer and throughout his career, Phil has been an ardent supporter of public schools and teachers. He has joined us at our rallies in Sacramento and across the state, promising to make public education a priority.

Unlike our current governor, Phil has demonstrated a firm commitment to protecting Proposition 98. He knows that Prop. 98 is a floor — not a ceiling — for education funding. He believes getting to the national average in per-pupil funding is not enough. The real goal should be to return California to the top of the 50 states in the resources we provide our students. Imagine that!

Phil is also on record as supporting the State Teachers' Retirement System and has opposed all attempts to privatize retirement pensions for teachers and other public employees. He knows defined contribution plans will make it harder to recruit the 100,000 new teachers California will need in the next decade.

Also on the ballot in June is Prop. 82, which will give all children the opportunity to attend preschool and will ensure that all preschool teachers have a credential. It's funded by a small income tax increase on the wealthiest Californians. Prop. 82 will NOT take any money away from K-14 schools or from Prop. 98. In fact, it contains a provision that says NO school district can be forced to use Prop. 98 money to pay for preschool. In addition, the program targets students who need help the most by requiring districts to give preference to students who will attend schools in deciles 1-3.

We talk a lot about the importance of investing in our future - our kids. Well, for every dollar we invest in early childhood education, we save taxpayers $2.62. That's money not spent building new prisons or incarcerating juveniles. And that's a solid investment in anybody's book.

So, I ask you to talk to your colleagues, family and friends, and ask them to support Phil Angelides for governor and vote yes on Prop. 82 on June 6. It's time for some real change.