Working Women Are Looking Back to Get Ahead

If we want gender equality to be a fixture of the future of work, the first step may be to learn from our labor past. From Frances Perkins to Mother Jones, women have long been leaders in the broader movement to improve working conditions for all Americans. We’ve come a long way since the early 20th century, thanks in large part to their success. But we have a ways to go: A woman working full-time today will lose nearly half a million dollars over her lifetime because of the gender wage gap. Women are the majority in low-wage jobs. And most continue to take on the bulk of caregiving responsibilities at home.

Today, as women and men push for more progressive workplace policies – paid family leave, paid sick leave, a higher minimum wage and flexible working arrangements– what can they learn from union organizers past and present? How do we rethink the role that unions can play in supporting working women (and men) today, across industries and socioeconomic groups?

Join New America President Anne-Marie Slaughter and AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Liz Shuler for a conversation about how we can leverage lessons from the largest working women’s organization in America to improve wages and standards for all Americans.

Follow the discussion online using #BackAhead and following @NewAmerica.

Participants

Anne-Marie Slaughter
President and CEO, New America

Liz Shuler 
Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO

Jay Newton-Small 
Breadwinning and Caregiving Fellow, New America
Correspondent, Time Magazine
Author of the Forthcoming Book, Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works