For immediate release: Tuesday 6 March 2018
7,000 people have pledged to go on strike this Thursday. In the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp, this is the next step in a global movement to end gendered and sexual violence.
- 2K people will meet at 1pm in Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 5BE
- 61 University campuses across UK are already on strike
- Actions in 5 cities – London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Brighton
- The UK will be one of 56 countries on strike.
This International Women’s Day will be marked by strikes across the world. This is a global movement. Women* will strike from all the work they do: from offices and factories, from care work and unpaid domestic work, communities and bedrooms.
Noshin Salari Rad, one of the organisers of the strike said:
“Thursday is about solidarity between all women* – trans women, women of colour, indigenous, working class, disabled, migrant, sex workers, Muslim, lesbian and queer.”
Iida Käyhkö, another organiser of the strike said:
”The women’s strike on 8th March takes aim at the harassment, exploitation and discrimination women face every day. We are sick of ‘telling our stories’ and being told to ‘lean in’ when nothing changes in response. We are instead taking action – action against our exploitation under capitalism, where the domestic and emotional work we do for little or no pay is made invisible, while austerity measures force us into a more and more vulnerable position. This is feminism for the 99%.”
Helen Hester from University of West London said:
“Feminism is becoming increasingly mainstream, with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements generating headlines around the world, this does not mean that women’s political and economic situation has improved.
In fact, the fight is far from over for the millions at the bottom. Too often, mainstream feminism has been content to see more women in power, ignoring the continuation of neoliberal and austerity policies that disproportionately impact women.
If women are to gain an equal place in the world, the fight against sexual harassment and abuse must be allied with a struggle against an economic system which maintains a gender pay gap, mandates a gendered division of labour, and all too often sees women as a reserve army of labour to draw upon and drop as needed.”
The strike is supported by:
Verso Books, Novara Media, Zed Books, , Sisters Uncut East London, Red Pepper, London Latinxs, Women’s Strike Assembly (London), Women’s Strike Assembly (Birmingham), Feminist Fightback, Precarious Workers Brigade, Plan C London, Plan C Birmingham, The x:talk project, AntiUniversity, National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, United Voices of the World, Pluto Press, IWGB, Action for Trans Health, Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union, Ni Una Menos – Argentina Solidarity Campaign!
ENDS
For more information and to arrange an interview, please contact Natalie on 07986559115, Noshin on 07842715333 or email info@womenstrike.org.uk.