oppression everywhere.

question. Lenin said:

equality.”

world.

SALUTE, OUR SISTERS!

The Women’s Commission of the Communist Party of |
Canada greets all working women in Canada on the occa-
‘sion of the 60th Anniversary of International Women’s Day.

We salute, and express our solidarity with, all women
struggling for equality and justice. We warmly greet and
declare our support and solidarity with the women of Viet-
nam, our sisters in the socialist countries, and all women
on the front lines of the struggle against fascism and

We support and join all struggles for equal pay, for
equal work, and for social reforms which will ease the
oppressive burden of domestic slavery.

We particularly declare our solidarity and support for
the Indian, Metis and Eskimo women of Canada, who are
the victims of special exploitation by capitalism.

International Women’s Day is being celebrated this year
during the Lenin Centennial. It coincides with an upsurge
of mass struggles among the people, and new struggles
by Canadian women for peace, equality, and social justice.

Lenin, like Marx, Engels and other leaders of the world
socialist movement, paid much attention to the woman

“In all civilized countries, even the most advanced, the
position of women is such as justifies their being called
domestic slaves. Not in a single captialist country, not
even in the freest republic, do women enjoy complete

And on International Women’s Day, 1918, he said:

“The emancipation of the peoples from the yoke of im-
perialism, the emancipation of the workers, men and
women from the yoke of capital, is moving irresistibly for-
ward. This cause is being advanced by scores and hun-
dreds of millions of working men and women and peasant
men and women. That is why the emancipation of labor
from the yoke of capital will be achieved the world over.”

The Women’s Commission ofthe Communist Party of
Canada, on this special anniversary, invites all women to
join in the struggle for socialism and the rights of women.
We invite the working women of Canada to join the Com-
munist Party to strengthen the struggle of the Canadian
working class for socialism. Only socialism will liberate
women, as it has already done in the socialist third of the

Equality of women

gained in

By DOREEN PLOWMAN
International Women’s Day
was inaugurated in 1910. March
8 was chosen for annual com-
memoration because on that day
in 1908 the garment workers of
New York organized the first

women’s demonstration for
shorter hours of work, better
working conditions and _ the
right to vote.

The 1950’s and the 1960's
have seen the emergence of
women in ever-increasing num-
bers into the labor force in Can-
ada. In 1950 one out of 10
women was working. In 1968,
three out of 10. Today, over half
of the women working are mar-
ried.

‘One of the rights of women is
the right to equal pay for equal
work. According to figures on
salaries paid to Winnipeg office
workers as of Oct. 1, 1966, taken
from a Survey of Community
Wage and Salary Rates by the
Economic Research Branch of
the Canada Department of Labor
in Ottawa, we find that in some
cases women received as much
as $28.00 per week less for doing
the same job as men.

Because women are not gen-
erally secure in their positions
of employment, because . they
are not enjoying opportunities

socialism

for promotion, etc., they are re-
luctant to complain for fear of
jeopardizing their chances for
promotion or security.

The lack of equal opportunity
for women to seek the same em-
ployment as men, with reason-
able hope of success, keeps large
areas of government and private

employment closed to women,

and it prevents them from pro-
motions even when their quali-
fications and potential may be
greater than those of men who.
rise above them. Teachers are
an example of: this — while the
majority of them are women, the
vast majority of principals are
men. As for school inspectors,
there are very few, if any,
women. school inspectors.

As for the right to maternity
protection for working women
in Canada, only two provinces—
British Columbia and New
Brunswick—have laws allowing
maternity leave and forbidding
dismissal because of pregnancy,
and these lack the teeth to en-
force: their implementation.

The hearings of the Royal
Commis#on on the Status of
Women brought the question of
women’s rights very much to
the forefront. One of the most
frequent recommendations made
at the hearings was the need for

PACIFIGTRIBUNE—MARCH 6, 1970—Page 6...

_ day care nurseries for the chil-

dren of working women. There.
is also a need for after-school
faciilties for the care of school-
age children.

As for the active participation
of women in political life, here
inequality is very great. Women
are not encouraged to think
politically or to participate in
politics on an equal basis with
men. As a result, with the ex-
ception of local councils and
school boards, where there are
some women, there is only one
woman in the House of Com-
mons and only a handful in the
different provincial legislatures.

Contrast this with the status
of women in the socialist coun-
tries. Here are figures for the
year 1969 for the number of

women in the different parlia-
ments of the world: German
Democratic Republic—30.4 per-
cent; U.S.S.R.—28 percent; Gui-
nea—27 percent; Czechoslovakia
and Yugoslavia — 20 ~ percent;
Hungary—18 percent; * Bulgaria,
Rumania and Finland—17 per-
cent; Democratic Republic of
Vietnam—16 percent; Poland—
12 percent; West Germany—6.9
percent; U.S.A.—3 percent, and
Japan—1.4 percent.

As for women in the profes-
sions, here are some figures:
Doctors: U.S.S.R.— 73 percent;
Poland—44.3 percent; U.S.A.—5
percent. Dentists: U.S.S.R~-83
percent; Poland — 80 percent;
U.S.A.—2 percent. Lawyers:
U.S.S.R.—32 percent; Poland—
23 percent; U.S.A.—3.5 percent.

The answer to the equality of
women lies in socialism. This,
however, does not mean that
women under capitalism are
doomed to sit and wait until we
have a socialist state. Through
past struggles women have won
improvements. Women must be
encouraged to continue the

struggle, and more and more of
them must be drawn into the
fight for equal rights. Through
participating in such struggles,
women will eventually come to
see that under socialism they
will achieve true equality.

WOMEN OF VIETNAM

_By ELIZABETH HILL

Whenever the woman ques-
tion is raised, the first thing that
comes to mind is the conflict be-
tween having a job and having
children. But is there any basic
conflict between job and family?
Many young women find them-
selves carrying the double bur-
den. Just trying to make ends
meet and keep up with the grow-
ing needs of their family re-
quires two full time incomes. At

the same time, the care of the -

children providing for their cul-
tural and health needs is the full
responsibility of the _ parents,
namely the mother, who is
lower paid and more exploited
on her job than her husband.

For young working - class
women the problems. are parti-
cularly sharp. The average wage
of women workers is just slight-
ly more than half that of men
workers. For working mothers
with small children, the serious
lack of adequate child care facil-
ities is a major source of strain
and worry. In most cases, when
the facilities are available, they
swallow up a’ huge portion of
the woman’s take-home pay.
While the crisis that the capital-
ist system engenders today —
the crisis in unemployment, the
crisis of inflation, the farm crisis,
the crisis in education — all
strike out at the working class,
working women are doubly
struck.

Out of this conflict comes the
suggestion on the one hand that,
women are taking men’s jobs

Human drudgery end
will crown our effort

The Canadian Tribune inter-
viewed Mrs. Marg Rouble of
Toronto, militant chairman of
the Women Against Soaring
Prices. organization. The Wo-
men Against Soaring Prices
have become well known in the
last four years for their actions
against rising prices outside of
food chains. Recently Mrs. Rou-
ble’s group led a demonstration
to bring down the price of milk
in Toronto. The Canadian Trib-
une asked her the question: How
do you see the problems of wo-
men today? This is what she
said:

These are times to try (who?)
men’s souls. While men are
soaring through the heavens to
walk ‘on the moon, fulfilling a
dream of ages, women are
walking through the market
place discarding their dreams of
roast beef at $1.59 a pound, and
soaring, for Sunday’s dinner,
and picking up the very familiar
package. of hamburger.

Today, the biggest challenge
in most housewives’ busy careers
is making the bread winner’s
pay cheque stretch to pay the
rent (mortgages and taxes) feed
the family (the lowly potato 10
pounds for 45 cents), and ‘to

ment problem, and their Pi
should be in the home. Splittilé
the workers, and pitting them
one against the other, ha
ways been the tool used aga™
the working class.
On the other hand comes %
outcry for liberation throud!
abortion and birth control. i y
as Lenin clearly saw in the ea! ye
nineteen hundreds, on the
don Conference of Women W
saw birth control as the al a
to poverty, the need is to so
the problem, not to sidetrack Me
In socialist society, theme |
no basic conflict betwee? of
woman’s family life and
part in social production. Th
social and material requireme
of raising a family are not .
responsibility of the paren
only. Facilities are provided ;
assist with the care of chil oR
and to lighten the load 0 fl
mestic work. Full educatiot
job, and social opportunities a
offered for all working Wor”
to develop and fulfil. their cape)
bilities. : Ae
The woman question is 4 ©.)
question. As long as ther.
class oppression and explo!
tion of man by man, there Fi
be no emancipation of wom Aa
It is through the struggles
women, not only for equ
for equal work, but als? 4
higher wages; not only for ¢ cei

.

ie
ich

care centres, but also for als?
not only for equality, bU niet
for socialism, that the Pf” ig

working-class women in ree
face today can be resolve®

0
squeeze out a pair of poots |
keep junior’s feet dry %°
doesn’t get pneumonia, and®
very expensive drugs.

We are living in trying ti
indeed. us
Parents have a constant ae
gle to provide for their fall ig
when only a short time 48°
adequate living wage ogy
enough to meet current exPy,
es, and to save a weekly PO it
towards the proverbial og
day, children’s higher edu pil
and old age. Today, yet j
cheque does not meet the & "|
day expenses. nav!
Senior citizens wh gigf
played their part in DU) og
this Canada of ours, are é up
ging their worn-out limbe ot
the stairs to the tiny back ing
—all they can afford C9
in their arthritic hands ‘ot #
bag of provisions, enough © ysl
average meal, but which ji
be stretched to covet iyi
days. Not for them the
ful red apples at six 1a
cents. The abundant disP 5 a
meats, fruits and vegetable |
a No-No for a pensionet: |
fate is toast and tea.
Now I come to my
sect

.

me