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In 1909, 20-30,000 women garment workers struck for 13 weeks. In response to this, Clara Zetkin, a prominent socialist, proposed that Women's Day become an international event in 1910. This proposal was premised on the understanding that the exploitation of workers can only be tackled through international solidarity. March 19, 1911 was the day of the first IWD. Events took place in Germany, Austria, Denmark and several other European countries. A million leaflets were distributed throughout Germany demanding action on women's right to vote. Meetings were held, demonstrations took place and change was in the wind. In 1915, March 8 designated as International Women's Day. In 1928, the demands of the first IWD rally in Australia were: equal pay for equal work, an eight-hour day for shop assistants, the basic wage for the unemployed, and annual holidays on full pay. Equal pay for servicewomen became a major issue during World War II, as it was only in industries judged vital to the war effort that women's wages began to approach the level of men's. The rights of indigenous women were also first raised publicly at IWD events in the 1940s. In the 1960s, the internationalism of the women's movement was solidified by the participation of a number of international delegations in IWD activities around Australia. Peace and an end to the Vietnam War were key demands of this era. During the 1970s, the Women's Liberation Movement added impetus to the struggle for women's rights. Issues of rape, domestic violence, contraception and abortion were aired publicly. Women were also asserting their rights to equal access to education, careers, freedom to express their sexuality and choice of lifestyles. 1975-1985 was the United Nations' Decade for Women. However, by 1985 the fight for equal pay and the failure of the UN decade for women to achieve this were common themes of IWD actions all around Australia. It was in the early 1930s that NSW South Coast women began to hold IWD meetings. There are records of an open-air meeting in 1931 and a working women's conference at Corrimal in 1935, where the key issues discussed were women's unemployment and peace. The Scarborough Miners' Women's Auxiliary in 1938 organised the first IWD luncheon. Since then, the South Coast IWD Committee has the longest continuous record of any in Australia. 1979 was a milestone for South Coast IWD the first march was held and the first broadsheet was issued, focusing on the ACTU's Working Women's Charter, Aboriginal women's rights, the exploitation of migrant women in the workforce, rape, occupational health and sexism in education. Wollongong is well known for the Jobs for Women campaign, a 14-year struggle (1980-1994) for women's right to be employed in the traditionally male steelworker positions at BHP. This set a precedent for the employment of women in all non-traditional areas of work. In the 1990s, women are still demanding equal rights for working and unemployed women, and justice for indigenous women and migrant women. We are still fighting for childcare, reproductive control, freedom from violence and harassment, quality education and health care. And the oppression of women internationally remains an important focus of IWD in Australia. IWD has a proud history locally, nationally and internationally one which we can learn from and contribute to as THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
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The first International Women's
Day was inspired by socialist women in the United States
who organised the first Women's Day march in 1908.
Women's Day evolved into an international event as women
in industrially developing countries began organising to
fight against the appalling wages and conditions faced by
female workers in industries such as manufacturing,
textiles and domestic services.