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Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...

Strikes are a last resort for workers because they require intense planning, sacrifice and discipline. The uptick in strike activity and the increased support for striking workers is a sign of the times: workers have had enough. Workers are tired of going backward while corporate bosses and the ultra-wealthy cash in. Together, many workers are making the tough decision to walk off the job to achieve change. 

The use of the strike as a tool for demonstrating worker power has deep roots and will endure beyond 2021. Before this year of rising worker power ends, I want to shine light on a significant strike in AFSCME’s history. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the San Jose pay equity strike, the first such strike in U.S. history.

In the late 1970s, San Jose city employees were frustrated with flat wages and pay inequities for women workers. They believed that job categories dominated by women were undervalued and underpaid. They proved it through a multi-year campaign for pay equity led by AFSCME Local 101/Municipal Employees Federation, AFSCME Council 57. Their efforts went a long way towards closing pay gaps, but it wouldn’t have happened without a strike in 1981.

The leaders of the fight were clear about the issue: certain jobs in the city were dominated by women workers, and despite the high level of knowledge, judgement and skill required for those jobs, they were the lowest paid. As union leader Joan Goddard put it in an interview with an AFSCME archivist, “It’s not just women; it’s women’s work. There are a lot of male librarians who don’t get paid what they should be getting paid.” For the members of the Municipal Employees Federation, it was a fight to raise the wages in those undervalued jobs, from clerical workers and data analysts to librarians...