This is an example of how one network is operating in direct relation to global corporations.
This excerpt has been taken from the AFSC Women's Newsletter, Summer 1980 issue, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, U.S.A.
The Women's Network on Global Corporations is an independent project currently based in San Francisco which grew out of the nationwide conference convened by the NWP (Nationwide Women's Programs), Women and Global Corporations, Work, Roles and Resistance. Focusing on women in agribusiness, electronics and textiles it brings together people, data and resources in an effort to break down the isolation of local groups and strengthen individual efforts to combat the negative effects of global corporations on women's lives.
Outreach. In keeping with the goals of a) breaking down isolation by placing groups in touch with one another, b) creating a network and information clearinghouse, and c) assessing common needs, active Network members have done outreach at several levels. Principally, these are: attending and participating in conferences, working with other projects, and making contacts with concerned individuals and groups.
The organizational meeting brought together women from grassroots groups across the country, particularly in the three focus industries (agribusiness, electronics and textiles).
Two Network members served as panelists at a Conference on Women and Transnationalization in Juarez, Mexico. We spoke to more than 100 women working in U.S. electronics factories, distributed materials on health and safety in electronics, and described the situation in the United States
At the International Conference of Oil and Petrochemical Workers, held March 1980, Network members were able to make connections with unionists from around the world.
A National Working Women's Conference took place in El Mirage, Arizona, April 1980. In addition to participating, the Network helped the organizers obtain funding, contact participants throughout the Southwest, and arrange for audiovisual and written materials. Conference organizers were farm workers from Arizona who attended the Des Moines conference.
At the Union WAGE Working Women's Conference, San Francisco, the Network again distributed materials, this time largely to clerical, health and service workers.
Network members and materials were present at a Conference on Work and Stress in Berkeley in May. The conference organizers have expressed interest in obtaining a global perspective on issues such as mechanization, health and safety, plant closings, etc.
Network organizers participated in planning sessions in New York in May held by the International Coalition for Development Action to put women and transnationals on the
agenda of the UN Special Session on the Third Development Decade to take place August 25-September 5, 1980.
Regular contact has been established between the Network and ISIS, Women's International Information and Communication Service.
The Network has been actively working with a number of groups on research organizing and analysis. These include:
* a study of women electronics workers in the Santa Clara Valley, California;
* research on women in the computer industry;
* data compilation on multinational corporate activity in Latin America;
* a publication on a strike by textiles workers in El Paso, Texas;
* a film on women electronics workers on the U.S.-Mexico border;
* outreach to women cannery workers in San Jose, California;
* providing technical assistance to the farmworker women's project in El Mirage, Arizona
The Network has spoken with staff, shop stewards and members of numerous labor unions including:
* United Electrical Workers (UE)
* International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
* International Chemical Workers Union (ICWU)
* United Auto Workers (UAW)
* Amalgamated Clothing and Textiles Workers (ACTWU)
* Retail Clerks
* International Ladies Garment Workers (ILGWU)
* Arizona Farmworkers (AFW)
* Texas Farmworkers (TFW)
We have also had contact with non-unionized groups of workers
Networking has been done among many groups and individuals across the country. Some examples include connections between farm worker organizations in the Southwest, and projects focused on the U.S.-Mexico border; between women working in U.S. plants in Mexico, and both labor and health and safety groups. Textiles, electronics and service workers in the Southwest participated in meetings of farm workers in their areas. And connections are being built between cannery workers on
the Gulf Coast, in California and in Ohio.
Women's Network on Global Corporations 1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102 U.S.A.
International Networking. As part of our goal of establishing contacts among women working in global industries in the United States and elsewhere, the Network's international outreach has included:
Labor unions in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago;
Women's groups in England, Italy, Libya, Mexico and Switzerland.
AFSC international field programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Printed Materials
Directory of Resources on Women and Global Corporations was published by the American Friends Service Committee's Nationwide Women's Program. This compilation of publications, periodicals, groups and media is an important beginning of the process of cataloging the information and resources available on the topic, as part of our goal of providing resources and technical assistance.
The AFSC Nationwide Women's Program sees the formation of the independent Network as an indispensible parallel and complement to its own efforts to encourage AFSC community, peace and international programs to develop components of their work which concretely address global corporations' impact on women.
The following two articles deal with the control of new technology and women with varying approaches. The first one goes right into the applications for women while the
second poses the major dilemmas.
