9to5
About a year later, the newsletter's publishers announced the formation of Boston 9to5, a grassroots collective for women office workers that addressed issues such as low pay, lack of opportunities for advancement, sexual harassment in the workplace, and overall respect for them.
[2] For example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on sex or sexual orientation.
[1] The national organization has buildings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Atlanta, Georgia, as well as appearing in states including Colorado and California.
Both of these terms made women feel disrespected and blurred the line between professional and inappropriate relationships of boss and secretary.
[1] One of the organization's earliest victories included a class-action suit filed against several Boston publishing companies that awarded the female plaintiffs $1.5 million in back pay.
The members of 9to5 eventually coined phrases such as "raises not roses" in order to combat National Secretaries Day and create a call to action.
Based in Cleveland from 1977-1993, the national organization was a coalition of like-minded associations and was headed by Karen Nussbaum, one of Boston 9to5's founders.
[8] Nussbaum's involvement in the organization began with her friend Ellen Cassedy, whom she met at Harvard University, while they were working as secretaries.
[9] Debbie Schneider worked for the women's organization of office workers in New York City and eventually joined 9to5 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
During the 1980s and 1990s, 9to5 focused on issues such as the effects of automation, pay inequities, medical leave, and racial and sexual harassment and discrimination.
The organization effectively used the media and lobbied legislators as part of a campaign to warn the public of the health dangers of video display terminals (also known as VDTs).
[7] As part of its educational efforts, 9to5 established the Job Retention Project in 1987 to assist office workers in developing time management, goal-setting, and problem-solving skills.
In addition, the organization publishes fact sheets, newsletters, and books, such as The Job/Family Challenge: A 9to5 Guide (1995), by Ellen Bravo, that keep workers abreast of current issues.
Among other issues, 9to5 actively promotes workplace policies such as paid sick leave, equal pay, and an end to discrimination for hiring or firing based on gender or sexual orientation.
[5] Sexual harassment was first coined by a radical feminist activist Lin Farley after she encountered and learned about the Carmita Woods case.
Woods was a female administrative assistant at Cornell’s Laboratory of Nuclear Studies where she was constantly sexually harassed by her superior.
[16] Quid pro quo (this for that) is where an individual of a higher power relationship asks for sexual favors in exchange for a better job position or threats of termination.
It was a ploy at first by the Republic senators who thought that adding the sex discrimination amendment would cause the Title VII to lose votes and not be passed.
