USA, speaking tour sponsored by Socialist WHEN I got hired, there were stre are ver 30 women and 500 men 30 nO W there OYCE Bethlehem's No 58 mine.
Women Ine mine perform all kinds of jobs, from mechanic and root bolting to shuttle operators and general labourers.
Most of us had to fight management receive training and get the opportunity to run various kinds of machinery.
were skeptical the union and our brothers in the union have proved to be our biggest defenders harassment. against any company Over 3,000 women are now working underground AS Mary Zinns, a woman miner from the goes around the country as part of a in the States. The reason underground is the saing reason men do — to make a living.
All kinds of women have jobs the mines some are just out of high car and grandmothers: there's married women and single women; children women without children; small than 90 pounds and large women WRO weigh women.
It's a very real cross ection of the women who live in the coal fields.
In those coal fields where the companies have consciously kept out other industry, fewer women have jobs than in other parts of the country.
The only jobs available for women are minimum wage Joos, working in a restaurant, a sewing factory or as a store clerk.
women their way into the coal CIOULT mines to make a decent going The first women were hired in 1973. Many people at the time said that these women were stealing jobs from men and that they should stay home.
But you don't get any discount on your rent, ga food or electricity because you're a woman. less mines were too dangerous It was said that for a woman to work in But if the mines were too dangerous for women they were too dangerous Now that women have been working in the mines, establishing ourselves as a legitimate part of the workforce, that we can do the work and we need the work to survive Just like the men.
In 1979, the United Mineworkers of America finally recognised this, and was the first This conference reflected the that women were an important part of the union, and that women were accepted as that the bosses - who had harass and discriminate against women on the job and consequently one of the duties that the union for assumed was to defend all its members.
Instead of the men against the women, whites against blacks we would all fight together against the company. weapon to defeat their workers.
The which brought a 100 per cent sup port from Plessey's Not tingham and plants, is to be followed up Left: Mary Zinns. trom a calendar produced by the Coal Employment Project. Coalmining Women 1982 Above: women miners GREAT interest has greeted Mary Zinns as
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We found that while, at first, some of the men
Challenge and Revolution, the socialist paper for youth, she spoke to Judith Arkwright about what it's like to work a 'man's' job.
union in the country to hold a national conference of its women members.
co-workers by the men in the mines. It also showed
not wanted to hire us in the first place - continued to