International Women's Day, March 8th.Join us as we celebrate women around the world on the 8th of March on International Women's Day. International Women's Day is a time for women around the world to commemorate their struggles and celebrate their achievements. The roots of International Women's Day can be traced back to the struggles of women workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The History of International Women's Day The idea of an International Women's Day fist arose at the turn of the century, which in industrialized countries was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies.:

• In 1857, thousands of women working in the New York garment industry took to the streets to protest unfair wages, a 12-hour work day, and sexual harassment in the workplace.

• Conditions for working women did not improve. Female garment workers held another massive demonstration in New York in 1908. They renewed the call for fair treatment at work and demanded an end to child labour.

• On March 8, 1908, women gathered in New York City to rally around the issue of women's suffrage.

• In 1909, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Women's day and 2 thousand women attended a Women's Day rally in Manhattan .

• Later that year 20 to 30 thousand women garment workers staged a general strike for better pay and working conditions.

• In 1910, 100 women representing 17 countries voted unanimously to establish an International Women's Day at an International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• As a result of this decision, International Women's Day was celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland and more than a million women and men attended rallies in support of women's right to vote and hold public office, the right to work obtain vocational training and an end to discrimination on the job.

• On March 25, 1911, a fire in a sweatshop owned by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York killed 145 female garment workers. Most were Italian and Jewish Immigrants. Unsafe conditions contributed to the high death toll. Many of the fire escapes were locked to prevent women from slipping out, even for a moment's break.

• Eighty thousand workers marched through the streets to attend the mass funeral for the victims.

• A year later, 14,000 textile workers went out on strike. With a rallying cry of "Better to starve fighting than starve working," the women stayed out for nearly three months.

• By 1917, 2 million Russian soldiers had died in war. Russian women went on strike the end of February for “bread and peace” and four days later the Czar was force to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote.

• Today, international women's day, is celebrated on March 8th, which marks the day that this occurred.

• 1918: Canada gives women the vote in most provinces by federal law. • 1920: Canadian women get the right to stand for election (but not for all offices - see 1929 below).

• 1929: Women found to be "persons" in Canada and therefore able to become members of the Senate.

• 1960: Canadian women win full rights to stand for election.

• In 1977, the United Nations proclaimed a United Nations day for Women's Rights and International Peace. Of course, the story of the women's movement is also the story of battles for recognition within the movement itself. Lesbians, women of colour, immigrant and disabled women had to challenge middle-class white women before their issues were taken up and seriously fought for. These challenges have strengthened the women's movement in immeasurable ways and brought struggles around racism, ableism and sexuality to the forefront of the movement. To be sure, there is much work left to be done. That does not change the fact that we can celebrate how far we have come and look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

• This year we celebrate the 31st Anniversary of International Women's Day. This story of this day is a story of ordinary working class women as the makers of history.

• Today as we observe International Women's Day by celebrating the accomplishments women have made over the past century, we remenber the countless women who were not given, and are still not given, equal opportunities because of their gender. All sectors of society, including government and business, NGO's and unions, individual women and men, must continue to work together to bring about positive change.