WHEREAS:
On July 13, 1848, Elizabeth Stanton and four friends planned the first “Women’s Rights Convention” to discuss the “social, civil and religious condition and rights of women”; and

WHEREAS:
That Convention took place in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19 and 20, 1848; and

WHEREAS:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton penned the Declaration of Sentiments and twelve grievances. Three of those grievances were: Women were not allowed to vote; Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation; and Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes; and

WHEREAS:
The Declaration of Sentiments, including twelve resolutions, received unanimous endorsement one by one, except for the call for enfranchisement which passed by a narrow vote only after Frederick Douglass, the noted black abolitionist, spoke in favor of the amendment stating, “Suffrage is the power to choose rulers and make laws, and the right by which all others are secured”; and

WHEREAS:
Seventy-two years later on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified stating, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex”; andWHEREAS:
Eighty-eight years later in 2008, women comprise over 50 percent of the total United States population. Yet, women only hold 23.7 percent of all seats in state legislatures, 16 percent of the seats in the United States Senate, and 16.3 percent of the seats in the United States House; and

WHEREAS:
Women have never gained the majority in any elected office.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
AFSCME will encourage women everywhere to remember their sisters in Seneca Falls, New York, and the 72 year fight to win the right to vote; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME will remind all women to keep the faith that was invested in them 88 years ago with the ratification of the 19th Amendment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME will remind all women that their right to vote should be engaged at every opportunity and most especially in 2008; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
AFSCME will urge their Sisters in Solidarity to take their rightful place in American politics and empower all women by seeking public office at every level, thereby securing the rights of women everywhere to respect, equal pay, equal benefits, and equal rights under the law.
 
 
SUBMITTED BY: Michael D. Murphy, President and Delegate
Richard C. Badger, Executive Director and Delegate
AFSCME Council 40
Wisconsin