The FAO, IFAD, ILO report states, “women are disproportionately employed in low-quality jobs, including jobs in which their rights are not adequately respected and social protection is limited.” After years of struggle for equality, men are still awarded more decent jobs than women. Additionally, the report confirms a gender gap in earning, declaring that “women earn less for a given type of work than do men – usually for both wage employment and self-employment.” This is true all over the world, in varying degrees. The variation is true between countries, within countries, between occupations, and even within sectors.

Your event could be as simple as hosting a film screening in your place of worship and inviting members to attend and participate in a conversation about the importance of labor rights in your own community.

Why not bring a flyer into your workplace to put on the communal bulletin board?

Maybe your child’s teacher would be interested in doing a brief unit on the international garment industry, with a field trip to a local department store to see how many countries the clothing is from and which countries and regions of the world are the largest producers.

This summit was one of many being held on Valentines Day, which is the most profitable day of the year for restaurants, with similar events being held across the country, from L.A. to Miami, to discuss the findings of these city-specific reports, as well as a nation-wide report. The D.C. event included a great variety and caliber of panelists, including restaurant employers, city officials, labor advocates and scholars, and restaurant workers. ROC-D.C.

The speakers at the rally demanded fair wages and fair treatment from Wal-Mart, which plans to open four locations in D.C in wards 4, 5, 6 and 7. The coalition is working to educate people about the reality of Wal-Mart’s record of paying very low wages, forcing out its competition, causing a net loss of jobs, and breaking its promises. In addition, Wal-Mart has been involved in lawsuits because of its discriminatory policies against women and its engagement in wage theft.