Irís Munguía began toiling at a banana packing plant at age 18, living on the banana finca (plantation) as a condition of employment. After 22 years at the plant, the longtime union activist now heads the Honduran banana and agricultural worker confederation, COSIBAH (Coordinadora de Sindicatos Bananeros y Agroindustriales de Honduras), founded in 1993. Munguía also is the first female coordinator of COLSIBA, the Latin American coordinating body of agricultural unions.

In December 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 23-year-old market vendor in Tunisia, self-immolated to protest deep-seated government corruption that made it impossible for him to earn a living. Following his desperate action, Tunisian women helped spur protests and end autocratic regimes in Tunisia and throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Today, Tunisian women remain in the forefront of ensuring democratic change in their country during the difficult years of government transition.

The renewal of the Violence Against Women Act is now on its way to President Obama, who has said he will sign it into law. On the eve of Women's History Month, working families were able to celebrate that the House finally passed the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday. The Senate already passed the act. 

Just in case you missed the PBS documentary everyone is talking about, "MAKERS: Women Who Make America," you can still watch the three-hour special for free online here. 

Gloria Johnson, 85, a founding member and former president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), died Feb. 13 at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton, Md. She also served as an AFL-CIO vice president. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Gloria’s values and unapologetic stance for the full inclusion of women and minorities in the workplace and society will continue to inspire and improve the lives of working women and men….The barriers she broke and the foundations she helped lay will undoubtedly live on in history.

Women, men and children across the world are taking collective action this Valentine's Day to speak up and demand an end to violence against women. Union leaders and workers in the United States have joined this massive global coalition. Flash mobs (a dance in a public place coordinated by a group of people) are being held in cities from San Francisco to Delhi, India; Manila, Philippines; Khartoum, Sudan; and many more.

This is an excerpt from the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's "Unions Mark No to Violence Against Women Day."

At a Turkish-owned textile plant in the Democratic Republic of Georgia a few years ago, female employers were repeatedly forced to remain on the job without pay for hours a day. When they ultimately demanded to be released, the factory manager responded by yelling and throwing a heavy load of unfinished dresses at one woman. The blow knocked her unconscious. The factory manager returned to Turkey to avoid prosecution—but likely would not have faced charges even if he had stayed, says Bob Fielding, Solidarity Center country program director in Georgia, who described the incident.

Women are bringing home the bacon, says AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler, and what are they most concerned about this election? Jobs and the economy.

Shuler addressed more than 100 women of all ages at a Women Vote 2012 kick-off luncheon today at the AFL-CIO headquarters. 

Now, more than ever, women need to make sure their voices are heard about the kind of future they envision for themselves and their families. 

The AFL-CIO is calling on women from all over to ask other women—other moms, daughters, sisters, co-workers and friends—to vote in this election. 
Can you host a Women Vote 2012 Party in your neighborhood?

Working America and the AFL-CIO have made it easy to host a party, by providing a step-by-step guide that tells you what to expect and how to make your party successful. Working America has been hosting parties like this for the past five years, and they make a difference. Women who hear about how important it is to vote from other women actually vote at higher rates. 

Women still make only 77 cents to the dollar men earn in America. Worldwide, "women are paid 18 percent on average less than their male counterparts at work." This pay gap has persisted without change for a decade.