To: The Honorable Governor Kathy Hochul
From: PowHer New York Network
It is clear that women’s equality in New York State and across the nation is at a crossroads. The COVID pandemic laid bare many of our nation’s weaknesses making imperative the need to chart a clear course to recovery. PowHer New York, a broad network of over 100 gender and racial justice organizations dedicated to the full equality and rights of all individuals who identify as women, turn to you as the first woman Governor of New York State. We ask for your commitment and leadership to ensure that New York’s recovery will launch us into a new era of enlightened employment, opportunity and governance that values and supports the success and autonomy of all women.
Feminists have fought for women’s equality over the last decades and made progress. In New York State, we founded new organizations, inclusive coalitions and campaigns to win Paid Family Leave, Paid Sick Days, Reproductive Justice, Child Care, Equal Pay, and much more. We brought a spotlight to the conditions of service workers, restaurant workers, nail salon and domestic workers. We told men that “Time’s Up” and began to identify and push out the most flagrant violators of sexual harassment and sexual trafficking laws. But even that progress felt measured and painfully slow. And, then the pandemic hit.
>> Link to Full Priorities List <<
In the opening months as New York State fought a race against death and despair, we looked to women workers to pull us through. Women nurses, women in retail, women in domestic and senior care, and women in child care. All these women put their lives, and the lives of their families on the line, to take care of others. Far too many died. Then, as the focus shifted to education, and our state and nation moved to virtual education, women were again asked to sacrifice, and we did. Millions of women across the country left the jobs they had fought so hard to obtain, in order to ensure that their children would continue learning and their family members would be safe. Now the question is: How will we respond to that sacrifice? What have we learned and what are we willing to change?
We look to you, our new Governor, to build on our State’s past record of promoting women’s equality—to put your voice and your power behind a call for true equality and respect for all women; for zero tolerance of sexual harassment, manipulation, intimidation or violence; for comparable pay and benefits for comparable work and opportunities for career advancement; for freedom to make our own reproductive choices; and for an end to an economic system that exploits Black and Brown women while ignoring the value and responsibilities of caregiving.
We need a budget that values people and a caring economy; that supports human services, health care and education as fundamental parts of our infrastructure; and that ensures that essential workers earn a living wage. We need a budget process that is open and transparent and a system that ensures the timely distribution of grant funding. We need to build a culture in Albany that values workers, that fights patriarchy and misogyny, and respects and gives equal opportunity to racial, gender and cultural diversity. We need systems that hold perpetrators accountable for toxic misbehavior and corruption, so all people feel respected and can thrive in a supportive work environment. And, we need a leader who prioritizes cooperation over control and embraces systemic and cultural change to achieve gender and racial equity.
In 2020 we shared with you the Roadmap to Create Inclusive Gender Justice in New York, available at http://bit.ly/RoadmapNY, that our partners collectively created to chart a clear course toward our vision of inclusive gender justice. Last legislative year, we made progress on some specific issues, while also watching the erosion of progress as a result of the pandemic. Below, we present a list of key areas within that Roadmap where progress is critical and possible in 2022. In each area, Network Partners have provided their priorities and suggested legislation or policy reform, some of which can be addressed through executive action.
We ask you to seize this moment. To make the just treatment of women in all workplaces and in all aspects of our society, a central theme in your leadership platform.
Thank you for your consideration of our message and the priorities of PowHerNY Network Partners. We look forward to speaking with you soon and working together to create a more diverse and just society.