They came from local college and high school campuses and were protesting as part of the International Women’s Strike, an event organized for March 8 that is billed to combat sexual assault, expand abortion access, and support Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and equal pay for women.
A list of demands shared at the rally centered around policies that would benefit women’s lives, such as decriminalizing sex work. The group proposed paying for these policies by increasing taxes on the wealthy.
The rally had a theme of intersectionality. Speakers came from divergent groups and shared their stories as part of a unified struggle, all joining with the organizers from the International Women’s Strike. The Pittsburgh Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America was in attendance, as was Students for Justice in Palestine and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC).Reading of the IWS demands, including:
— Janine Faust (@JAF18222) March 7, 2019
An end to sexual violence and harassment
Reproductive justice
End to abuse in prisons
The decriminalization of sex work
Clean water and environment
And taxing the rich to fund these social services
“We dare to ask that the indigenous population of Palestine have the right to live freely in their homeland....All women cannot claim to be free until Palestinian women are free” pic.twitter.com/FgUck85Qoy
— Janine Faust (@JAF18222) March 7, 2019
And GSOC shared with the crowd that their effort to form a union of graduate students at Pitt had recently cleared a hurdle. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of GSOC, granting the university's about 2,000 graduate student employees the opportunity to vote to join a union in the near future.
The student rally ended around 5 p.m. But a larger rally will take place starting at the City-County Building Downtown at 4 p.m. on March 8.
This report includes reporting from City Paper news intern Janine Faust.
