| | Abstract: | Cleveland Women Working (f. 1975), founded largely by Helen Williams, was an organization of working women concerned about equal opportunity rights for office workers in the United States and especially in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. They addressed problems faced by working women by using documented research and active strategy. They counseled and educated women about legal rights and job problems, publicized unfair working situations, monitored government agencies which enforced anti-discrimination laws; monitored specific employers for compliance with the law; advocated for women with discrimination problems; and published special reports and a bi-monthly newsletter. In 1977 Cleveland Women Working merged with a group formed out of the Boston, Massachusetts, organization 9to5 News that became the Working Women Organizing Project. After another name change it became 9to5, National Association of Working Women in 1983 and maintained its national headquarters in Cleveland until 1993 when the national organization moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The officers and staff of 9to5 have been active in many different ways to further its mission, ranging from testifying before Congress to educating women through publications regarding sexual harassment in the workplace and other related issues. It ran a job problem hotline, helped to organize a division of the Service Employees International Union, and has been involved with various federal investigations and government hearings regarding employment practices and discrimination. 9to5 National Association of Working Women is still an active organization with chapters in Atlanta, Georgia, California, Colorado, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but is no longer active in the Cleveland area. The collection consists of agendas, annual reports, lists, newsletters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, reports, speech texts, statutes, and surveys. | |
