“Sexual harassment was completely legal. Pregnancy discrimination was legal. We held these bad boss contests. Where, the first winner was a boss who had asked his secretary to sew up a hole in his pants while he was wearing them. So it was really dire out there. And when we started speaking up, everyone was so shocked. It was like the wallpaper had come alive.”
Ellen Cassedy, 9 to 5
About the 9 to 5 Movement
Starting out in Boston in 1973, the women of 9 to 5 built a nationwide feminist movement that united people of diverse races, classes, and ages. They took on the corporate titans. They leafleted, filed lawsuits, and started a woman-led union. They won millions of dollars in back pay and helped make sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination illegal.
“The entire time that we were working on the movie I could carry in my heart that this was married to a movement.”— JANE FONDA
When women rose up to win rights and respect at the office, they transformed workplaces throughout America. Along the way came Dolly Parton’s toe-tapping song and the movie inspired by their work. Working 9 to 5 is a lively, informative, firsthand account packed with practical organizing lore that will embolden anyone striving for fair treatment.
Buy the book 9 to 5 at https://ellencassedy.com/#9to5
About EllenEllen Cassedy was a founder and longtime leader of 9 to 5, the national association of women office workers. Working 9 to 5 is her first-person account of this exciting movement, which began in the early 1970’s, mobilizing women across the country to organize for rights and respect on the job. The movement inspired Jane Fonda’s hit movie and Dolly Parton’s enduring anthem. 9 to 5 is still active today.
Ellen appears in the documentaries “9 to 5: The Story of a Movement” and “Still Working 9 to 5.”
Ellen is the award-winning author of We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust, in which her journey to connect with her Jewish family roots expands into a wider quest. She explores how people in Lithuania are engaging with their Nazi and Soviet past in order to move toward a more tolerant future. Winner of the Grub Street National Book Prize for Nonfiction, shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.
Ellen is also the co-translator of Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories by Blume Lempel, a collection that moves between the realistic and the fantastic, the lyrical and the philosophical. The translation received the Leviant Memorial Prize from the Modern Language Association, among other awards.
Ellen is the translator of On the Landing: Stories by Yenta Mash, which traces an arc across upheavals and regime changes, making a major contribution to the literature of immigration and resilience.
Ellen’s play, “Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn,” celebrates the spare beauty of a small but important life, with help from Walt Whitman. It was adapted into a short film starring Joanna Merlin, which qualified for an Academy Award nomination.
Ellen was a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, a speechwriter in the Clinton Administration, and author of two previous books for working women. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications. She lives in New York City.
Ellen’s Tips for Writers offer advice about writing and being a writer.
You can follow Ellen’s work at
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About the Labor Solidarity Podcast
The Labor Solidarity Podcast highlights the work of labor leaders while discussing historic struggles and the importance of organizing with the goal of building international labor solidarity. Learn more at: https://www.empathymedialab.com/laborsolidarity
The Labor Solidarity Podcast is a part of the EML Publishing brands and we are a proud member of The Labor Radio Podcast Network. Learn more: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab
Union Solidarity Forever.
#LaborRadioPod
#1U
#UnionStrong
105. NAFTA 2.0 – Is it better for workers than NAFTA? - ABRIDGED - LRPN Livestream
104. NAFTA 2.0 – Is it better for workers than NAFTA? - LRPN Livestream (full)
103. 9to5:The Story of a Movement - Post-film Q&A
102. LRPN Livestream (2/3): Labor’s response to the rise of fascism (shortened)
101. UPDATE - SB 0581/HB 0039 Change Waiver of Publication Bill - TransMaryland w/ Lee Blinder
100 - What I saw in Richmond MLK Day 2020 - Audio Essay - Evan Matthew Papp
99. Campaign for a Green Nuclear Deal with Madison Czerwinski
98. The Rise of Fascism and Independent Politics and Labor Working Class Response to Attacks - LRPN Live
97. Joe Cadwell host of Grit Northwest - Labor Radio Podcast Member Spotlight Series
96. Peter Rachleff Author of Black Labor in Richmond, Virginia 1865-1890 and Co-Executive Director of East Side Freedom Library
95. Deborah Hall host of Labor Radio on KBOO FM Labor - Labor Radio Podcast Member Spotlight Series
94. Energy, Opera Singing, & Our Nuclear Future with Generation Atomic Executive Director Eric Meyer
93. Policy Dialogues Ep.12 Do Good Institute Equipping the next generation of social change leaders
92. LRPN Live (Shortened) - What is a progressive, internationalist, pro-labor migration policy? w/ JJ Rosenbaum, Neha Misra, & Shannon Lederer
91. What is a progressive, pro-labor migration policy? w/ JJ Rosenbaum, Neha Misra, & Shannon Lederer
90. Religions at the Service of Fraternity in our World - Fratelli Tutti Chapter 8 - Belief Street
89. LRPN Live - Joe McCartin, Mark McDermott, Marc Dann, Kurt Stand, Danny Schur
88. Labor, FDR, The New Deal, & The Fight for The Four Freedoms with Professor Harvey J. Kaye
87. FDR's Second Bill of Rights - State of the Union - January 11, 1944
86. FDR's 1941 State of the Union (Four Freedoms speech)
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