12
A M essage to the Women
By ELIZABETH DOTSON
A member of the Oregon State
Employees Association
Membership Committee
There are an estimated 7,000 full
time employees of the State of Oregon.
In 1940 approximately 32 percent of
all state employees were women. D ur
ing the last four years the percentage
of women employees has increased pos
sibly to as much as 40 percent inas
much as women have replaced men
who have been called to the service
and men who have taken more lucra
tive positions elsewhere.
On November 1 of this year, how
ever, the percentage of women mem
bers in the Oregon State Employees’
Association was much less than even
32 percent. This percentage should be
raised so that women employees may
assume their rightful voice in the As
sociation’s activities. The opportunity
to affiliate oneself with such an organ
ization should be a challenge to every
thoughtful and progressive-minded wo
man employee of this state.
Many women express a reluctance to
join an organization which is or might
become affiliated with a "union.” Such
reluctance is completely unwarranted
for’ the Association is not affiliated
with a union. It is an independent, non
political organization of Oregon men
and women bound together by the com
mon bond of all being state employees
seeking to improve the status of public
employment. By joining together, we
can each contribute to making this or
ganization an influence beneficial to
both the State and its employees.
Women who feel that their years of
employment are temporary are gener
ally disinterested in joining, but many
women have come to work for the
state for a year or two” and have
stayed for ten or twelve years or even
longer. Even though married, a woman
is seldom certain that she will never
need to work again outside of her home.
Because of unexpected circumstances,
she may later return to a state depart
ment, so that financial support or time
given the Association now will then
repay her many times over.
Most women whose husbands are
overseas will leave public employment
after the war; but, when such women
offer their services to the Association
now, they are helping to build at
home a better, more democratic way of
life for which the men in the services
are fighting abroad.
Even if not interested in remaining
in State service until we reach the
retirement age, we will benefit by the
other objectives of the Association. A
sound retirement system is only one of
many objectives.. A merit system of
civil service, equitable working hours
and wages, improvement in working
conditions, security of employment,
and an opportunity for advancement
based on merit will all help us whether
we are employed for one year or twen
ty. We must also realize the value of an
organization which can speak for those
women who have accepted men’s work
but who still receive a "women’s
wage” ; for women who support chil
dren, parents, or disabled husbands on
a meager salary; or for those women
doing a bookkeeper’s job though classi
fied as a clerk. The financial support
we are asked to give is nominal con
sidering the benefits to be derived. No
chapter has dues which are excessive
or burdensome.
One of the chief obstacles to over
come in enlisting the active participa
tion of women is an unexpressed but.
(Continued on page 46) '
The Association Prosper