Molly Yard addresses Eastern Strike rally 'This is the fight of all Americans for a decent standard of living'

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got to see a reflection of themselves within the organization. And that has not happened for the most part in the women's movement. because numbers definitely reflect on the minds of the people making the decisions.

S.A.: After we return home from April 9, what do you see as the next step for the women's movement? Of course one thing we will be doing in Cincinnati is working on the national N.O.W. conference this summer.

Rosser: Yes, we will have the national conference here in Cincinnati on July 21-23. It is probably going to net between 1500 and 2000 women. What is good about having these conferences every year is the fact that it motivates and rejuvenates you around what you are out there fighting for.

We know our numbers are going to be greater probably than ever before because the interest around losing abortion rights is bringing out people who thought they could sit home safely without ever having to deal with this in their lifetime again.

We must become more visible. We have a lot of work to do as far as keeping ourselves very visible and speaking out when there is something that goes on. We need to have a focus for our activity-such as informational pickets-and not just react to everything they do. I am hoping that in the next few months that is what the Cincinnati N.O.W. will be doing.

Supreme Court decision. The least likely alternative is that the Supreme Court will simply uphold Roe v. Wade. Although it's unlikely that they'll throw out this decision entirely. If that should happen we need to organize on a very large scale. We need to organize in every legislative district to make our state legislators understand what the consequences of outlawing abortion would be. It also includes opposing "informed-consent" legislation where women are supposed The following is the text of the address by Molly Yard, president of the National Organization for Women, to the March 14 Boston solidarity rally with the Eastern Airlines workers.

This is a wonderful rally, and I am delighted to be here with you. To my brothers and sisters in the Machinists' union, to my brothers and sisters among the pilots, and to my sisters and brothers of the Flight Attendants-especially to the Flight Attendants—l know the outrageous things that the managers and the owners of the airlines try to perpetrate on you.

I suppose it's because you're heavily female, and they think they can kick you around. Well, we know they can't! And we recognize that their attempts to push the Flight Attendants around are just the first steps of busting the union movement. The outrageous [Carl] Icahn, telling the TWA Flight Attendants that they were just girls who wanted a little cash money to spend on clothes. [Boos]. And at Eastern-Lorenzo, who thinks that he can make all kinds of frivolous charges against you and have you in grievance procedures, week after week, day after day, month after month. Well, I'm here to say that we stand with you!

This fight is the fight of all Americans who want a decent standard of living for all working men and women, who want men and women to have the right to organize in unions of their own choosing.

And your fight is also our fight. We know something in the women's movement about struggle, too. We know what the ReaganBush administration has done to the union movement and is doing to the women's movement. They're trying to push us all down, push us all back, until every one of us is poor-except for the few friends of Mr. Reagan and Mr. Bush, who already have the money. I say, the hell with them! We're here to fight, and we're here to fight for the rights of all Americans. And it is a two-way street. You need us, and we need you. We will be, and we have been, on your picket lines. And we will fight for your right to organize. And we need you. Just as the unions now are working for better conditions for families, these are women's rights issues too childcare, family parental aid, raising the minimum wage.

As President Bush and his cohorts—Mr. Lorenzo and Mr. Icahn and the rest of them— try to break the unions of the airline industry, so they are trying to break the women's movement in this country. They are trying to deny us the constitutional rights we have already won—to safe and legal birth control and abortion. And they want to keep us from ever winning the Equal Rights Amendment. Well, we have news for them. We are determined to win our constitutional right to ERA, and we know the trade-union movement has stood with us through the years on winning the ERA and you will be there again. And we are just as determined to keep the constitutional rights we've already wonto reproductive choice and freedom. And we say with you-we work together, we stand together, we will win together! [Chants of "Molly, Molly, Molly!"] The message that goes forth from here tonight is "United we stand, divided we fall." We will never be divided! And we ask you, as we will join you on the picket line for this strike, and as we will work with you in other ways for strike relief or whatever it is that's needed, we ask you to join us in Washington, D.C., on the 9th of April, every last one of you here.

We want you to say with us, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom! [Chants of "Freedom, Freedom, Freedom."] Freedom for women to control their own lives. And we will say with you, Union, Union, Union! [Chants of "Union, Union, Union."] We can now work together for a life of decency and opportunity for all Americans. Thank you.