Doris Boshart, a member of the Willmar 8 whose landmark strike drew support from around the globe, died Wednesday in Willmar at age 74.
Boshart, Sylvia Erickson, Jane Harguth, Teren Novotny, Shirley Solyntjes, Glennis Ter Wisscha, Sandi Treml and Irene Wallin set up pickets outside Citizen's National Bank in December 1977, demanding equal pay for equal work and recognition of their union. Over the course of a two-year struggle, they failed to win a contract, but gained the support and admiration of people all over the nation and the world.
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Doris Boshart 2002 photo |
At age 47, Boshart was the oldest of the eight strikers. After 10 years at the bank, she earned about $400 a month, she recalled in an interview with Workday Minnesota on the 25th anniversary of the strike in 2002.
In contrast, men hired at the bank were starting at $700 a month, she said. The women were expected to work overtime without extra pay, endure sexual harassment on the job, and were excluded from opportunities for promotion.
"We talked about it amongst ourselves all the time," Boshart said. "And it just kept growing and growing and we kept getting angrier and angrier."
The women decided to form their own union and withhold their labor until they were treated fairly. It was rare for anyone in the banking industry to unionize, especially in a small community in the middle of America.
From a sidewalk in their town of 14,000 people in western Minnesota, the Willmar 8 marched into the limelight. They were interviewed by countless newspapers and featured on TV shows, including "Today" and "Donahue." Actress Lee Grant showed up with a camera crew to make a documentary about their struggle. Within a few months, the Willmar 8 had become so famous that when the post office received a letter addressed to "The Women, Minnesota," workers knew to deliver it to the Willmar labor hall, where a small room served as strike headquarters.
Despite support from other unions and charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the strike failed. Most of the women went on to other jobs, but Boshart was offered a job at Citizen's. Though she was demoted from head bookkeeper to teller and had to face constant harassment from other employees, she stuck it out. In 2002, 25 years after the walkout, she was still working part time at Heritage Bank, the successor to Citizen's.
Most of the strikers still live in the Willmar area.
Boshart was proud to have been part of a struggle that is now chronicled in history books and taught in classrooms. She said she received a yearly batch of letters from college students, thanking her for her role in the struggle for women's rights. One student wrote, "I want to thank you for standing up for what is right . . . be assured your strike was not in vain . . . Your stand had a ripple impact on equality and rights of women."
Services for Boshart will be held Saturday at the United Methodist Church in Willmar, the Associated Press reported.
Related article
Read Workday Minnesota's interview with Boshart and other strikers in 2002, the 25th anniversary of the walkout, Twenty-five years later, Willmar 8 are heroes to a new generation
For more information
The Labor Education Service produced a video, "The Willmar 8 Revisited." Call 612-624-5020 for more information.
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Doris Boshart, a member of the Willmar 8 whose landmark strike drew support from around the globe, died Wednesday in Willmar at age 74.
Boshart, Sylvia Erickson, Jane Harguth, Teren Novotny, Shirley Solyntjes, Glennis Ter Wisscha, Sandi Treml and Irene Wallin set up pickets outside Citizen’s National Bank in December 1977, demanding equal pay for equal work and recognition of their union. Over the course of a two-year struggle, they failed to win a contract, but gained the support and admiration of people all over the nation and the world.
|
|
Doris Boshart 2002 photo |
At age 47, Boshart was the oldest of the eight strikers. After 10 years at the bank, she earned about $400 a month, she recalled in an interview with Workday Minnesota on the 25th anniversary of the strike in 2002.
In contrast, men hired at the bank were starting at $700 a month, she said. The women were expected to work overtime without extra pay, endure sexual harassment on the job, and were excluded from opportunities for promotion.
“We talked about it amongst ourselves all the time,” Boshart said. “And it just kept growing and growing and we kept getting angrier and angrier.”
The women decided to form their own union and withhold their labor until they were treated fairly. It was rare for anyone in the banking industry to unionize, especially in a small community in the middle of America.
From a sidewalk in their town of 14,000 people in western Minnesota, the Willmar 8 marched into the limelight. They were interviewed by countless newspapers and featured on TV shows, including “Today” and “Donahue.” Actress Lee Grant showed up with a camera crew to make a documentary about their struggle. Within a few months, the Willmar 8 had become so famous that when the post office received a letter addressed to “The Women, Minnesota,” workers knew to deliver it to the Willmar labor hall, where a small room served as strike headquarters.
Despite support from other unions and charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the strike failed. Most of the women went on to other jobs, but Boshart was offered a job at Citizen’s. Though she was demoted from head bookkeeper to teller and had to face constant harassment from other employees, she stuck it out. In 2002, 25 years after the walkout, she was still working part time at Heritage Bank, the successor to Citizen’s.
Most of the strikers still live in the Willmar area.
Boshart was proud to have been part of a struggle that is now chronicled in history books and taught in classrooms. She said she received a yearly batch of letters from college students, thanking her for her role in the struggle for women’s rights. One student wrote, “I want to thank you for standing up for what is right . . . be assured your strike was not in vain . . . Your stand had a ripple impact on equality and rights of women.”
Services for Boshart will be held Saturday at the United Methodist Church in Willmar, the Associated Press reported.
Related article
Read Workday Minnesota’s interview with Boshart and other strikers in 2002, the 25th anniversary of the walkout, Twenty-five years later, Willmar 8 are heroes to a new generation
For more information
The Labor Education Service produced a video, “The Willmar 8 Revisited.” Call 612-624-5020 for more information.