IWD 2026: Women On the Frontlines, Across All Fronts
In its 115th year of commemoration, International Working Women’s Day 2026 comes at a moment when militarism and patriarchy are on full display. Now more than ever we must move beyond solidarity. It is time for a complete dismantling of the ruling order.
From the textile women workers of NYC who went on strike despite facing police brutality on March 8,1857 to the anti-war Bread and Peace strike led by Russian women workers on March 8, 1917, we honor the women, past and present, who stand on the frontlines against militarized patriarchy and the capitalist exploitation of women and workers.
Across the so-called United States, workers are rising up in women-dominated sectors that have long been undervalued and underpaid. Healthcare workers in California and Hawai'i went on strike to demand higher wages, improved staff to patient ratios, and dignity in their profession. In New York, the largest strike in the city's history occurred where 15,000 nurses at major hospitals took to the picket lines for secure health benefits, protections from workplace violence, and safeguards for immigrant patients and nurses. Educators in Sacramento, California walked out of the classrooms while teachers in Los Angeles are currently preparing to strike. These struggles are not only about wages; they are about the future of public education and the overall well-being of entire communities. They are a resounding testament that women are the heart of the fight for liberation, challenging the systems that exploit our labor and defending the societies we sustain.
We also salute women who are combatting militarism and war, both in our local communities and across the globe. We remember that Black feminist organizers have long warned us about the violence embedded in our institutions. We uplift Indigenous matriarchs who have been sounding the alarm regarding the impact of war on the environment. We remember women who have historically resisted war, as present day, their echoes ring louder than ever with the U.S. imperialist war being launched against Iran. As an organization comprised of mothers and caregivers, the bombing of an Iran girls’ school that lead to the deaths of the 165 students, pierces deeply this Women’s History Month. It is a stark reminder of how male violence deliberately targets the most vulnerable to uphold patriarchal and imperialist power.
International Women’s Day is also a day to stand with women and survivors who are grappling with the patriarchal violence and impunity exposed by the Epstein files. We honor the women who have come forward and put their stories on the frontlines against patriarchal, capitalist, and state-sanctioned networks of sexual violence and exploitation.
We renew our commitment to the revolutionary roots of International Women’s Day. From hospitals to classrooms, from movements for social and climate justice to struggles against war and exploitation, women continue to organize and rise up for genuine liberation. We salute all women who refuse to back down in the face of all systems of oppression that seek to exploit us and silence us.