• by Lynn Povich , Op-Ed Contributor, October 19, 2016

When 46 of us filed a sex discrimination complaint against Newsweek magazine in 1970, we were terrified but determined.  Not only was it unfair that women were barred from being hired or promoted to reporters, writers or editors, it was also illegal to segregate jobs by gender.

Still, going up against our bosses and even some of our male friends--while we were still working for them--took guts.

In the end, we got all the changes we demanded, and women quickly moved up at the magazine.  Even the editor, Osborn Elliot, said that the women’s action made Newsweek a better place to work—and a better magazine.

A lot has changed for women in these past 46 years and much progress has been made.  Still, we have a long, long way to go.  The story of our Newsweek action, as my book and the new Amazon series "Good Girls Revolt," debuting Oct. 28, show, is about changing the system to make it better for women. 

It can be done.

The key to our success was how we organized. In secret, each of us brought in a trusted friend who brought in another trusted friend until we all agreed that together, we would file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.  We knew it was important to represent all the women.

Had there been just a few of us, we would have been far more vulnerable to retaliation. In the end, all of the researchers joined our group except for the black women, who hoped to file their own racial discrimination complaint later on.

Luckily, we knew how to organize to make our voices heard. We had come of age during the great social movements of the Sixties: the Civil Rights Movement that focused on equality; the Anti-War Movement that questioned authority; and the Women’s Movement that challenged the assumptions about women’s roles in society.  

Together, they provided a model of civil protest and demonstrated the power of mass opinion.

But to change the system, we need to grab the levers of power. One of the first things we did after we broke through the basement ceiling was to take on the Guild, our union, which had never fought for civil rights or women’s issues.  We all joined the Guild and elected the first woman chair in its history.  

With her help and our representation, we got maternity leave for women and paternity leave for men, something the men had never asked for but fully appreciated.

That’s why it’s important that we put boots on the ground and go to the polls. We need to elect representatives who share our mission, who will dismantle the structural obstacles to equality and who will introduce and enforce legislation that supports women and minorities.

For the first time in America’s history we have a woman candidate for president—and she is clearly far more qualified than Donald Trump. She is also the right kind of woman, someone who has committed herself and her life to women’s, workers’ and family issues.

Let’s not go back to the era of the “silent majority.” Collective action is powerful. So organize. Speak up. Make the phone calls. Knock on the doors.  But most of all vote, and get out the vote, to change the system for women--and for a better America.