| Show 77i$ Agate Re VfPA The Aggie Review Page 3 rpretive - The live in By Norm works at a large production plant in Northern Utah He works between 50 and 55 hours a week and makes enough to support his wife and six children He worked hard to get where he is and he's proud of it But some of his friends aren't quite as lucky as Norm and most of them oppose the proposed Equal Rights Amendment Ellis is unemployed He and his wife and their childrenjne from vweek to week on7he unemployment check that comes every Friday in the mail Ellis wants to work but there are no jobs for him John used to work alongside Norm He was laid off when a cutback in funds-f&e- ed a work force reduction He had been at his job only two weeks so he can't draw unemployment insurance Norm is a big man with muscles everywhere you look His face is red and his teeth brown probably because he is never without his "chaw" of tobacco He is a rough talker and says he knows why his friends can't find jobs "It's those damn women's libbers" he says "Those guys don't have jobs because of all the women after the same jobs Most of their husbands got a job They ought to be home cleanin' and cookin'" John is less vocal but has a similar opinion "There were six women ahead of me on the seniority list Most of them have husbands who work just don't think it's fair" I The proposed Equal Rights Amendment says equal rights cannot be denied by the US or any state on account of sex It says if women and men work at the same job they must get the same page They must also be given equal opportunities to obtain those jobs Thirty'eight states must ratify the ERA before it ' becomes law Thirty-threstates have voted to make it a part of the Constitution Utah is not one of those thirty-threstates The proposal was defeated in the state legislature two years ago Sue Pendleton is the president of the Cache Valley I Chris Larson e I'" t-"-)'- ' ' ? 3 ' ' !' '' e League of Women Voters She says she doesn't know why the state legislature didn't vote to ratify the amendment "I really don't know why it was defeated Utah with its pioneer women has always been a frontrunner in Women's can't understand it" Rights she says Ms Pendleton was elected to i' ' V ' 'ji ' - I I her position last fall and in conservative Cache Valley she is careful with her words when asked about Women's Liber-tatoShe cays that most § v t n women in Cache Valley are not Libbers but women who "just believe women should have equal opportunities with men" She also criticised what she called "scare tactics" being used by opponents of the ERA She cited examples of pamphlets warning people that passage of the ERA would lead to communal baths toilets and sleeping quarters b "That's ridiculous" says Ms Pendleton "We all recognize basic physical differences between men and women The law says equality of rights!" Proponents of the ERA have recently encountered another obstacle to their goal that being the stand taken by the LDS Church newspaper In a recent editorial the Church News condemned the Equal Rights Amendment and the support of the E R A backers had been began to dwindle After the church's editorial came out Governor expecting Rampton said he believed the ERA was dead in Utah this year And those in favor of the ERA are having a hard time finding someone to Calvin L 0“ T J Chris Larson editor ri tha Aggla Rovlaw is a Sonlor journalism sludont from Brigham City Utah t I 4 ' t fit ft |
