Working 9 to 5 A Women's Movement, a Labor Union, and the Iconic Movie

"A must-read for any activist or reader in search for a piece of inspiration." —Liz Shuler, president, AFL-CIO

2022 Sarton Awards Finalist for Memoir
2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medalist - Women's Issues category

9 to 5 wasn’t just a comic film—it was a movement built by Ellen Cassedy and her friends.

Ten office workers in Boston started out sitting in a circle and sharing the problems they encountered on the job. In a few short years, they had built a nationwide movement that united people of diverse races, classes, and ages.

They took on the corporate titans. They leafleted and filed lawsuits and started a woman-led union. They won millions of dollars in back pay and helped make sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination illegal.

The women office workers who rose up to win rights and respect on the job transformed workplaces throughout America. And along the way came Dolly Parton’s toe-tapping song and a hit movie inspired by their work.

Working 9 to 5 is a lively, informative, firsthand account packed with practical organizing lore that will embolden anyone striving for fair treatment.

Ellen Cassedy was a founder of the 9 to 5 organization in 1973. She is the coauthor of 9 to 5: The Working Woman’s Guide to Office Survival (with Karen Nussbaum) and The 9 to 5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment (with Ellen Bravo). Cassedy is a former columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, was a speechwriter in the Clinton administration, and has contributed to Huffington Post, Redbook, Woman’s Day, Hadassah, Philadelphia Inquirer, and other publications. Jane Fonda is an Academy Award–winning actor, producer, author, and a longtime activist. She lives in Los Angeles.

Foreword by Jane Fonda
Prologue
1. Every Morning
2. Vying for Power
3. Start-Up
4. “I’m Not a Feminist, But . . .”
5. A Bill of Rights for Women Office Workers
6. Teetering for Our Rights
7. While He Was Wearing Them
8. In Our Glory! (Part I): “We Think a Lot of Women . . . ”
9. A Union of Women, by Women, for Women
10. Se-cre-ta-REES, Unite!
11. In Our Glory! (Part 2): The Wallpaper Comes Alive
12. Going National
13. Hollywood
14. Our Union Goes National
15. Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Epilogue
Time Line
Resources
Discussion Guide
Acknowledgments
Index