Women’s History Month starts today, marking an annual acknowledgement of the vital contributions women have made to our history that are far too often overlooked. Nowhere is that more true than in our labor movement. The truth is: You cannot write the story of worker power in this country without talking about the indispensable role women have played in every step of the way.

Even as far back as the post-Civil War South, freed Black women who worked as laundry and domestic workers were collectively organizing for fair pay standards, creating networks of power and coordinating work stoppages, laying critical groundwork for militant labor struggle for years to come. Women also led the charge on textile mill worker organizing in New England factories after the Industrial Revolution and later helped form unions within the largely immigrant garment industry at the turn of the century, which paved the way for the child labor laws and workplace safety requirements we now see today. These examples of labor lineages are rarely given their due credit in history textbooks, but the bravery of these women set our country on the course toward meaningful progress.

In the many decades since, generations of women workers have fought in courtrooms, at the bargaining table, on picket lines, in state legislatures and in the streets for fair wages, quality benefits and union recognition. Asian American, Black and Latina women have spearheaded so many movements for economic justice, demanding rightfully that we cannot have gender equity without racial equity.

When working women stand hand in hand alongside our union brothers, sisters and siblings, the labor movement is unstoppable. As a united front, we have the power to build a brighter future for our communities, free of sexism, racism and exploitation. This Women’s History Month, we should all take a moment to celebrate the memory of those who came before us; prepare ourselves for the work ahead; and remind our sisters, mothers, daughters, co-workers, friends and neighbors that a woman's place is in her union.