Judith M. Layzer Papers

Judith Mushabac Layzer received a B.A. degree from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in 1962 and an M.A. from the City University of New York in 1967. She became a contract compliance officer, specializing in affirmative action provisions, in New York City's Bureau of Labor Services. Eventually she served as head of the Bureau's non-construction contract compliance unit. She was a leading member of Women in City Government United (WCGU, founded in 1969) and later was the founder and president of the Committee for Women in Non-traditional Jobs (CWNJ; originally founded in 1977, as the Committee for Women in Non-Traditional Trades). Women in City Government United consisted of employees of New York City government, primarily from the Mayor's Office, during the John V. Lindsay administration. Through petitions and meetings with mayoral officials, WCGU pressed for more appointments of women to high-level positions and improved health, pension and maternity benefits for all women employees.

Layzer recognized that there were already many women's groups in New York City, but she was interested in creating one that would concentrate on increasing women's participation in the nontraditional workplace. The Committee for Women in Nontraditional Jobs was composed of officials, primarily but not exclusively women, from a broad spectrum of organizations, private and public. The typical government employee participant held a responsible position within her/his own agency and could influence decisions on policy matters. The Committee also had a board of directors comprised of knowledgeable feminists from different sectors, including the law, trade-union leadership and academia. Through forums, conferences, radio interviews, video cablecasts and reports, the Committee brought to light and challenged employer practices unfair to women who wanted to pursue nontraditional employment but were discouraged by standard training, eligibility and hiring policies.

In addition to working with representatives of many industries to encourage the hiring of women, CWNJ focused on New York City Training and Assistance (TAP) programs. In 1979, CWNJ sought to change its status from a loosely organized volunteer organization to a more highly structured one that would include paid staff members. This attempt was only partially successful. The Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor offered the Committee a $20,000 development grant, but this offer was rescinded with the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in 1980. That same year, CWNJ became the first independent women's organization appointed to the Employment and Training Planning Council, the advisory body responsible for planning the allocation of funds under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) Program.

Through its contacts with Percy Sutton and other public figures involved in media initiatives, the Committee became especially interested in opening up opportunities for women in the new and expanding field of cable television in the 1980s. Channel L, a local municipal cable station, provided the Committee with support for a one-hour video about the cable industry that was widely broadcast on cable. In 1983, the CWNJ received a Susan B. Anthony award from the New York City chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW) in recognition of its work over the previous seven years, especially in relation to the cable television industry.

Under intense pressure from her superiors because of her uncompromising feminist activism, Judith Layzer was eventually reassigned to research tasks in her department and removed from direct involvement in compliance/enforcement work. She was eventually transferred to the Department of Transportation, where she was unsatisfied with her original assignment and went on to create a Quality Management Program, through which she offered group sessions on effective labor relations techniques to supervisors. She retired in 1996. In recent years Layzer continued her work as a political activist. She served on the Executive Committee of the Park River Independent Democrats. Additionally, as a long-term cancer survivor, she became especially active in the field of patients' rights, and initiated a legal case against Medicare on the issue of exclusion of certain medications from coverage. The case (Judith M. Layzer and Ray J. Fischer v. Hon. Michael O. Levitt, Secretary U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; case number SDNY 07CIV.11339[HB]) was decided in favor of the plaintiffs in March 2011.

Judith Layzer died in New York City in January 2010.