On behalf of Wainwright Bank, we are pleased to be here today to support and endorse the National Organization for Women's proactive project aimed at providing a workplace where all employees and customers receive equal treatment.

Wainwright Bank & Trust's philosophy of social justice parallels NOW's Women-Friendly Workplace Pledge, or as we prefer to think of it, a code of conduct that bespeaks a standard of decency among all peoples.

The inclusiveness of the NOW Pledge is what impressed us the most. Because it addresses issues reaching beyond those pertaining exclusively to women, this campaign will become a catalyst for social change. It informs, educates and introduces different constituencies to issues of social justice and most importantly, indicates to those constituencies that they need not stand alone in this endeavor.

The Pledge encompasses support for all employees in their efforts to balance work and family responsibilities, encouraging policies that are genuinely family-friendly and not discriminatory on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation. By including the right to organize, it also supports economic justice, which is important to all working men and women.

Like the National Organization for Women, Wainwright Bank & Trust Company has been a pioneer in upholding human rights within the workplace. We encourage more companies to join us in supporting this Pledge. Justice will not prevail until all companies incorporate the issues addressed here today.

These principles are the DNA of human rights and cut across the fault lines of race, gender, sexual orientation, class and wealth. In our pursuit of social justice, we must not retreat to our individual islands of self-interest, as we will not be liberated until all are included.

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