On International Women’s Day on March 8, 1997, women took part in a “women’s strike day” in Berlin, demonstrating in front of the Brandenburg Gate for equality on the job and in society. Tens of thousands of women participated in simultaneous demonstrations in numerous other German cities, aiming to draw attention to discrimination against women in the labor market. Even today there is no wage equality between men and women in Germany, and men are still favored in hiring, despite the Federal Equal Treatment Act. The March 8th protests were organized by the Confederation of German Trade Unions. The protester's sign can be loosely translated as: “If you don’t fight back, you’ll wind up at the stove.”