e-NALEDI+Vol+2+No+9+August+2006

National Labour and Economic Development Institute

 * Research for the working class**

=e-NALEDI=


 * 31 August 2006 Vol. 2 Number. 9**


 * Contact us:**
 * Fax: +27 11 403 1948**
 * Tel: + 27 11 403 2122**
 * lebogang@naledi.org.za**

LABOUR PAINS

 * An overview**
 * //By Liesl Orr//**

This book has been titled **Labour Pains** to reflect the intensity of the struggle for gender equality in the trade union movement and society. Women in labour carry the double burden of paid work and unpaid work in the home. Black working class women are oppressed as black people, as women and as workers. They also face a ‘struggle within the struggle’ as they are forced to confront sexism in their won unions as well as in the workplace and at home. The book explores the experiences of women leaders in the trade unions, and the strategies they use to deal with the challenges and the burdens they face. It also reflects on the strategies adopted by COSATU and some of its affiliates to advance gender equality and promote organizational change. While the book acknowledges that progress has been made on the development of policy for gendered change, it argues that little has been achieved in practice in terms of translating commitments into meaningful reality for working class women. The book argues that challenging unequal power between men and women in the unions and society does not happen simply through resolutions, policies and setting up structures – it happens through action and activism.

Working class women played an enormously significant role in the struggle for democracy in South Africa, a large number of them organized in trade unions. While they contributed to this struggle alongside their male comrades, women also waged a ‘struggle within the struggle’. This was a struggle against the values and practices of a male-dominated and sexist system that saw their own comrades and partners express them as women. While many resolutions commit COSATU and its affiliates to gender equality, working class women continue to face oppression and inequality in the home, the workplace, the community and their unions today. While an important slogan of COSATU has been ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’, women workers continue to suffer injury in society that is not experienced by men, that is often inflicted by men, and that is not taken up by the democratic organizations that they belong to.


 * A woman’s place is in the union?**

Women worker leaders also experience resistance and sexism from male comrades and union members that they work alongside with. They often have to battle for their leadership ability to be recognised and accepted because of widespread patriarchal attitudes. A NUMSA shopsteward told us of her experience in a majority male factory, in a mainly male union. She feels that the male workers have mixed feelings about her. They recognise her leadership qualities and have elected her for four terms running. At the same time, they see her differently because she is a woman. She spoke of the difficulties she faces as a woman shopsteward in a male environment. This is partly because of the men's attitudes but also because of her feelings about herself.

“It was very difficult when I started [being a shopsteward]. Most of the men in that company are coming from the hostel. They believe in custom and culture. Whenever I talk or stand in front of them, they believe what I say. But afterwards they say ‘hey what she says might be true but because she is a woman, we can’t support her’. She spoke about how she overcame her anxiety in the face of men’s negative attitudes to women leaders: “When I stood up I was shaking because every time when I stand up they would say ‘Oh this woman, umfazi, what is she going to say?’ But they would try to listen because they were interested in the union. The only problem was that it was a woman standing in front of them. I tried to be very strong. When I am shaking I started by singing, to make them toyi toyi. When you are scared to talk, if you start by singing your fear goes away. You try by toyi toying, you make them to be warm and after that they become happy and sit down and listen to you." She said it had taken a long time to win the men’s trust.
 * Download full article here: http://www.naledi.org.za/pubs/2006/Labour_Pains_Overview.pdf**

ONLINE RESOURCES

 * Incorporating gender into your NGO**
 * //Gender mainstreaming in community-based and non-governmental organisations//**

//Wassenaar, N. / Network Learning, 2006// This guide provides support for NGOs or community based organisations seeking to mainstream gender into their work. It also presents the argument for the need for gender mainstreaming, and tackles issues of constraints. The guide argues that incorporating gender into an organisation is most successful where the importance of and need for change are recognised and internalised, and where members share the definitions of and goals for change.
 * http://www.networklearning.org/download/gender.pdf**

//Heintz, J. / International Labour Organization (ILO), 2006//
 * Globalization, economic policy and employment: poverty and gender implications**
 * What would a gender sensitive macro-economic policy look like?**

The study demonstrates how the labour market and the world of work in general are clearly sex-disaggregated and how important it is to undertake analysis of the impact of macroeconomic policies on growth, employment and poverty reduction, with specific consideration of such segmentation. The study also demonstrates how different aspects of macroeconomic policies affect women’s and men’s work differently.
 * http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/esp2006-3.pdf**

//Lund, F. / Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), South Africa, 2006//
 * Gender and social security in South Africa**

This paper attempts to lay the basis for a gendered analysis of the scope, coverage and impact of the main components of social assistance in South Africa. This gendered approach draws attention to the serious gaps in knowledge about the scope of the social assistance system and its socio-economic effects. The study shows how much the focus has been on the Old Age Pension and the Child Support Grant and the gap that exist for the other grants. The author recommends that further work is needed not just on a grant-by-grant basis, but also in exploring how different sources of income in households interact with each other, and how intra-household decision-making about these sources takes place. More work is also needed on the welfare system as a provider of employment, on the effects of the balance of public- versus private-sector provision on gendered patterns on employment, on the dynamics of the care economy, and on the interaction between these**.**
 * http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/download.asp?filename=2141_04_Development_Decade~329200620451PM.pdf**

//What are the links between female migrancy, work, health, and HIV/AIDS in the lives of domestic workers in Johannesburg?//
 * Migration and domestic work in South Africa: worlds of work, health and mobility in Johannesburg**

Peberdy, S.; Dinat, N. / Southern African Migration Project (SAMP), 2005 This study explores the links between female migrancy, work, health and HIV/AIDS in the lives of domestic workers living in Johannesburg, as well as the implications for domestic workers and health service providers. In addition, the study explores their points of vulnerability to HIV. Male migrants, and particularly mineworkers and truck drivers, have been the focus of research on the relationship between HIV and migration. At times their partners – usually called “women at risk” – have been included in research. Yet, little attention has been paid to the vulnerability of female migrants themselves to HIV infection and their access to health care and treatment. The study therefore explores this issue using interviews with 1,100 female domestic workers employed in Johannesburg.
 * http://www.queensu.ca/samp/forms/form.html**


 * Promoting Gender Equality - A Resource Kit for Trade Unions**

With the increasing participation of women in paid work all over the world, the promotion of gender equality has assumed additional significance. Although more and more women are working outside the home, gender remains an important source of labour market discrimination. Just as some workers are discriminated against or victimized by employers for being trade union members, so too women are often discriminated against because of their sex, marital status or family responsibilities. This resource kit is aimed to provide background information, practical guidelines and checklists, case studies and examples of "good" and "bad" practice and reference materials to assist and enhance the efforts of trade unions to promote gender equality and protect vulnerable women workers; and to improve the understanding and appreciation of the role of trade unions.
 * http://www.workinfo.com/free/links/Gender/cha_0.htm**

OPPORTUNITIES

 * Masters in the Field of Labour Policies and Globalisation**
 * //Women are strongly encouraged to participate. Applicants should, as a rule, not be older than 40 years of age.//**

The Global Labour University network is offering the one year Master Programme 'Labour Policies and Globalisation' on sustainable development, social justice, international labour standards and trade unions. Until now the course has been run in Germany at the University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics. A new partnership with the University of Witwatersrand means that from January 2007 you will be able to participate in the programme in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 * Deadline:** 1st October 2006 for the 2007 course.

The Global Labour University is supported by the ILO, the Hans Boeckler Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. A limited number of scholarships are available. The endorsement by a trade union is a requirement for a scholarship. The scholarship is conditional on a contribution of 1500 Euro from the supporting trade union or another donor. Course language is English. More detailed information and the application form are available under the respective headings on the website and in the brochure.
 * http://www.global-labour-university.de/**

GLU Coordinator WITS
 * Contact:**
 * Mandy Moussouris**
 * +27 (0) 11 717 4466**


 * National Labour and Economic Development Institute, PO Box 5665, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa**

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