16 November, 2011
1. ICEM Asia-Pacific Region Adopts Action Plan for Women
The ICEM Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, held on 28-29 June in Bangkok, adopted an ambitious action plan for women in the region. The plan includes:
• Strengthen the women’s committee structure in the region
• Organise annual meetings before the Asia-Pacific Regional Executive
• Organise women’s training on the basis of the Multinational Corporations’ Project and the Contract and Agency Labour Project
• Strengthen network and communication links and contacts as well as connections between women leaders and activists within ICEM’s structure
• Foster relationships with women representatives from the three Global Union Federations that will form the new International
This resolution was adopted unanimously and will contribute to the debates at Congress and for the formation of the new International.
2. Serbia: Women from Ex-Yugoslavia Meet in Serbia
From 6-8 July, GS HNER Nezavisnost organized a workshop for women from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro in Vojvodina, Serbia, with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES). The workshop was attended by 30 women and some men who actively support women. This was the fifth meeting of a network which was set up shortly after the 1990s war.
Because of that war the women are afraid to lose their jobs and they insist on their rights, which is why it is crucial for them to meet and work on self-esteem. The women welcome these meetings because they need to contemplate the reforms and what they mean for them. The women came from pharmaceuticals, oil, glass and mining industries. ICEM has a project in Southeastern Europe, which has managed to ensure approximately 30% women’s participation over the last 12 years.
Most unions and companies have women’s sections. The women’s sections give women more power. They fight against discrimination and bullying as well as helping abused women and protecting motherhood. They take part in collective bargaining as well as maintaining relations with other unions and confederations. They have cooperation with other women’s networks and NGOs. Health and safety is one important theme. One concern is integrating young people. The biggest problem facing young people is short-term contracts.
Montenegro is currently a candidate for EU membership and thus, laws are being amended. Women are participating in amending the labour laws. They are also working on changes in the general collective agreement. As a result of their pressure, ILO Convention 183 was ratified. They also achieved a clause against bullying.
The law on pensions was changed, and because of their intervention, women gained six months of credit for their pensions. Equal pay for equal work, as well as parental leave, are items that they would like to see contemplated in the new labour law. The atmosphere is positive toward gender equality and against discrimination. Still there is discrimination against young women.
In Serbia, there are still effects from socialism. Reform processes are not yet concluded. Poor methods toward privatization have been harmful, with some privatizing efforts cancelled.
There have been some achievements on social dialogue, but it is only starting. There is, unfortunately, a high level of corruption. Many women are affected by precarious work. Those who lose their jobs often end up in the informal economy, which comprises 40% of GDP. The level of unemployment is 23.3%. Women in Serbia have made a manual to fight against discrimination in the privatization process.
Violence against women is on the rise. There are about 30 safe houses for women in Serbia. Police has changed certain practices in order to react to the high level of domestic violence.
3. Uzbekistan: Eastern Europe, Trans Caucasus and Central Asia Region Holds Women’s Conference
The Geology, Fuel, Energy and Chemical Industry Workers’ Union of Uzbekistan hosted the regional conference attended by women from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Russia. This was the third time the women met in Uzbekistan since 2001. The Uzbek economic model provides for strong social defense.
Women in Uzbekistan have on average five children. Collective agreements provide for supplementary benefits for women with children. Women may have maternity leave, shortened work time and material assistance. Homeworkers also benefit from special conditions. The work with women is based on the principle of social partnership.
It was possible by fighting to maintain the women’s pension age. Women are going from strength to strength in Uzbekistan and achieving decent work. It was positive for women from other countries to see what can be accomplished with determination. The local television interviewed ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, who said, “We are proud of our affiliates for maintaining and expanding women’s rights.”
4. DRC: ITUC Holds Training Session on Violence
From 26-8 September, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) held training in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on violence against women. The ITUC is focusing on violence against women here following the Worldwide Women’s March in October 2010 which went to Bukavu. The idea is to develop a campaign to combat violence against women, whether domestic, violence on the job, or violence in the context of armed conflict.
Rape has become a weapon in war, the most striking form of inequality between men and women. In war, men want to conquer other men by attacking women. Women are raped for punishment and for revenge. Then the women give birth to children who are the product of relations, albeit violent, with the enemy. Women are raped in front of their children and that spawns new rapists.
Ultimately, women are kept in a position of submission and men keep their position of dominance. In the DRC, responsibility also rests on companies if the violence is due to extracting mineral wealth. It is worsened due to the illicit trade in minerals.
The political context is also conducive to violence. Impunity, poor governance, insecurity, non-application of UN Resolution 1325, and non-application of laws preventing violence all contribute to violence. In the context of war, men must hide. If they go out, they will be killed. If the women go out, they will be raped, but at least they survive to look after the family.
Women’s bodies used to be sacred, but now women are humiliated. In essence, it is destroying an entire society little by little. Poverty is also a reason for sexual violence. In Kivu, there is a campaign to say no and to denounce the rapes. Only 2% of women are involved in it, however. Women dare not go to the police and the worst problem is the lack of justice.
An organisation is active in DRC to run a campaign against the violence. “Nous pouvons” (We can) aims to mobilise two million people who should become agents of change. The initial objective is to break the silence.
Women work in groups to develop the campaign. They develop strategies according to the different interests involved in perpetrating violence. A steering group was formed to run the campaign and to also be the speakers for the women of Kivu.
The ITUC, together with ICEM, will publish a study on violence in the DRC, which will appear on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
5. Ghana: Sub-Regional HIV/AIDS Workshop Held for Women
The West African Sub-Regional Women’s Workshop that was held in Accra, Ghana, brought together 17 women from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Guinea.
The workshop identified specific challenges facing women at the workplace and in communities with respect to HIV and AIDS. It addressed violence arising from HIV status and women’s health and HIV and AIDS and dealt with the issue of the use of female condoms.
The workshop started with a presentation by Akua Asumadu, the ILO HIV/AIDS Focal Point in Accra on “Gender in the World of Work and mainstreaming gender in workplace response to HIV and AIDS.”
The workshop dealt with the issue of the importance of women structures, especially in male dominated industries such as mining. Participants felt strongly that despite existing challenges, women structures play an important role in uplifting women and suggested that women structures should begin to be relevant to women by addressing specific women health and societal issues in order to improve active participation of women.
Dr. Fred Nana Poku from the Ghana AIDS Commission made a presentation, “The existing progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, gender related issues that hinder access to care and the strategies in place to encourage the use of the female condoms.”
His presentation was followed by one on female condoms as a well as a demonstration on its proper use by Paule France Ndessomin, the ICEM HIV and AIDS coordinator. It became clear that the majority of women had never come across a female condom and were ignorant of its existence. The efforts through the ICEM HIV/AIDS project not only familiarise women with female condoms but also demonstrate the potential of their empowerment.
Source: ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin No. 73
6. Colombia: ICEM Colombia Focuses on Women
August and September 2011 were particularly rich in women’s activities in Colombia regarding ICEM activities. From 24-26 August, 31 women from affiliated organizations attended the 3rd module of the women’s collective bargaining project. This project has been sponsored for two years now by FITAG-UGT and the Spanish cooperation institute ISCOD. The following themes were discussed:
• Training in collective bargaining is a crucial tool for Colombian women to be able to have access to the different spaces where they can be protagonists and play the role they are entitled to play.
• Developing self-esteem is key for defending women’s specific demands and for taking responsibility in leadership in trade unions, society and politics.
• The Colombian context was highlighted in the history of women’s struggles in the world, and examples were given in decisive victories in historic processes.
The women praised ICEM’s work in favour of women in the world.
From 17-24 September, the Swedish union IF Metall visited Colombia with a delegation, and Swedish women had an exchange with Colombian women. ICEM affiliates joined the exchange as well as political, community and social organizations, senators, national working women’s organizations, and CUT, the national labour centre. The aim was to learn from each other and find out about each other’s strengths. The Colombian participants realized how valuable outside cooperation was. The objective of the Colombian organisations’ slogan of delivering power was strengthened. A Swedish delegation attended ICEM’s 16th national women’s meeting.
But, the Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol sacked two women for being pregnant. The women were working on a contract for cafeteria, gardening and light maintenance. Ecopetrol claimed they can do nothing to make contractors keep the women. Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), the ICEM-affiliated oil workers’ union, is still fighting with Ecopetrol to have the women reinstated.
7. United States: AstraZeneca Loses Sex Discrimination Suit
AstraZeneca, one of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals companies, must pay US$ 250,000 in a sex discrimination settlement. The US Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance found that the company had violated the Executive Order which prohibits gender-based discrimination on the part of contractors in hiring and employment practices.
Some 124 former and current women employees suffered discrimination in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Their salaries were about US$1,700 less than male counterparts. AstraZeneca will now work with the Labor Department to analyze the full time employees’ pay.
8. Brazil – BASF Extends Maternity Leave
Women working at BASF gained a huge victory with a good fight and class unity, winning a right for women and an achievement for all families. Legislation was approved to create the Programme Enterprise Citizen and approved by the President of Brazil that companies which extend maternity leave would have tax benefits.
The law stipulates that during the extension of maternity leave the employee would have the right to full pay. The two extra months of leave will be granted immediately after the 120 days provided for by the Constitution.
Once the law was passed and after the demand was made by different works’ councils and BASF sites, the company decided in favour of implementing 180 days of maternity leave, following the example of many other companies that went before.
9. Germany – Chemical Companies Lead in Work-life Balance
Work-life balance has become a burning issue in Germany due to a shortage of skilled workers. That is why major companies are expanding their childcare facilities. This is harder for smaller companies to manage, but they often combine their efforts to operate childcare to provide coverage for more than one company. IGBCE has been involved in projects to find out what exactly the needs are and to coordinate the efforts. Three companies have set up their own childcare centres – BASF, Bayer, and Heel.
BASF offers childcare at its headquarters and big chemical facilities in Ludwigshafen for the 37,000 employees there. Seventy places are available for children from the age of 6 months to 3 years.
Bayer has 155 places available for the 5,000 employees at their site in Berlin. Children from the age of 2 months to 6 years are welcome.
The 800 employees at the Heel site in Baden-Baden have five childcare places available for children from the age of 2 months to 3 years.
These three companies show that it is possible to provide solutions and a win-win situation for working parents.
From Our Readers:
Jeni Jain, ICEM Project Coordinator in Nepal, wrote on the new Constitution in Nepal:
The nation’s legal system has made some headway in the recent past in promoting gender equality – inheritance rights for women, greater inclusion of marginalized groups, and the most current citizenship regulations now provide citizenship based on the citizenship of mothers as well as fathers.
A provision has been made for women to comprise one-third of the total number in the Legislature with women holding either the position of Speaker or Deputy Speaker. Similarly, under the governance system, provision has also been made for women to hold either the position of the Head of the State or the Deputy Head. With regard to political parties, it has been stated that it should be inclusive. It is however quiet with regard to women participation in the judicial system. Proportional representation has also been mentioned for constitutional bodies.
Gender discrimination in society should be brought to an end. A separate provision for women cannot be considered discrimination. Thus it has been incorporated under the right to equality.
Similarly children’s right to parental property, and equal wage, services and facilities for equal work have been proposed under the article regarding equality. No woman shall be discriminated against just because she is a woman.
The new law establishes the woman’s equal right to her husband’s property immediately after marriage as well as a widow’s right to claim her share of property from the joint family after the death of her husband. The bill gives women the right to divorce, and today a woman can also claim property.
Provisions should be made in all state structures and all areas of national life to launch special programs to provide additional opportunities for qualitative development of women where their number is low. Provisions are made to give priority to the poorest of the poor and women within different communities.
The right to reproduction should be ensured by accepting it as a social responsibility, while provisions should be made for the right to safe abortion, safe motherhood, and healthcare for infants. The draft says that the State should bring these rights under the provisions of social security. A woman has the right to her body. Sex-related violence should be made punishable by law, and the victims of such persecution should have the right to compensation.
Laborers who work in formal or informal sectors as daily wage earners should be registered and brought within the ambit of social security and labor law. Since women comprise a large percentage of informal laborers, each laborer shall have the right to appropriate remuneration, facilities and social security.
The women’s issues have been incorporated in the draft as a consensus or agreement among the representatives of different political parties.
Nomvula Mary Nxumalo, National Gender/HIV Coordinator,
Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood & Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) of South Africa writes:
I attended an HIV/AIDS Consultation workshop and the following week I went to yet another workshop. We are about to launch the 16 days campaign against women and children abuse, and we want to club it together with the Wal-Mart campaign. There will be a lot of these campaigns as we head towards World Aids Day, and I am very much involved in the fight against HIV.
Ben Davis, United Steelworkers of the US, writes about women working in the mining industry in Mexico:
The Peñasquito mine in Zacatecas, Mexico, owned by the Canadian gold producer Goldcorp, employs 3,000 people, 10% of whom are women. The majority of the “mining women” in Mexico and other Latin American countries entered mining because they had few options to support their families. Nevertheless, their presence in the industry has led to positive cultural changes and increased performance.
Mexico is one of the first countries in the region to welcome women into mining. Many say that female miners have improved the traditionally masculine industry, although they were first included more to fill the void left by the men who migrated north to chase the “American dream” and greater income than for reasons of gender equality. New technology and support systems have also aided women’s entry into the mining industry, but many say the job is still tough, and that more must be done to turn back five centuries of exclusion. The number of women miners is definitely increasing in Mexico.
Women’s work has transformed the industry and made labor relations more respectful and harmonic. Businesses have discovered that the women are more careful with the teams they handle, they are responsible, they do not fall into the problems of alcoholism or absenteeism.
Industry officials also attribute women’s inclusion in mining to new technology and industrial and personal protection systems, which have modernized Mexican and transnational mining businesses. Current technology has lessened physical requirements. Now women work not only as workers, but also in laboratories, as geologists, engineers, researchers and even executives. For the industry this means more collaboration and solidarity.
Many companies also make mining a more viable option for women by constructing “bedroom communities” or “dormitory towns” near the mining deposits, where workers stay for their 14 workday shifts of up to 15 hours per day, followed by seven rest days. The mining women live together with their companions in common recreational areas before going to sleep in separate wings. The mining cities also have basic services and precautionary measures in case of accidents such as a medical clinic, a doctor, ambulances and fire trucks.
Despite advances in technology and protection, the mining industry is still one of the most physically trying of jobs and presents special challenges for mothers. Many mothers have to leave their children to come to work. And the masculine environment also takes some getting used to. The women do say they receive equal pay with their male colleagues.
Nevertheless, the hundreds of years of discrimination are still not forgotten. Equality needs to be ensured by unions and congresses. In Chile, Bolivia, and Peru local unions now represent more than 2,000 women. Various countries also hold women in mining congresses to discuss issues such as women’s dual jobs in mines and at home as mothers and housewives.
The Mexican miners’ union Los Mineros has been key in promoting the hiring of women.
Resources:
New Woman Foundation in Egypt
World Bank World Development Report 2012 Gender Equality and Development
European Parliament Resolution on the Situation of Single Mothers
Wage gap in the European Union (in French)
Swiss feminist site (in French)
First new flagship UN Women report "Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice”
There is one section covering the workplace in which the report finds that 117 countries have equal pay laws but in practice, women are still paid up to 30% less than men in some countries. And women still do more unpaid domestic and caring work than men in every region of the world. Globally, 53% of working women – 600 million in total – are in vulnerable jobs, such as self-employment, domestic work or unpaid work for family businesses, which often lack the protection of labour laws.
Women lose jobs and men find them in the economy
Women as long-term unemployed
Gender pay gap by industry
UN action against sexual violence in conflict
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton commits to EU gender balance target