ICEM Women’s Bulletin No. 33

Chapters:
Romania – ICEM Holds Workshop for Women in Central Europe
South Africa – ICEM Holds SSARO Women’s Committee Meeting
Chile – Parliament Passes Law to Close Gender Gap
Democratic Republic of Congo - Rapes Go Unpunished in War Zone
Kuwait – Women Elected to Parliament
Paraguay – Women in Mercosur Define Politics
EU – Foundation Does Study on Women, Men’s Employment
From Our Readers: Simy Zafar, GS of Pakistan’s Working Women Organisation

1. Romania – ICEM Holds Workshop for Women in Central Europe

On 20-21 May 2009, ICEM held a workshop for women in Central Europe in Bucharest, Romainia. It was also attended by the Russian Oil and Gas Workers’ Union (ROGWU), including the chair of the ICEM women’s committee Genia Esenina participated in the meeting together with two of her colleagues, one of whom was a man.

At the opening, the meeting was addressed by Cristina Ionescu, Director of Corporate Human Resources of the Petrom Company. Petrom is an integrated company involved in oil extraction, processing, and sales. It is the largest employer in Romania and has 30,000 employees, out of whom 22% are women. Women’s role in Petrom is significant – the Director General is a woman. The figure may seem low but due to the specificity of the industry it is indeed high. Out of the 1,000 to 1,200 management positions, 28% are held by women. Thirty-six percent of low level management are women.

Anti-discrimination and equal opportunity policies exist. The point is to win the so-called battle for women in a man’s world. Collective agreements give women certain rights. Wages and salaries are paid on the basis of the grid, which refers to the position and not the person. A subsidy is paid for kindergarten, and the kindergarten is close to where mothers work. Petrom sponsors summer camp for one or two weeks for 700 children of Petrom employees. Children are taught about the environment and what the oil resource means. Average wages are US$700.

Relations with the union are good and function on the basis of partnership and negotiations.

Women are not allowed to work on drilling platforms. There are still prejudices – it is said that women on platforms bring bad luck.

Petrom is undergoing restructuring and reorganization. Transition centres help people find new jobs.

In the discussion, it was pointed out that the danger is that unions and employers will avoid talking about gender equality because there are other more crucial issues pending. Women are still not allowed to work on oil rigs in Russia either, as in certain other areas. One demand must be that decent life has to be possible on the basis of working an 8-hour day.

Elena Nemes made a presentation on the Impact of the Economic Crisis on Women and Families.

Since 2008, the crisis has starting to affect us directly, and unemployment has grown dramatically. Poverty is rising. People see no hope for their future development. The crisis came about mainly because of extremist policies on the market since the 1980s. Politics retreated, and globalization and free trade were once the models. The question is why we live less well than ten years ago. The solution must be sustainable and equitable development.

The effects of the crisis are that people are leaving school, and malnutrition, sickness, violence in the family, and premature death are on the rise. Women are the first to lose their jobs due to the misconception that men are the breadwinners. Women have less control over decisions taken in the family. The solutions must be formulated taking women into account as economic players and decision makers.

In Poland, more and more men are staying home to take care of children. Nevertheless, the question is how to make women more active. In terms of the crisis, the greatest crisis is the human crisis, and the financial crisis is nothing but the result of the human crisis. Solidarnosc organizes training sessions on computer use together with employment agencies. Educational services are provided to employees or former employees who are encouraged to set up businesses.

As far as Romania is concerned, although the constitution provides for equal opportunities and non-discrimination, the principle is not adhered to. Out of 453 Members of Parliament, 43 are women, less than 10%. It is said that women are not made to be MPs. Laws stipulate equal treatment for women and men on the labour market, but women and men do not work in the same industries. Women of childbearing age and women returning to work after bearing children are considered to be a risk.

Men dominate women. Sone 40% of women experience men’s dominant attitude. A total of 83% of public positions are held by men. Advertising, public relations, and human resources are areas for women. In technical areas, women are looked upon with suspicion. Women earn 13% less than men on average. Alcohol and abuse are due to men not being able to cope with the changed situation.

Women need training in new technology, communications, European structural funds, as well as in trade union structures and access to decision making. The priorities are extending the national women’s network, intensifying training, and including more women in training, including women in negotiations. Equality of opportunities has to be a topic for union meetings. Equality of opportunities has to do with eliminating stereotypes.

The representative of the FRATIA national centre referred to the poor representation of women in trade union leadership at all levels. The union has an action plan which includes policies to promote women in decision-making structures of the trade unions. Now there are two women vice-presidents of the federation and two heads of department. Policies have to be adopted for activities such as eliminating the pay gap and promoting work-life balance. Solidarity between the generations is one more issue – it is a question of making the most of the experience of the retired. The retired were affected by EU accession, and these issues have to be worked on. An attempt is being made to integrate Roma women into the trade union movement to make them aware of their rights, to build bridges between Roma and non-Roma women to show that the interests are the same.

ICEM presented a PowerPoint on equal opportunities policies which covered Repsol, Iberdrola, Henkel, EdF, the energy sector in France, the Bayer EuropaForum, the ILO, and the oil industry and mining in South Africa. The presentation is available upon request from ICEM.

In the Alpha Cartel union, 60% of the members are women who work in chemicals and fertilizers. The equal opportunities concept has to be promoted. However, since the men were not so interested in these activities, the women were not strong enough to continue them. The point is to eliminate the inferiority complex and all cultural constraints. The demand has to be to include one place for the head of the women’s structure in leadership.

In Poland, equality between the genders is seen to be a feature of a democratic society. Gender discrimination is not just a question of social justice but also an economic issue. Gender equality in employment is a key element for economic development and for creating new jobs. It is also necessary for demographic growth. Something has to be done since the birth rate is going down all the time.

The structure of Polish society is such that most women live in big cities where they make up 60% of the population. There are disproportions between the two genders. Most issues are a problem for young women who interrupt their activity when they bear children. In spite of legislation, it is hard for them to return to work. They are at risk when it comes to taking maternity leave or leave to look after sick children. In general, women are forced to sign a declaration to promise that they will not have children.

Some 40% of Polish society supports the male breadwinner model. Rural Poland differs from the cities. According to statistics, men are more likely to be employed than women. Even though employers are more interested in employing men, the same people think that women work better than men. In spite of the good impression women make on the labour market, there is a reluctance to have women managers. Even in executive positions women earn less than men. Even engineers with university education – men generally earn one-third more than women. The difference increases with age. After age 40 the difference is huge – a man may earn two or three times more than a woman.

In Poland, 50,000 people are employed in the energy group, 17% of whom are women. All are in administration, none are in management, and none do physical work. Men are proposed for promotion, even though women also do training.

Things are better now in Poland than ten years ago. The greatest discrimination-related issues are found in multinationals. The worst are the supermarket chains, where no unions are allowed. The equal opportunities provisions available at EdF are only possible in France and not in Poland. Laws should provide for equal treatment in spite of the location. Polish workers receive half the salaries that workers earn in Western Europe. When laying off, companies claim they are confronted with the crisis and are obliged to let people go.

Petrom has an agreement that provides for full salary during two years of maternity leave. Those who want to come back to work before the end of the 2 years may do so and apply for reduced working time with full pay.

Genia Esenina introduced the topic of gender stereotypes. Society relies on patriarchal images of women and men. Employers also have their stereotypes. Stereotypes are the reason for the pay gap. There is also discrimination in family relationships. Women are better qualified, but they are still paid less. No woman is in management in the oil and gas industry in Russia. There are still too many professions where women’s work is not accepted. However, women are afraid, and no one should be forced to work in these areas.

Romanian participants noted that in the meantime there are new stereotypes. Women work in advertising for instance. There are no women in the mining industry. Women work in the oil industry as engineers and geologists, but not on the platforms. And women work as mechanics. Religions promote women’s inferiority. A good idea would be to involve families to facilitate the acceptance of the fact that women can be leaders as well as wives. Women started giving up trades that they had before the revolution. Divorces are increasing, marriages are decreasing, more families have just one child in Romania. Young girls want careers, they want to make money from their own work.

Some young women manage to keep their relationship based on communication and compromise, but not all do. This is true mostly for the urban areas. There is great migration from rural to urban areas. Young people are more flexible in their relationships, and boys let their wives pursue their dreams. Those without degrees are less willing to let their wives live their lives. In Russia, it has been found that the higher the man’s income in oil regions, the more attached he is to patriarchal values, and the lower the income, the keener he is on gender equality.

The Polish delegates felt that the old roles were more familiar, and the new roles have been disruptive, although the case is not being made to bring back the old.

A woman MP addressed the meeting and explained the challenges facing women in Romania as well as what was at stake in the European elections.

The women suggested that if it is possible to obtain project funding, it would be necessary to work on the following topics: women’s leadership, self-esteem, women’s history, negotiation skills, lobbying skills, awareness of structural funds, communication. Any project would have to contemplate major involvement of young women.

It was suggested that it would be a step forward to create a women’s network in Central Europe. A network would be more feasible than a committee. The next step toward strengthening women’s activities in Central Europe will be the meeting hosted by the Polish union in December 2009. Petrom was congratulated and thanked for supporting and organizing this meeting.

2. South Africa – ICEM holds SSARO Women’s Committee Meeting

The ICEM’s Sub-Saharan African Region Organisation (SSARO) women’s committee met on 25 May in Johannesburg just before the regional committee meeting. The main aim of the meeting was to monitor the implementation of the charter for working women in Africa, which was adopted in 2008. It was recalled the three main theme blocks were decent work, gender justice and HIV/AIDS. ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana was also present for part of the meeting. The women appreciated him taking the time to attend the women’s meeting.

In connection with training, in Ghana a training programme was conducted to improve job quality. Out of 70 participants, 10 were women. It was found that a woman trainer can have influence and attract more women participants. One woman was trained at the Ashanti mine. Women have opportunities, but they do not always take advantage. We have to identify women with capacities to push for issues.

In Zimbabwe, the number of negotiators went from one to three women out of seven. Women pushed for better pay in the energy sector.

In Namibia, the Min Workers’ Union of Namibia (MUN) had a women’s desk. It was revived in 2006, but it collapsed again in 2008. A full-time coordinator would be necessary to keep things going similar to what the health and safety structure has.

In Senegal, two seminars were held. The aim is to get better women representation. A CAL seminar was also held. However, a different approach has to be taken because of widespread illiteracy. There, most women are involved in the informal economy.

In Nigeria, the charter was distributed to the secretaries as a tool. The men on the other hand did not use the document properly. There is no difference in the pay packages except offshore – men who work offshore get more money. In April, health and safety training was held with the Solidarity Center of the US, and it was attended by equal numbers of women and men.

In Ghana, the Swedish LO/TCO is sponsoring a project on ratification of ILO Convention 183. The point is to lobby the Family and Women’s Ministry as well as female MPs. The President of the employers’ association is a woman, and she is opposing the convention. The argument from our side has to be that the costs must be assumed by social security.

In Botswana, maternity pay is low by law, 25% of salary. Most unions have negotiated 100%. Tripartite discussions have to negotiate for 100%. There, the unions are also fighting for ILO Convention 183. Decent Work Day and 1 May are also used for fighting for it. Women are not bearing children, and one of the reasons is they need more maternity pay.

In Ghana, women work underground as supervisors. The union needs to do more work on women underground. The policy is there, but more work needs to be done.

Women are supposed to drive big trucks at mines. However, there is a lot of bullying of the drivers. Policies against bullying are too general. Moreover abuses are hard to prove, especially when they come from colleagues.

In general, more work should be done on ILO Conventions, such as 176 on Health and Safety in Mining and 156 on Family Responsibilities, in addition to 183 on Maternity Protection.

In connection with social security, there is no discrimination in Ghana. In Namibia women get 80% of their pay on maternity leave. The question arose as to why social security cannot kick in to cover retrenchments. In Zimbabwe, the ZCTU is trying to engage business and the government on social security.

In connection with living wage, the situation in Zimbabwe is difficult. Most companies claim inability to pay. Wages vary from industry to industry. Government regulations are failing. Job satisfaction is impossible without proper wages. Workers work in unhealthy environments. Governments are even telling companies to cut pay, in order to lure foreign investors. Employers slash allowances to meet the government’s demands. Government is interfering in trade union operations.

In Ghana, miners’ salaries are indexed to the dollar. The target is US$300 for the minimum, but some companies have surpassed that.

In Nigeria, private companies pay more than the government-owned. Negotiations are conducted by company.

In Senegal, there are many informal workers. Most women are not organized. The union tries to build their capacity, but since most women are not educated, the capacity building is even more difficult. Women leave home early and return late, which affects their health, and it also means they have no time to care for their families.

There was a recent workshop on the informal economy in Zimbabwe. Definitions leave out informal workers. Governments must contemplate definitions to encompass other relationships. The definition has to be crafted to cover an employee.

Togo and Benin have informal unions. Women have mutual societies. The are registered. They negotiate with the government, and they work with the government to collect taxes.

NUPENG of Nigeria has organized petroleum tank drivers as well as independent marketers and individual gas stations.

In Ghana, the ICU has organized hair dressers. They meet to learn how to use chemicals. ICU will participate in the HIV/AIDS workshop. The market association is affiliated to the Ghana TUC and participated in May Day activities.

The ZCTU in Zimbabwe has organized informal workers as a structure. Workers are no longer victimized, they are registered as cleaners and the like, and they are recognized. This is helpful for example for retrenchments because people can get support more easily.

In South Africa, there are some new trends. Some unions want to discuss sex workers, but it was ridiculed. There is no agreement on whether sex workers should be legalized. Workers cannot be organized without organizing this activity. Workers migrate and move around without their wives. Sex workers often assemble near where the truck drivers stop. They need to be organized to access treatment and prevent HIV. After all, morality is not the trade unions’ mandate. Nevertheless there was not much support for the issue. The mining industry should assume responsibility so that sex workers use protection and get treatment. Whenever there are migrant workers and hostels, it will always be a problem. It is simply a fact for mine workers. Small-scale mining is also one critical area. Moreover, prostitutes may not get treatment at clinics or access to drugs.

In connection with gender justice it was emphasized that there should be a budget for women’s activities. Some unions feel that all activities should cover women and men. Skills are still a challenge.

As far as sexual harassment is concerned, in Ghana it was defined, but this year they realized that a policy was necessary and that it had to be included in the schedule of offenses. Work-life balance is a further issue, and women have to have more explanations about it. In Zimbabwe the offense is in the code and punished by discipline.

In Senegal, women keep silent about sexual harassment. Proof is difficult, so women prefer to keep quiet. Education is seen to be the best tool to prevent it. Now that women work underground, there are many cases of harassment.

The main challenge for gender justice is in trade unions. Women’s structures are weak. One other problem is the selection of participants. Women who move up are often isolated and attacked. Women who are secretaries of women’s structures stagnate instead of moving and growing. New people have to be encouraged to move into the structures.

Women need to have more capacity and confidence to take platforms. They need practice to meet the challenges to speak and chair meetings. Women need training to be spokespersons and to develop communication skills. The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) has a second vice-chair who sometimes chairs meetings. At NUM, women also sometimes chair sessions.

In Senegal, women can act as speakers only when men are not available. Women need to be able to control things, but for that they need to lobby their own colleagues. There are issues of protocol. But in the end it doesn’t work if women just try to imitate men.

Youth was a major debate. In the NUM, the question is whether youth should be represented in the union. One view is that youth should be mainstreamed the same as women. Zimbabwe hopes to create a youth structure by the end of 2009. Youth would be defined as the age group form 18 to 30. The question is what will attract youth to an organization. The argument is that most companies prefer young people. Would sport and other activities attract them? In Botswana, already most people are young in the union. In Senegal, cultural weeks are organized for youth.

Childcare is a challenge both at activities and at the workplace. Every year childcare is on the list for negotiations, and every year it is the first item that goes off the list. If the organization does not take the issue seriously, how will employers be expected to? Breastfeeding should be done at childcare facilities. These collective bargaining issues are offloaded when our colleagues have not been lobbied sufficiently. Family responsibilities must be broadened to include men. Most often, family responsibilities are a question of income.

In connection with HIV/AIDS, Zimbabwe has a policy in energy which will soon be launched in cooperation with the ILO and the ZCTU. Companies have programmes for HIV/AIDS, and the question is what role trade unions can play to make the most of the programmes. Peer education must also encompass women and youth.

The stigma has to be removed. Those who are positive must be able to lead normal lives. Fear of testing is a stumbling block. HIV should be treated as any other disease. Counseling is necessary to prevent fear. Regional committee members should go to HIV tests. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) churches are against testing. Church leaders must be persuaded so that their followers can be tested.

The issue of women in mining was addressed. Some 10% of mine employees in South Africa should be women. The preference is for historically disadvantaged South Africans. The black women are underground, and the white women are in offices. It is hard to achieve the 10%. Occupational safety and health is a problem. Most of the mines have not improved. We need policies for pregnancy; otherwise we simply take over the company’s policies. The weakness of the mining charter is at branch level. Training has to be developed to define career paths. There is no point putting women where they are bound to fail.

In the ICEM paper on the implementation of the Congress resolution, evaluation has to be added at the end. Reporting should also be done beforehand in writing. The feeling is that we need more grassroots programs. We also need more programs which lead to results instead of simply meeting.

The shop steward development project has a strong women’s component in Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. The idea was to organize women’s activities separately, build a team of women, build women’s confidence, and strengthen collective bargaining capacity. The point is also to assist others in access to decision-making structures.

The HIV/AIDS project runs in 12 countries. Each country has a local coordinator. Affiliates are encouraged to tap into other resources in their countries. Women’s participation is supposed to be 30%, but in Senegal and Guinea the women are more present than just the 30%.

The effects of the crisis on women workers were discussed. One striking example is Botswana. In 2007, jewelry polishing and cutting companies started to move to Botswana. The union set its organizing targets accordingly. In 2009, there have been retrenchments, and membership has been lost in mines. Benefits were cut. Diamond polishing closed for three months. Now it has reopened but with a four-day week and a 20% cut in pay.

Some companies use the crisis to retrench workers. Especially long-serving workers were let go, and these were trade unionists. Now new teams have to be trained for collective bargaining. More victimization happened. Three companies have cut pay. A total of 181 jobs have been lost, most of whom were women.

Zambia had 42,000 members, and now 11,000 jobs have been lost. A full 15% of them are women. Most of the people who have been cut are youngsters. This also involves the issue of accommodation, so now people have to be resettled. HIV/AIDS is also on the rise together with more crime, poverty and disease. Children are going to school less, there is more illiteracy. All of this creates seeds for political discontent. Investment is down since the copper prices collapsed, but inflation has gone up.

In Nigeria permanent workers were laid off so that companies would not have to pay pensions. Bandits are rampant, and oil workers are being kidnapped. The oil unions gave the government an ultimatum to stop the insecurity.

Mines are closing in South Africa. Some people work half-time, some wages are being cut. Recruitment and outsourcing are being stopped. People go off on early retirement with less good packages. Government and banks are trying to help small businesses.

Ghana has not yet been affected directly. Goldfields says it will be spared. Nevertheless employers will use the crisis to lower wages.

In DRC, the unions tried to introduce some standards because the companies were not following any procedure. Once the crisis arrived, the companies just disappeared and abandoned the workers. More than 100 companies closed in that way. The unions are trying to get the government to do something because it was the government that let the companies in the first place.

3. Chile – Parliament Passes Legislation To Close the Gender Wage Gap

On 20 May, Parliament passed a law to close the wage gap, introducing the principle of equal remuneration into the Labour Code. According to the National Statistics Institute, women earn on average 31.1% less than men. Among professionals, however, the gap can be as high as 49.8%.

Workers who feel they are suffering from discrimination must first complain in writing to their employer who must follow a procedure. If the employee is not satisfied, he or she may go to court. The system will now be expedited, and defense will be available for those who do not earn much.

This is the first time such a law has been passed in the Latin American region.

The law requires companies with more than 200 workers to draw up a list specifying positions, functions, and qualifications. However, small businesses are exempt – and they make up 80% of employment in Chile.

Trade unions can play a crucial role since they can file complaints for workers. Trade union membership in Chile is low, but it went up by 28 % in 2008 for women workers.

The Inter-American Development Bank found that closing the wage gap could reduce extreme poverty by 8%, and raise average per capita income by 2%.

4. DRC – Rapes Go Unpunished in Eastern Congo Conflict Zone

Tutsis and Hutus are still not reconciled after the 1994 genocide, and these animosities are worsened by the competition for the region’s mineral resources. The provinces of North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are the arenas for armed fighting not only carried out among men but also on women.

Sexual violence has escalated in 2009. Soldiers and militias are both responsible for the new rise in violence. Together with Rwanda-backed rebels, the Congolese army is under scrutiny for its role in raping and killing during military operations. Soldiers have been involved in 143 rapes, abuses that constitute war crimes. No warrants have been issued for the arrest of officials.

The government must establish institutions and mechanisms and procedures to introduce the rule of law.

The militias finance their fighting by operating illegal mining in eastern Congo. Accountability has to be guaranteed for the conflict minerals available in the DRC. This mineral wealth has attracted foreign exploitation for centuries.

Women are yet again the victims of the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. The women who fled the violence there and sought refuge in Chad reported or showed signs of rape. Physicians for Human Rights called for the prosecution of rape as a war crime and urged the International Criminal Court to issue warrants against suspects.

5. Kuwait – Women Are Elected To Parliament

In spite of the active resistance of militant, strict Islamists, four women were elected to Parliament in Kuwait. It is the first time women were elected after they were given the right to vote in 2005. Political parties do not officially exist in Kuwait. Therefore these women’s achievement is all the more laudable, since they made it on their own.

Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in 1990 was crucial for women’s rights. At the time many women assumed responsibilities, volunteered in hospitals to make up for the lack of staff, and smuggled food, money and weapons across checkpoints. The women elected scored and achievement that is not only important for Kuwait, but also for the region. The women’s success was matched by Islamist failure. Two women dislodged Islamist parliamentarians. Mullahs had issued a fatwa according to which a woman’s candidacy or even voting for a woman was a sin. The fatwa is likely to have made people vote for new faces.

6. Paraguay – Women in Mercosur Define Policies

At the end of May, women officials and experts from ministries in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay met in Asuncion, Paraguay, to define policies to combat gender-related problems. The topics of the meeting were violence against handicapped women, migrant women in prison, and trafficking. It was the 21st specialized meeting of Mercosur women since the body was established in 1998. The aim, however, is to have women involved in Mercosur and for women to be able to work toward their rights in a systematic and structured way. Policies to combat violence have been developed since the 20th meeting. The meeting analysed the legislation on equal opportunities in the member states. The slogan is: Another Life Is Possible.

7. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions Does Survey on Women and Men’s Employment

This survey covers the period from 1995 to 2006. The figures for the 15 “old” EU countries show clearly that women’s employment rose more significantly than did men’s. Low-paid jobs, however, still remained women’s domain. New male employment was found mainly in the highest paid jobs. Women were employed in the second highest levels due to the expansion of well paid jobs in health and education.

In the new member states of the EU, women did better than men at almost all levels of employment. Women in general saw their employment upgraded in terms of quality. In both the Europe of the 15 and the new Member States women’s jobs improved both in terms of quality and quantity. In spite of the fact that many jobs were low paid, still the overall panorama is positive for women.

Even though the patterns of employment growth overall are reasonable similar for women and men in the EU, there are some country differences. Germany, for example, has had a “hollowing out” of the labour market or a net loss of medium quality jobs, which is translated by a net loss of male jobs.

Occupational and sectoral segregation continues nearly unabated. Men account for the majority of agricultural and fishery workers, senior managers, machine operators, skilled workers and the armed forces. Women account for the majority of clerical workers, service and sales workers and technicians, while men continue to take up the majority of senior management roles. Only two occupational categories, unskilled workers and professionals, are gender balanced, meaning that equal shares of both women and men are greater than 40%. Nevertheless, within the professional category women make up the majority in life sciences, health and teaching, and men make up the majority in physical, mathematical and engineering professions.

Men and women also tend to be concentrated in jobs with predominantly members of the same sex. Some 60% of men work in jobs that are male dominated, and 57% of women work in jobs that are female dominated.

As far as management is concerned, women in management are slightly increasing. The highest rate is in Finland, where almost 40% of workers had a female supervisor in 2005. The broader picture is that most women managers are present in Northern Europe. Female managers are most likely to have female subordinates. Only 10% of men had a woman as their supervisor compared to 42% of women. Women tend to be the bosses of other women. Women supervisors and managers tend to manage part-time workers and to manage smaller numbers of workers than men.

From Our Readers:

Dear Friends,

For gaining absolute control over the world’s resources, the US Government has imposed war and internal conflicts in several parts of the world. Pakistan is one of them. It is compelled to be in the front line against the alleged “War on terrorism.” Pakistani ruling elites work for single agenda: “follow American instructions” without bothering with the welfare of the population. We women and workers are forefront victims of these policies and are suffering from massive unemployment, poverty, war, hunger, forced immigration, and terror attacks.

Some 75% of people live under poverty line. Due to load and power cuts 1,750 factories and industrial units have shut down. In the last six months, just in one city, Karachi, 250,000 daily and temporary workers lost their livelihoods. The law and order situation is worse than ever.

In Karachi and Lahore, in just one week, 50 people were killed in target killings, and in a month ten bomb blasts occurred in different cities, taking hundreds of people’s lives and leaving thousands badly injured and disabled. War in Sawat and other Northern areas made two million people leave their areas.

Violence against women is shamefully increasing, women are torched and killed by their own uncles, brothers, and fathers. The social and legislative system does not give women any protection or prosecute their killers. Police get free hand to kill anyone in the name of the war against terrorism.

We women workers strongly condemn all devastation imposed on Pakistan and all around the globe in the name of religion, race, color, recession, and terrorism.

In this glooming situation we believe only workers and general people’s consciousness and real understanding about social, cultural, economic, and political facts will make a difference. We must learn actual and hidden realities of national, regional, and international policies and on different levels we must expose and resist those who are behind all destruction, horror, clashes, and oppression. Only our hard and united resistance against imperialist and fascist forces will stop and defeat them. We workers, women & men, must support each other and strengthen international solidarity to bring peace and justice to our own respective countries along with globally.

Long live international workers unity!!

In solidarity,

Simy Zafar

General Secretary, Working Women Organization, Pakistan


Resource:

AL-THARA, a weekly review of scholarship, culture and literature on women’s issues based in Syria. http://www.thara-sy.com/TharaEnglish/modules/news/