16 January, 2010Union workshop tackles perpetuating problems for women workers in Mozambique.
MOZAMBIQUE: Increasing economic strains combined with worsening health are only a few of the challenges facing women workers in Mozambique, a gender workshop held in Maputo revealed. In December 2009, a total of 25 women workers were drawn together from various companies and plants in the surrounding area to attend the training workshop.
In spite of being legally defined as 'equals', the reality is quite different for women workers in Mozambique. Encounters with inequality, sexual harassment, and discrimination have been rife despite State efforts to promote the emancipation of women. Mozambique's gender gap is coupled with their dependency on foreign assistance. With the majority of the workforce employed in subsistence agriculture, the population largely lives under the poverty line. Women have to combat harassment, abuse and rising poverty. There has been an increase in prostitution and migration and many women are exposed to trauma.
The workshop, opened by Sintime General Secretary, Comrade Domingos Tembe, aimed at assisting women workers to strengthen their union in the workplace. It also served as a platform on which union women networks could be built and strengthened. Comrade Maria Lopes of CNM-CUT/Brasil and Amélia Bibiana of OTM-CS/ Mozambique conducted the workshop through didactic presentation, group work and experience sharing. They were assisted by Kapita Tuwizana and Suzana Miller, from the IMF regional and international office respectively.
The problems that the participants revealed were multifaceted. Not only did they report violations of their rights by employers but also highlighted their own lack of skills in many areas. Health and safety issues discussed included a lack of training on how to prevent accidents and that workers do not make proper use of all safeguards and safety devices made available for protection. Other problems were also raised such as short maternity leave and a lack of knowledge on labour law issues. Unions do not have sufficient power to mobilize workers and help them to overcome these issues.
The workers union, Sintime, has many tasks to fulfill if these problems are to be addressed. Apart from training and mobilizing workers on the issues of health and safety in the workplace, the union needs to engage the national centre to influence government to extend maternity leave. Sintime needs to develop their role with regards to collective bargaining, ensuring women workers actively participate and makes their voices heard. In order to promote awareness and appreciation of gender issues, women workers need to be educated and trained so that they are able to effectively participate in negotiations and raise these gender issues.
The relationship between women workers and the current union structure also needs reform. The workshop held in Maputo revealed that women workers' views were divided with regards to this topic. Some argued that the current union structure is still relevant to meet the political and organizational challenges facing it, while others proposed a restructuring of the union that better serves worker interests. Women workers would very much like to see a woman elected as Sintime General Secretary in the future, and it is apparent that more has to be done to build trust relationship between union and women members.
If the problems facing women are to be addressed, workers and unions need to work together. The workshop was able to recommend several actions to be implemented by both workers and unions. The number of women in unions should be increased through recruitment drives and more women worker committees created in workplaces so that their position can be strengthened and their needs addressed. In addition to this, there should be more training workshops to promote gender equality, health and safety, collective bargaining, and training on labour laws. Sintime needs to engage stakeholders to extend maternity leave and provide opportunities to develop exchange programs with women from other countries. The training workshop held in Maputo was successful in that it started the process of assisting women workers to strengthen their union in the workplace. Participants in general expressed that they were well satisfied with the workshop, which was supported by the CAW and CNM-CUT.