Glenda Daniels An investigation into sexism in South Africa’s trade unions has shown widespread discrimination against women who remain unrepresented in union leadership structures.
The probe, conducted by the Congress of South African Trade Unions’s (Cosatu) research wing – the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (Naledi) – shows that trade unions are dominated by men – be they shop stewards, negotiators or union leaders – and that sexist attitudes are as rampant as ever. The absence of women in labour representation is exemplified by the composition of the recently formed Millennium Council, the flagship labour and business policy forum. Each side has 12 representatives, all men. Challenged about the absence of women, co-chairs of the forum Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of Cosatu, and Leslie Boyd, a business representative, said they took it seriously and that it was unfortunate there were no women. While traditional patterns of employment have changed radically over the past few years, especially the rise in the feminisation of labour, trade unions have not risen to the challenge of incorporating more women into organised structures, to elect more women to leadership roles, or to educate workers about gender. According to an International Labour Organisation/ICFTU survey report called The Role of Trade Unions in Promoting Gender Equality and Protecting Vulnerable Women Workers, women are still under-represented in trade unions despite the fact that female union membership has been rising in many countries. Although the smaller proportion of women in trade unions is largely attributed to lower participation in the workforce, in some cases union membership of women is still not proportionate to labour force participation, the report says. This has to change in order to accommodate the new changes in employment patterns, the feminsation and the casualisation of labour, for example, if the union movement is to survive. The report, co-ordinated by Liesl Orr, is a result of extensive interviews conducted by members and officials of the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), the then Transport and General Workers’ Union (now the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union) and Cosatu in Gauteng, the Western Cape and at a national level. The research shows that “many unions are recognising that they are not sensitive to the specific needs and difficulties of women workers. The male-dominated culture of activities of a union or hostile reactions from male members often discourage women from joining.” The report findings, Orr says, reflect the fact that the problems experienced by women in trade unions are similar throughout the world, reflecting the pervasiveness of patriarchy internationally.
She says that the concept of gender was misused by many trade unionists, which seemed to take the bite out of the potential militance of women’s committees. The misinterpretation of the gender concept is exemplified simply by the following comment by one male trade unionist who announced that “the genders are here”, when he saw women appearing. An interesting view argued by a shop steward, the reports says, is that gender is used as a way of appeasing men. This dovetails with points that were captured earlier in this report about the concept appealing to men because it waters down the militance of women’s structures and is therefore less threatening. A shop steward makes the following remark illustrating the point: “The way I see it gender is like a foil paper to cover everything and make it look nice.” Orr says time and again in interviews men placed limitations and conditions on gender struggles. For example: “Gender is fine, but the problem is that women want to abuse power” or “We must clearly define this gender issue to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand” or raising concerns that “if we go too far it will threaten marriages and disrupt homes”. These sexist attitudes in the union movement have to change for labour to accommodate women, and bring about an equality-driven environment so that women can participate fully in trade unionism. According to research, South African union membership as a whole has increased by approximately 131% since 1985, in contrast with union movements elsewhere in the world, where there has been a marked decline. Cosatu membership has increased from 1,3-million in 1994 to more than 1,7- million today, an increase of 30%. Whereas, traditionally, unions have been stronger in the manufacturing and export sectors, this is declining and there is a rapid increase in sectors where it has been previously difficult to organise.
The public-sector unions are now the largest sector in the federation, representing 37% of all membership. The main unions responsible for this growth are Nehawu and the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union. In second and third place are the manufacturing and mining sectors with 27,9% and 15,3% of membership respectively. Fourth is the service sector with 10,7% and transport at 5,8% with construction 1,7% and agriculture 1,6%. Ten years ago manufacturing was the largest sector with 55% of total membership, mining 23% and public services only 6%. Naledi’s research shows that the decline in the manufacturing sector has been dramatic, falling to 28% of total membership in 1999. However, it seems that the issue of women in the workforce needs urgent attention if the federation wants to continue to grow.