THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) constitutional guidelines state that a post-apartheld government will have to take affirmative action to eliminate Inequalities and discrimination between men and women.
Is this being taken serlousty by the trade union movement, which represente a large number of exploited, oppressed women workers?
While women's committees and structures are emerging in most COSA- TU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) unions those Involved acknowledge that there is a difficult struggle ahead — that It will take far journal of the South African more than token woren representatives in organizations and governlabour movement.
ment to solve the problems
At the recent COSATU Congress in July, the Transport and General
Workers Union - which has a majority of male members - tabled two of
OUR union posed two of the most controversial resolutions of the congress: one on sexual conthe most controversial duct and another on women leadership
The first called for "tighter sexual discipline" within COSATU and its resolutions to Cosatu conpractical affiliates to counter the detrimental effect on the organization of male
What gress.
experiences prompted them? And comrades engaging in "unequal relationships" with newly recruited womto what extent did men in your union en members.
participate in drawing them up?
The second urged that a consclous effort be made to ensure that women were elected to leadership positions at all leveis of COSATU and Its
Over the years there have been many complaints about sexual harassment and affillates and that practical barriers to their participation should be tackexploitation of women members by management and particularly middle manage-
One third of TGWU's 26,000 strong membership comprises women - ment such as foremen. An example is who work mainly as cleaners.
women giving sexual favours for jobs.
At the congress the debate raged for four hours, revealing many opin
There have been extensive discussions, ions and positions. TGWU a reports in recent years show that the resolu and much publicity many struggles tions arose out of extensive discussion among its members. Most around this issue.
Importantly, worker representatives recognized that the lack of women
What became clear to us was that it is leadership in the union movement is directly linked to Issues of sexual all very well discussing the issue when it oppression and harassment.
manifests itself with management, but
Women's aciive participation In the union is not only hampered by the sexual exploitation was taking place withlack of chiidcare facilities or heavy household responsibilities. Women in our own union structures. This was paralso face "wrong approaches by male shop stewards and organizers, riditicularly apparent in relation to young cule of women's Issues" and sexual exploitation by more senior male male organizers and newly recruited union members, INGRID OBERY spoke to TGWU general secretary JANE young female members.
BARRETT about the congress resolutions and the issues they raised.
Complaints began to filter up through the ranks of Cosatu unions. It was mentioned at the Cosatu national women's conference last year, and again at the
March 1989 national seminar. We heard the same complaints in our own union.
This was clearly a question of power relations. Union officials and shop stewards, well entrenched and secure in their positions, were often getting involved with more than one new young woman at a time. The women were inexperienced and felt afraid of exposing the issue.
Some of our male office bearers began to identify this problem. They had noticed a more general problem both in Cosatu and TWU
- women members get involved and then drop out of organization. We felt one of the reasons was sexuexploitation.
al
So the congress resolutions arose out of the experiences of our rank-and-file. They should in no way be seen as an attack on male leaders.
In TGWU the issue was broadly discussed in union structures. Although we see the importance of separate women's structures, it is important that the rest of the union's structures are discussing
20 issues around women.
International Viewpoint #180 • March 12, 1990
In mid-1988 our NEC spent a full day discussing issues of concern to women in the unions including the issue of sexual exploitation.
The congress resolutions were prepared by a national sub-committee which did not have a majority of women by any means. And not long before the congress TGWU's national women's committee met for the first time. It endorsed the resolutions and prepared motivations. These were presented to the congress by our senior male leadership. This was not because women members did not want to speak to the resolution on women's leadership. But the delegation felt that generally people expect women to motivate "women's issues" and it was important to get the congress to understand that this was not an issue which was just a complaint from women but was a serious political problem — a problem which both the men and women in TGWU took seriously.
TGWU's concern with the issues of sexual conduct and women in leadership can be traced back firstly to the Cosatu resolution of 1985 which resolved to fight all discriminatory treatment of women at work, in society and in the federation. Secondly, TGWU resolutions at its 1987 and 1988 congresses resolved to fight sexual harassment "wherever it happens" and to "review all our customs so as to advance our struggle". Thirdly, TGWU's recent NEC meeting spent a day discussing the ANC's constitutional guidelines, including points about the ANC's recommenda-
In preparing for congress we discussed the new Cosatu leadership and whether there were any women candidates. Very few names were thought of. And this highlighted the lack of women leadership at all levels in the unions, so that inevitably Cosatu's leadership would be all-male. • What was the reaction of the
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SOUTH AFRICA THE interview that follows first appeared in the September/October number of Work in Progress, an independent
TGWU membership to the Congress's negative response to these resolutions? Will the union be taking resolutions back to the next con-
We do not view the congress responses as negative. It was no surprise that there was not overwhelming support for the resolutions. And we were aware that positaken in our union may not necessarily be shared by members of other unions - particularly those with a majority of male membership who have never really had to face these issues. But the issue got debated and that was positive. Initially FAWU [Food and Allied Workers Union] seconded our sexual conduct motion, but then withdrew. In the end only WIU [Chemical Workers Industrial Union] pledged full support.
We have no doubt that the next few years will see a shift in consciousness among the unions. We will monitor this carefully, and if we feel there is no significant change then we will bring these issues to the next congress.
During the four-hour debate NUM [National Union of Mineworkers] put forward an amendment which dealt with what they termed working class morality. We viewed this as a counter motion to our sexual conduct resolution. What working class morality involves was unclear. But in NUM's motion it was argued that because we live in a bourgeois society, workers have bourgeois morality imposed upon them. This morality is one of the capitalist bosses and it leads workers astray. NUM argued that workers must go back to their roots, reject bourgeois morality and develop working class morality. What this involves was not specified.
TGWU felt this did not accommodate the specific points around sexual conduct which we wanted emphasized. We
Ultimately there was a decision, in accordance with a proposal from another union, that the issue of sexual conduct be incorporated into a discussion around a • Would linking the issue of sexual conduct to other issues of discipline not take It out of the realm of being a "women's issue" and take it into the realm of being a union Issue? Isn't
We felt it was a specific issue which merited special attention. The delegation did not accept that it should be shifted into the discussion of a code of conduct. But at that stage it was clear we would have to compromise. The alternative was going to a vote — which many of our delegation were not keen to do. But in the interests of reaching resolution of the debate we accepted the proposal.
Members were disappointed, particularly shop stewards. But all were galvanized to promote our position and put the resolutions into effect through whatever means • There are varied initiatives within Cosatu unions around the organization and mobilization of women. What is happening in TGWU and how do you relate to initiatives in
TGWU has set up a national women's committee with representatives from each branch. The first meeting identified a few issues to be used as a catalyst for mobilizing women members. We have also encouraged branches to have women's
Women were keen, but were finding it difficult to isolate concrete issues of interest. The national meeting suggested cervical cancer and pap smears
SOUTH AFRICA as a starting point. This was an issue which concerned all women, and we also had access to resources - health groups who were willing to provide education and information. Also, there are very simple demands which can be attached to the
Hopefully the structures will begin to generate their own local issues.
Like other Cosatu unions, over the past few years we have succeeded in getting to a stage where shop stewards don't think twice about including certain issues in collective bargaining demands — most notably maternity rights. Just two years ago this would have been an afterthought.
We have made some progress on maternity rights — most importantly the right to job security, in a few cases some payment over the leave period and the right for time • There has been a debate about whether Cosatu should have internal women's structures, or whether women workers should only participate in women's organizations in the community. Can you detail some positions in this debate?
Whatever the debate, structures are developing in the unions. The question of a women's structure in Cosatu was hotly debated at its women's conference last year. At the time only NUMSA [Metalworkers union] had a functioning national women's structure. This made it very difficult to practically present the advantages of having an internal structure.
The debate is not resolved, but over the past year a much more common understanding has developed: that it is useful for women to come together, not just as individuals, but as representatives of women in their union structures, to discuss issues looked seriously at their resolution, FEDERATION OF but there was no way to combine theirs and ours. SOUTH AFRICAN
Even before the motion went to congress, some unions suggested that we take the resolution off the table and refer it to smaller sub-committees. These unions felt we would lose a showdown on the issue. But TGWU members felt that even if the majority at the congress disagreed with the motion, what was important was the opportunity to give this serious problem expression in a forum of more than two thousand people.
A number of positions were argued. Some delegates said that there was no such thing as sexual exploitation -that women asked for it and that women can say no. Others argued that it was a problem of discipline, but it did not warrant debate at national congress.
And yet other delegates said we need to educate our members first and that it should not be isolated from other discipline related problems.
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WOMEN @ 21
International Viewpoint #180 • March 12, 1990
SOUTH AFRICA the sta
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of national importance to women in unions.
At the Cosatu congress this year, delegates agreed a national committee of women representatives would be formed to discuss the revival of the national women's organization, Fedsaw.
This too represents progress. The resolution acknowledges the importance of women discussing the issue on behalf of a constituency, to whom they have a responsibility to report back. Hopefully the committee will generate a more longstanding commitment to come together to discuss other issues of importance to women union members - these could be issues of political importance or bread and
At the time of the Cosatu women's conference some people feared that national Cosatu structure would merely duplicate existing community structures and draw women away from them. Those in favour of a Cosatu structure agreed that the union structure should never be a substitute for community women's organizations, but still felt that there was merit in drawing union women together to talk about problems they faced as workers and union
Unfortunately the divisions coincided with a range of other political divisions. Things have changed since then and there is openness to resolve the issue.
When the issue gets re-negotiated, hopefully internal union structures will be in a better position to demonstrate what role they play for women union members. • In your experience, if women have participated in women's organizations or women's structures, does this provide them with a good basis for active and equal participation with men in other union structures 22 and activities? Or do women tend to • want to remain in "women's only"
structures? Separate women's structures are important. They provide a forum where women can learn to articulate their own point of view. Often women feel more free to talk (among themMande selves) and these struc-
N tures mean many more coming women can take part in discussions - since so few occupy positions in other union structures. But this does not mean women's issues must be relegated to those structures. Whatever is discussed in the women's committees must be integrated into general union structures - and not just in the form of a report-back. The members of other unions structures must fully confront these issues.
It is also important not to overload the women's structures, SO that those involved become reluctant to participate in other union structures because of lack • Have there been any responses from men to the issues brought from women's structures for debate in general union forums? is there any sense that they feel these issues have already been dealt with in the women's structures and therefore do not need to be discussed again?
Our structures are still embryonic, so this has not been tested at branch level. But at national level, the NEC became very enthusiastic during the day-long discussion of women's issues. There is every indication that more and more members — both men and women — are viewing issues traditionally seen as "women's issues" as important. • There has been a lot of talk over the years about the need for housework and childcare to be shared so that women have the space to participate in union activities. How much has this remained at the level of talk, and how much has really filtered down to change men and women workers' attitudes to traditional gender roles? For example if housework is being shared, is it shared with other women family members or with male family members?
This is very difficult to answer. But there have definitely been some shifts. Five years ago men would have been totally outraged at the suggestion of shared housework. Now there is a sense that men are far more involved with their
At the level of talk there is a lot more acceptance of the concept of sharing housework. But those of our women members who do take on some leadership positions complain that no one shares their load at home. • Women in unions have become more aware and conscious of issues which affect them specifically. Have they not been able to extend this consciousness to unorganized and unemployed women in their commu-
The positive effect of organizing women around specific women's issues in the unions has enabled them to identify what affects them specifically as women in the community. Many women active in union structures - both women's and general structures - have become important in community organizations. Their may help to transcend the notion of seeing women as "mothers" and to try and identify what it is that makes them a particular category of people in the community with a specific set of problems — just as for instance students have their own problems and issues. • Do you think there is a resonance among community women who are not organized in any other forum, of their position in society as people and participants in their own right, rather than just as "mothers"?
This is not an easy shift and will take a long time. And it depends on the extent to which women begin to actively participate in organizations. We have noticed, for example, that youth organizations are becoming increasingly male dominated. In some areas women are completely absent. And if some women are recruited they are treated as honorary men rather than women comrades representing a big • Do you think that women's lack of participation in union leadership has affected their ability to organize effectively in their community and
The fact that women in leadership are still the exception rather than the rule and the lack of experience of large numbers of women in key positions, have inhibited their ability to take the lead outside of the union. Their experience in the union does allow them to give input to their community organizations, but they still tend not to play leadership roles. Those women who are involved in union leadership are often so tied up with responsibilities that they have no time to participate in structures outside of the union. And there are not sufficient numbers of women in middle-level union leadership — like shop stewards -who could be leading community activists as well. It is most often male shop stewards who play this kind of dual role. *