“You have to involve the men so that they understand”
FAWU is one of the unions with most women members in South Africa, and Pulane Maine is a FAWU First Vice-President. She is also a dairy worker and union shopsteward on a farm in the Free State. In fact, she is the only woman dairy worker on her farm, where she milks cows and helps them to give birth. The other women living on her farm tend to eke out an existence from handicrafts, though with little capital to back them
“Women on farms do find that low wages are a problem. A few, like me, are doing the same job as men, but we are paid less. Women hardly ever get promoted either. You will find the supervisors are always men.
My farmer will sometimes go away for several weeks, leaving us to do all that is necessary to keep his farm productive. But he is very unwilling even today to recognise the skills that we, his black workers, have. We never had formal training; all that we know, we learnt on the job. FAWU is still facing a big challenge from discrimination. Farmers are still beating their workers. If you take them to court, they only have to pay a fine. If a worker kills a farmer, tens of police vans turn up. If a farmer kills a worker, they say it is an ‘accident’. I am questioning the Minister for Security, asking whether farm workers are entitled to security when working.
We do have good labour laws now in South Africa but farm owners do not implement them properly. When labour inspectors come onto the farms, they do not come to the farm workers to get information. They just take any allegations to the farmer. Then he says they are lies, and he gets off.
We do have maternity leave, though, and unions ensure it is implemented. The farmers cannot run away from the doctor’s certificate that says you are pregnant. I don’t agree with women who argue that women who demand more maternity leave are disadvantaging themselves. It must be your right, under law. But our farmers do not accept workers being sick, and nor do we get menstruation leave.
In South African unions, we have Gender Forums. We think it is necessary for men to be there and become gender sensitive. While we had Women’s Forums, you could preach and preach but they would never understand. You have to involve the men so that they understand. The FAWU President, for example, attends the Gender Forum.
Gender Forums exist also at a regional level. They exist in all COSATU (union federation) structures. Men can’t argue against them any more. We have won the argument ‘What is gender and why it is important’. Past union leaders did try to say it is a waste of time, but now it functions.”
In her capacity as union Vice-President, Pulane has also been abroad on union business, to countries where her own boss has never been. How does he respond to that? “When I come back to the farm, he never asks me how it was. But he sends his children to find out!”
Interviewed by Celia Mather, Lusaka, 4 July 2006