IUF Women Workers News

Domestic Workers on the ILO agenda

2008-03-27T16:46:42Z

The efforts of the Workers' Group to get Domestic Workers' on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 2010 were successful.

]]> The ILO Governing Body who met in Geneva from 6 to 20 March, decided that Domestic Workers shall be placed on the agenda of the International Labour Conference in 2010 with a view to developing an ILO Convention and Recommendation.

It was one of six possible items that were discussed by the Governing Body for the 2010 agenda and it is therefore a considerable sucess for the the Workers' Group supported by ACTRAV, ITUC and Globlal Unions that
the protection of domestic workers' rights were agreed upon as a priority.

The IUF will within short launch an international network together with domestic workers' organisations and global unions to enhance the rights and respect of domestic workers.

IUF Gender Equality Guide

2008-02-27T10:13:07Z

ALL for ONE = ONE for ALL is the title of the IUF Gender Equality Guide which was published in June 2007.

]]> The manual is the result of collective efforts by the IUF Women's Committees, regional structures, affiliates, educators and organizers and the writer, Celia Mather, to voice the concerns, struggles and successes of women and men members with regard to gender equality .
You can download it by clicking here:
http://www.iufdocuments.org/women/2008/All for One.pdf
and/or you can order copies from the IUF secretariat for CHF 8: - per copy, plus postal charges. Bulk copies are available for CHF 5: - per copy for orders of ten or more, plus postage.

Gender Workshop in Ukraine

2008-02-14T17:53:14Z

A workshop for the women committee of Ukrainian Agro-Industrial Workers Union (AIWU) was organised on January 22-25, within the framework of the programme “Gender equality training for unionists".

]]> The workshop “Introducing gender equality principles in trade unions through overcoming the stereotypes of union leaders” took place in Ivano-Frankovsk (Ukraine) and has been organised by Burlaka Nadejda, the president of the women’s committee and Liubovi Busely, the head of social-economic department.

During the seminar, the participants shared their experience about the work they’ve done since the first meeting on gender issues in December 2006. Since that time, some unions have already improved the situation of working women through the CBAs. Thus, the union “Donmeasprom” included in the CBA and additional payment for women with children up to 3 years old of 50 Ukraine Hryvnia (10 US $), additional financial assistance would be given to families with many children, and single parents. The CBA also provide an increase of up to 70% in subsidies for meals in the workers canteen. In Kirovograd district, the AIWU included in the CBA a special article about the attestation of workplaces and non-discrimination of women when she enters employment.

The seminar participants learned about the law of Ukraine in regard the protection of women’s rights and gender equality. They also discussed the issues of men and women in the contemporary world and the role of men in promotion of gender equality. During the meeting, there has been also discussed the IUF Programme on gender equality, the conclusions of IUF women’s conference in 2007 and the Resolutions of the IUF 25th Congress on “Women and Employment” and “Migrant workers”.

Moreover, the participants have discussed the Statute of AIWU of Ukraine and proposed changes that guarantee gender equality. One of the proposals is that the representation of women in unions’ leading positions should not be less then 40%.

The IUF was represented at the workshop by Svetlana Boincean.

End Violoence against Women

2007-11-27T14:36:13Z

Violence against women in all its forms has to be stopped.
A worldwide campaign against gender-related violence started on 25 November, the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

]]> The Global Union Federations is joining ITUC in a statement "Stop Violence Against Women Workers" and urge unions around the world to:
- develop or strengthen action plans to stop violence and harassment at the workplace;
- negotiate with employers and governments to immediately implement preventive strategies and a tarageted zero tolerance approach to stop violence against women at work.
An important preventive measure consist in safe transport for women working late hours. That is what the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) is requesting for its members.

Click here to read more

PepsciCo Poland case reported to the International Labour Conference

2007-07-28T18:59:36Z

The complaint submitted by Solidarność and the IUF against the government of Poland for its failure to protect workers from sexual harassment was reflected in the report on Application of International Labour Standards at the International Labour Conference in June.

]]> In February 2006, Solidarność and IUF jointly submitted a complaint to the ILO regarding "the insufficient enforcement by the Government of Poland of Convention 111, Discrimination in Employment and Occupation" in relation to the serious sexual harassment case at the Frito Lay plant in Grodzisk Mazowieck. The complaint stressed the failure to implement national legislation based on C 111 and consequently the failure to protect workers from sexual harassment.

In its observations to this case, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) notes that "sexual harassment is a particularly severe form of discrimination based on sex that has serious implications for the victims and the workplace as a whole". The CEACR highlights the fact "that Solidarność and the IUF suggest a number of measures that could be taken to draw up an effective national policy on sexual harassment, and (…) requests the Government to seek the cooperation of employers' and workers' organizations and other appropriate bodies to promote the acceptance of the national equality policy".

The measures proposed by Solidarność and the IUF are the following:
 simplified and expedited procedures applicable to sexual harassment (the Frito Lay case has been going on for over two years in various courts and is still not concluded)
 special measures for immediate protection of victims from further harm
 tripartite initiative to draw up a national policy to prevent and address sexual harassment in private and public undertakings
 labour inspection to play a key role in monitoring the implementation of the national policy

According to the CEACR the labour inspectors could play a much more active role by providing counseling services and by raising awareness among employees about their rights and possibilities to file complaints (so far only two out of 55 discrimination complaints received by the labour inspection concerned sexual harassment).

Finally, the CEACR requests the government to keep providing information about the practical application and enforcement of legal provisions concerning sexual harassment; and to indicate which steps have been taken to ensure that victims have access to adequate protection.

“You have to involve the men so that they understand”

2007-07-04T13:57:58Z

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

News from Cambodia, Indonesia and New Zealand

2007-07-03T09:43:16Z

- New leader of CTSWF Women's Committee assists local union to recruit more women members in the airport catering sector in the tourist centre Siem Reap.
- Leaders of FSPM Women's Committee accompany women activist in CBA negotiations in Jakarata and Bandung.
- IUF affiliates in New Zealand join the Coalition for Qualtiy Flexible Work.

]]> In Cambodia, the new leader of the CTSWF Women’s Committee, who is based in the tourist centre of Siem Reap, near the famous Angkor Wat temple, has been assisting local unions in Siem Reap to recruit more women members. One successful example is the Siem Reap Airport Catering union, which in mid-2006 had only 25 members. Now 51 of 60 employees have joined the union and a woman has been elected as leader.

In Indonesia, progress continues in women’s involvement in collective bargaining by local unions in the hotel federation FSPM. At the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta, negotiations for a collective agreement (CBA) are currently underway. As the Women’s Committee Chairperson and her Deputy Chair are now experienced activists who are routinely involved in CBA negotiations, they have instituted a system by which other women activists take turns accompanying them in order to observe the negotiations, to build up their experience and confidence in bargaining skills. Other CBAs recently concluded by FSPM member unions in Jakarta and Bandung have seen further gains towards gender equality, including:
o Inclusion of a comprehensive definition and policy regarding sexual harassment and procedures for handling this issue (this policy was drafted by the Women’s Committee);
o Extension of health insurance to cover not only male workers’ families but also the husbands/partners and children of women workers;
o Inclusion of a comprehensive wage scale within the CBA for the first time, bringing transparency to the issue of pay equity;
o Lactation rooms provided at the workplace for women employees;
o Flexible working hours for breastfeeding women.

In New Zealand, IUF-affiliated unions, the NZDWU (Dairy Workers’ Union), SFWU (Service and Food Workers’ Union Nga Ringa Tota) and the EPMU (Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union), have joined more than 20 other trade unions, community groups and professional organisations in a Coalition for Quality Flexible Work. The Coalition was launched in support of a private member’s bill which was put before New Zealand’s parliement in 2005. Public submissions were then sought by the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee in late 2006. The bill seeks to enshrine the legal right to request flexible working hours for all employees and impose an obligation on employers to negotiate these requests seriously and seek to accommodate them in their workplaces. For more information on the Coalition, to read the submissions made by IUF’s affiliates and to view a copy of the Flexible Working Hours Bill, visit http://flexihoursnow.wordpress.com.

Report by Sarah Gardner, IUF A/P Women & Solidarity Officer

“Women: Let your voice be heard”

2007-06-28T10:10:20Z

Dorothea Makhasu is General Secretary of the Hotel, Food Processing and Catering Workers’ Union (HFPCWU) in Malawi. Here she talks of her union’s progress in taking up women’s issues and getting them more involved. It takes time but, once women join, they tend to become more active than men members, in Dorothea’s experience.

]]> “We have a lot of women working on a short-term basis in restaurants and especially in food processing. Many are without permanent jobs, are paid very little, and have much less protection. Managers say, ‘I pay her at the end of the day and that’s an end to the matter’.

These women casual workers have no medical provision, sick pay or maternity leave. Managers say, ‘Once you deliver the baby, come back after a week or you are fired’. How can you give birth and go back to work after just a week? Or perhaps the woman was permanent but is now told to reapply for her job, and then she waits and waits, and may not be taken on again. Or, if she is taken back, she has to start afresh and forfeit her severance pay, etc. Many women at Suncrest Creameries in Blantyre had to reapply for their jobs in this way.

At Blantyre Sports Club, women who got pregnant and could not fit into their uniforms were told, ‘You must buy a new uniform, or don’t come to work until after you give birth’. This meant, of course, that they lost pay which is very bad when you are about to have a baby.

Women need a lot of sensitisation before they will join the union. They tend to say, ‘If I get involved in trouble, who is going to feed my children?’ They think of their multiple roles. Our union holds enterprise-level meetings. We show the workers the law, and explain we are there to help. Where we have visited workplaces, we do see an impact, even at small restaurants of only 20-25 people. And once women become union members, I find they tend to be more active than men. The pity is that, when it comes to elections, they tend to put men in high positions, leaving out their fellow women.

Sometimes, though, we have to go back to the women workers several times, explaining what a union is and how it can empower you, and the legal rights you have to be a union member. But many are victimised. Employers are not scared. Court cases take a long time, 2-3 years.

But we tell workers not to wait. We advise them, ‘When you see even small signs of victimisation, come to the union immediately. Any small statement that is not union-friendly, or any bit of sexual harassment may seem minor now, but it could become a big issue. We will take it up with the employer’. One lady was suspended when she became pregnant with the child of her boss; if only she had come when the harassment started.

There is little solidarity from men at the workplace. Even some men shopstewards say that sexual harassment is a ‘personal issue’ instead of helping the women. But we are planning to have more gender training with the men. Where men have been sensitised, we have seen them help to get maternity leave. But others say, ‘It is a woman’s issue’ and it gets dropped off the union agenda.

At Blantyre Sports Club, the women workers waited for feedback from the shopstewards but they got none. It is because there was no woman shopsteward. We tell the women, ‘If you don’t become a shopsteward, you cannot be sure your issues will be taken up. Please participate. Let your voice be heard. Otherwise you won’t be taken seriously. You will be nowhere to explain your side of the story’.

Men tend to hold meetings at the end of the working day when we women rush off to look after our children. We ask the men to move the meetings, for example to lunchtime when everyone can be there. This has been successful in involving more women. We say to the women, ‘You can only be involved when you make yourselves available for the meetings. Otherwise you won’t know how your issues can be taken up.’ We try to encourage men to tell women about coming to meetings as they are the first to lose out.”

Sexual Harassment: Why make a ‘fuss’?

“A woman worker at a dairy company in Malawi was suspended because she refused to let a manager touch her breasts. It was the manager’s habit to touch the breasts and behinds of the women workers as he did his routine inspection of the production area each morning. On this particular day, this fearless woman shouted at the manager that she wasn’t pleased with what he was doing. That afternoon, she was called to the manager’s office and told that what he did was not an unusual thing and asked why she was making a fuss. She was suspended and sent home.

Two days’ later, the woman visited the union office. She wasn’t a union member, but the official took the issue up and visited the manager. At first he was uncompromising but he was told of the potential consequences and eventually he agreed to take the woman back. She was very grateful to the union and has now joined us. In fact, she is at the forefront of encouraging other women to join.”

A PPE case

“I was attending a social dialogue workshop at the Sun ‘n Sand Holiday Resort on the shores of Lake Malawi, when I noticed a Public Attendant cleaning toilets with her bare hands. She had neither protective gloves nor disinfectant.

We met again later that evening. I explained it was the workers’ right to have protective wear in such places, to protect her health. But she was scared of speaking to her supervisor for fear of losing her job. So I directed her to the shopsteward. She is now a union member and has enticed many fellow workers in her department to join.”

Interviewed by Celia Mather, Lusaka, 2 July 2006

Women reinforce the struggle in the aftermath of Indian tea crisis

2007-06-28T08:56:58Z

In a meeting held in Calcutta 1-3 June, forty representatives from IUF affiliated unions in the tea sector met to review the situation of the victims of unscrupulous employers.

]]> Following the tea crisis in India that started in 2001, hundreds of thousands of workers, mainly women, have lost their jobs. Employers have disappeared over night and with them unpaid salaries and provident funds.

A report analysing data from 2003-2006 on the conditions of tea plantation workers in the north of Bengal (see web article of April 2006) revealed that more than 700 workers had died from malnutrition.

Anuradha Talwar, president of PBKMS and one of the authors of the report, called upon the Bengal government to urgently address the situation. Consequently the state government included the workers' families in food and medical care schemes.

To ensure that the affected tea workers get access to these schemes, a Workers Facilitation Centre has been established as a pilot with the help of PBKMS. In the five tea gardens covered by the Centre, mortality from starvation has ceased and all workers have been registered for new jobs after an educational programme.

In January 2006, the IUF decided to lodge a lawsuit to recover unpaid wages and provident fund payments. Unions in the All India Tea Workers Co-ordination Committee were invited to join the case. To date 5 unions have joined. The Supreme Court accepted this Public Interest Litigation case but no date has as yet been set for the hearing.

In line with the decisions of the IUF congress to implement actively IUF policy of women's participation, unions attending the June review meeting were told IUF would only support participation of two delegates if at least one was a women. This proved highly successful and the meeting had the highest percentage of women's participants to date. The meeting concluded that new approaches were needed in order to accelerate the struggle for the tea workers rights. An important aspect is the empowerment of women workers: to involve the women concerned more directly in union activities and in decision making.

Women constitute 80% of the work force in tea plantations and nobody knows better than themselves the issues that affect their daily lives, such as health and safety conditions, access to food, drinking water supply, medical facilities, child care and schools.

The active participation of women is therefore necessary to make organizing more effective, concluded the IUF Indian co-ordinator for agriculture and plantations, Sujata Gothoskar.

Why women’s structures are still needed

2007-06-14T18:07:34Z

The Service and Food Workers’ Union Nga Ringa Tota* is an amalgamation of various unions in New Zealand, and so its membership is very diverse, from care workers to food processing to hotels and casinos. Today, about 70% of the members are women, and there is strong women’s representation at all levels in the union. Over half of the regional executives are women, as are over two-thirds of the National Executive. Women’s issues are integral to the union’s agenda, with apparently the agreement of the overwhelming majority of men in the union.

*Nga Ringa Tota is Maori for ‘Busy Hands'

]]> So, if women have now achieved so much in the SFWU Nga Ringa Tota, why does the union still have women’s committees? Julie Kahaki, the union’s Women’s Convenor, reflects on why women’s structures are still needed.

“I would say 90 per cent of our men are very supportive of women in the union and our structures. I have been active in the union for nearly ten years, and I have never noticed any adverse comments. We have won the argument with the majority and are very settled about it.

In fact, when you consider our women’s committees, plus the structures we have for Pacific Islanders, Maori, our ‘Yummies’ (the Youth Union Movement) for the Under-28s, and our ‘Out at Work’ group, then the only people who do not have their own specific structures are the white, heterosexual men! Sometimes there are semi-serious rumblings about ‘When are we going to have a blokes’ committee?’ but no-one ever gets it organised.

I think specific women’s committees are needed because there are still many women who are not union members - the private sector in New Zealand remains very under-unionised. It makes it easier for women to join if they feel there is somewhere specifically for them. I think this is especially true for migrant women coming from the Pacific or Asia.

Then, for women to be able to rise up in the union structures, they need the training, confidence-building and tools to do this. Women coming to regional women’s conferences and committees gain so much in that respect.

And we still need special ways to bring in the new generation of women, and give them the confidence to speak up. Even though New Zealand is supposed to be an ‘equal’ society, women are not used to facing male bosses and negotiating with them. For all the progress, it is still a patriarchal society.”

Interviewed by Celia Mather, Bali, 10 October 2006

“The level of representation and activity in our union has come about because of the specific women’s structures, and I want to encourage other organisations to establish such structures. Our union is a much stronger, better union for having the full and active participation of women.”
Campbell Duignan, Southern Regional Secretary, SFWU Nga Ringa Tota, New Zealand, speaking at the IUF Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, Bali, 11 October 2006

‘Get a Life!’

2007-06-14T17:58:18Z

Unions in New Zealand have become very active on issues of work-life balance. A coalition launched in November 2006, the ‘Quality Flexible Working Hours Coalition’, unites unions with community groups in a campaign for the right under law for workers to request flexible working hours. http://flexihoursnow.wordpress.com

]]> Christina Phillips is an administrator for the Fonterra Cooperative Group in Tirau, New Zealand, and is on the Women’s Committee and National Executive of the Dairy Workers’ Union (NZDWU). Here she talks about the rights to parental leave for both women and men that they have won.

“Women in our country are legally entitled to up to 14 weeks’ leave with 80% of their earnings paid by the State when a baby is due, either by birth or adoption. There is also unpaid leave of up to two weeks available to a partner at the time of birth or adoption. Plus there are other forms of leave to assist pregnancy or to help care for a new child.

On top of this, the DWU has negotiated additional entitlements with certain employers. In our collective agreement at Fonterra, for example, the primary care-giver can get 14 weeks’ leave at full pay, and their partner is entitled to 2 weeks’ leave at full pay at the time of birth.

It is important to make sure workers have the right information about parental leave. So the union has produced a two-sided laminated sheet which is distributed to all site delegates, both men and women. It sets out what the law contains, and then explains how to apply for the leave, what you can expect from your employer and how to seek union help if necessary. It gives the delegates confidence that they can supply accurate information to their members”.

The Parental Leave Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NZDWU and Fonterra is at: asianfoodworker.net/maternity/NZDWU-parental-leave.pdf

‘Get a Life!’
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) campaign on work-life balance, including quality flexible working hours for all workers:
www.union.org.nz/campaigns/getalife.html

‘It’s About Time’, campaign guide:
www.union.org.nz/files/about_time.pdf

On women’s committees and representation:

“There is a problem, though, when women’s committees are functioning properly, benefits are won, and unions are delivering for their members. Women’s lives are so busy with work and family that, in a long list of things to do, the union gets dropped off the bottom. It is a problem we have not yet resolved. But it is a better problem than many others have!”

“Although we have a lot of women in senior roles in unions in NZ, we still don’t have proportional representation of women at all levels in union structures.”

Interviewed by Celia Mather, Bali, 11 October 2006

Silva Villaverde re-elected president of the IUF Women's Committee

2007-05-23T17:26:25Z

Silvia Villaverde, from the Pastry cooks and fast food restaurants workers union FATPCHPYA, Argentina was unanimously re-elected as president of the IUF Women's Committee for another five-year period at the 25th IUF Congress held in Geneva 19-22 March.

]]> Silvia will lead the Women's Committee together with two vice presidents also elected by the Congress: Therese Hulthén from the Swedish Hotel & Restaurant Workers' Union, HRF, and Jenny Dowell from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, AMWU.

The IUF Executive Committee is now composed of 21 women and 30 men on titular seats. This means that women's representation has increased from 28% to 42%. In the Administrative Committee, women have 33% of the titular and 72% of the alternate seats.

Rules amendments were adopted by Congress to ensure that women and men will obtain equal representation in the IUF governing bodies by next Congress. The situation will be reviewed in 2009.

Tanzania: "Not just our traditional things"

2007-05-08T16:27:44Z

Vicky Kanyoka is the Director for Women and Organisation of the Conservation, Hotels, Domestic and Allied Workers’ Union (CHODAWU) of Tanzania.

In July 2006 she was also elected Chair of the IUF African Regional Women’s Committee, and its representative on the Regional Committee.

]]> Vicky’s union covers workers in many different sectors. ‘Conservation’ includes the national parks and tourism, hotels and restaurants. ‘Allied’ includes those in bars, petrol stations, supermarkets, and the informal economy, as well as people working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Vicky is also a union coordinator on child labour and domestic workers’ issues, and she has helped to develop a multifaceted campaign to combat child labour in Tanzania. She is a member of the National Child Labour Committee under the Prime Minister, the Domestic Workers’ Minimum Wage Council under the Minister of Labour, and the Child Trafficking Committee under the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The child labour campaign in Tanzania has been facilitated through the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) programme of the ILO, supported by positive policies from the national Government. It tackles the poverty in rural areas which causes families to send their children to the cities; it brings agents and traffickers to the authorities so action can be taken against them; it rescues child domestic workers; and it provides vocational training to vulnerable young people. It has also had a marked impact on gender relations, giving women the opportunity to get men to reflect on their behaviour, especially with regard to family responsibilities.

Through the campaign, the union has help give support to thousands of people, and massively increased its own public profile and its membership among women, especially those working in the informal economy such as adult domestic workers, as Vicky explains:

“First we had to create public awareness about the consequences of child labour. I was interviewed on TV so the message would reach all over the country. I used vivid cases of what happens to child domestic workers. Then we held awareness-raising meetings in the rural communities where the children come from, in collaboration with local government officials, village committees and other leaders.

The children are often taken from their homes by agents with promises like ‘she will work and send you money’ or ‘she will be going to school’. Families are poor, and so they agree to let their child go. Most domestic child workers are girls under the age of 18.

Some are not just taken to the towns and cities of Tanzania but to other countries, such as to Nairobi, the capital of neighbouring Kenya. This is trafficking of children. We have been working with the police and local authorities to track and arrest the agents, and take them to court.

We encourage village councils to pass new by-laws, with penalties for parents who send their children to work instead of school. The penalty might be a chicken or a goat, for example. But it is not about punishing people. The poor are in great need of alternative income-generating activities.

So CHODAW has been supporting the formation of micro-businesses such as trading cloth or baking for local restaurants, as well as savings and credit schemes. We help with funds and training in entrepreneurship skills and financial management. You might ask how this is of direct benefit to the union, but the fact is that they become union members, and we now have 1,300 new members through these schemes, three-quarters of whom are women.

Also, we have linked up with NGOs which offer health services and specialise in HIV-Aids. They draw in funds from donors, and can treat people with HIV or TB for as little as US$1 each. So here the union’s financial contribution is small. The point is that some children get infected through sexual abuse by their employers. We work with local government officers to have these children treated and returned to their villages.

Not only that, the union has helped establish vocational skills training facilities for young people aged 15-18 years. We have secured funds for this from the ILO, plus support from other donors and ‘good Samaritans’. For example, a mass media group donated some equipment.

A special curriculum has been developed under the Ministry of Education. The three-month courses include tailoring, batik tie-dye, carpentry, welding, electrical installation, elementary mechanics and driving, ceremonial decoration, cookery for housekeeping, professional cleaning, candle-making and handicrafts. The programme also includes HIV-Aids awareness, gender aspects and entrepreneurial skills.

So far some 2,500 young people have been on the courses, three-quarters of whom are girls, and they are doing mechanics, carpentry and welding. Our union is running seven of the training facilities, and private providers run others. They must also follow the agreed curriculum, and look for employment opportunities for the graduates.

Those trained include former domestic workers and others at risk, for example the very poor or orphans, the children of single parents, and HIV patients. How did we identify them? Well, we set up special Child Labour Committees in local communities, with members from our Street Representative system, school teachers, influential women from the community, and faith-based organisations (both Muslim and Christian).

Plus we have done ‘physical and social mapping’ of local areas, to help identify the most vulnerable places from which the children come, and then develop plans in response. Working with local government officers, we look at incomes and access to services such as electricity, water, health and education. Where people walk 5 kms to get water or carry firewood on their heads, the cities with their electricity and TVs seem very attractive. These are the ‘push’ factors. We even include recreation facilities in our mapping – in many places there are only drinking clubs for men and football for boys, nothing for women or girls.

Through this mapping, each community produces a strategic plan, working out who can tackle what. Teachers check school registers to find out who is not attending. The youth say who among their friends are missing; they sometimes help identify the bus-stops and train stations through which children have been taken. This helps the police track the agents.

This mapping has been so good. It has been an eye-opener even to local politicians to see what is happening on the ground to children. It has helped influence local governments to increase the budget to the areas where children are most vulnerable.

It has been a fight, though. Women have pointed the finger at men. Some men have come to realise they were not being responsible by wasting time and money on beer. Through the child labour programme we have been able to change men’s attitudes at home.

Many people said, ‘We didn’t realise this is the work of a union. We thought it was ‘only for workers in the formal sector’ or ‘only for adults’. The name of our union CHODAWU has been spread far and wide. Even local councillors can identify us. They now see we are for human rights, not just workers’ rights. We are going beyond workers’ rights.

But, in any case, these children are the workers of tomorrow. We in the trade unions must not just concentrate on our traditional things. We shouldn’t just depend on conventions and laws, or wait to get involved. Some complain that NGOs are coming up. But sometimes we talk a lot and do too little.

The informal economy sustains us all. In reality, we don’t depend on the big industries and companies. Our vehicles are mended by local garages. We buy our vegetables at the market. We have our hair done by a local hairdresser. All our lives are interwoven with the informal economy.

Over three-quarters of people depend on the informal economy for their livelihood, whether in rural or urban areas. Our friends’ problems will become our own business. We have to help our friends overcome their problems. Just because there is no ‘war’ does not necessarily mean it is a peaceful country. Women and children are suffering.”

Interviewed by Celia Mather, Lusaka, 4 July 2006

IPEC: www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec

IUF Policy on Sexual Harassment

2007-05-08T16:23:34Z

Congress reaffirms IUF policy on Sexual Harassment. To download the document please click here:
Sexual Harassment policy

New IUF Action Program for Equality

2007-05-08T16:20:23Z

The IUF Women Workers' Conference adopted a new Action Program for Equality which was endorsed by Congress. To download the document please click here:
Action Program