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Address by Joyce Pekane, COSATU 2nd Vice President, to theICFTU 17th World Congress Session on Ending Discrimination at the WorkplaceDurban, 5 April 2000 |
INEQUALITY
INTRODUCTION
The South African labour movement has a proud history of struggling against all forms of inequality. Our country is known chiefly for the years of racial discrimination which was legalised under the name of Apartheid. We rallied international support in our efforts to overthrow this system – and, thanks to your help, we were successful.
However, we believe inequality has many different faces. In our country we often refer to a concept known as ``triple oppression`` which describes the situation black working women face. They have been historically oppressed because of their race, their class, and their gender.
Our analysis therefore argues that inequality has many different faces – determined by a person's race, or their class, or their gender; and sometimes by all three.
WOMEN
There are a number of factors which promote gender inequalities. These include persisting sexual stereotypes (especially of women), inadequate employment policies and violence against women. We need to develop a holistic approach to address the needs of women workers. This approach would include a review of employment policies to address the issue of inequality in the workplace. Both conventions 100 and 111 on discrimination and equal opportunities provide a sound basis for unions to wage campaigns hi-lighting issues facing women workers.
There are numerous unwritten social laws relegating women to second class citizens. Women are still discriminated against for bearing children, as often employers refuse to grant them maternity leave and they lose their jobs. Women who do get maternity leave often have to accept much lower wages for the time they are away, which makes it difficult for them to survive.
The promotion of women into leadership structures should be a high priority for trade unions. Our struggle for transformation of society should include our leadership structures and the gender balance they need to reflect. Employers should make provision for basic infrastructure for education and training of all workers. This will be a big step in empowering women workers. There should be a broader focus beyond the workplace in developing countries in dealing with these issues. Women are hard-hit by Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAPS) and neo-liberal economic policies being implemented by various governments in both developing and the underdeveloped countries.
DISABLED WORKERS
The absence of legislation in most countries creating an enabling environment for disabled workers is course for concern for trade unions. We need to ensure that remuneration and compensation policies for disabled workers are geared toward creating equity with other employees. Most workplaces do not have adequate access and other facilities for disabled workers. These workers find it difficult to find jobs and they are being discriminated against when it comes to remuneration and other benefits.
Unions need to engage governments and campaign for the legislation to protect disabled workers. Such legislation must be monitored to ensure proper implementation. For this, it is vital that Unions form partnerships with the organisations of the disabled.
HIV / AIDS
Workers and women in particular are the most vulnerable when it comes to the negative effects of HIV / AIDS. Infected workers are discriminated against at the workplaces when it comes to social benefits, access to facilities and working conditions. Trade unions must campaign for protection of these vulnerable workers. Education about other opportunistic diseases that result from HIV infection should form part of these campaigns.
In the absence of a cure for AIDS, treatment for its opportunistic diseases becomes important. Trade unions need to condemn pharmaceutical companies that grossly inflate the prices for such drugs in pursuit of profits at the expense of sufferers. These include all those multinational companies (MNCs) that hide behind intellectual property rights in order to block the access of developing countries to cheaper generic drugs.
MIGRANTS WORKERS
Migrant workers are usually employed in low-skilled, low-paid and high-risk jobs with little protection offered by the employers. They are not covered by social security system and are being used in some instance as pawns between governments to generate income for their countries. Trade unions need to step-up international campaigns for the improvement of living and working conditions for migrant workers. There is a greater need for embarking on public education about dangers of xenophobia. Citizens of the host countries need to acknowledge the economic contribution that migrant workers make in the host country.
CONCLUSION
Discrimination is largely born out of ignorance. Trade Unions across the world should embark on a programme of education to break down the prejudices that exist even amongst our own members. We should recommit ourselves to put an end to all forms of legislative discrimination and intensify our solidarity campaigns. This includes the need to transform the power dynamics between the rich and the poor. We must intensify our campaign to narrow the wealth gap and create quality jobs for all workers. As trade unionists we have an obligation to improve the quality of life for all our members –and this means we must prioritise the most oppressed, the working women of the world.
