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South African women celebrate Women’s Day
Some of the participants at the Women's Day forum in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Female condoms and information bulletins were some of the items on display at the forum.
ON March 5, over 60 women held a discussion forum at the head office of the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (SACCAWU) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the International Women’s Day which falls on March 8 this year.
UNI affiliates, federations, global unions, civil society, the Labour Research Services and the South African Communist Party were represented at the forum.
The forum heard that women faced similar challenges globally and their struggles for shorter working hours, health and safety, maternity protection, the right to vote and climate change all carried “a woman’s face” as the number of struggling women outweighs that of men.
1st Deputy President of SACCAWU Ms. Louisa Thipe urged the women to hold on to the achievements recorded by the international women’s movement since 1909 when women stood up in the United States of America (U.S.A.) to demand for political rights.
SACCAWU invited South African women “to join hands and make noise together” against giant US company Walmart that is about to enter the South African retail market.
“We are very worried about the future of young workers. Once Walmart puts its foot here, we are going to experience the worst,” warned Ms. Angy Phetlhe, 2nd Deputy President of SACCAWU.
The forum heard that many employers were now treating pregnancy as a disease. Maternity should not constitute a source of discrimination in the workplace, said Ms. Tebogo Masilo from the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU).
Ms. Nina Benjamin from the Labour Research Services (LRS) praised the ITUC’s Decisions for Life campaign for reaching out to young female workers in the services sector. She said the campaign was empowering young women with information on benefits of joining a union, sexual harassment, maternity protection, preparing for interviews and writing CVs, and health issues such as female condoms and breastfeeding.
The forum also reiterated its support for the pending ILO Convention on Domestic Workers saying “domestic workers are workers too and should be treated with respect and have access to decent work.”
Cuana Angula from the International Union of Food (IUF) praised women in the Middle East for being in the front of uprisings demanding for democracy. He said the IUF had dedicated this year’s Women’s Day to farm and domestic workers in Africa who are facing violence and rape on the farms.
John Musonda from UNI Africa Global Union said professional development of women was important but urged the women to maintain a balance between their professional life, personal life and family life saying “wok-life-balance” was vital.
He noted that Africa was largely headed by men and yet faced numerous governance problems. He urged women to step up and provide leadership for a better tomorrow, as was the case in Liberia where the continent recorded the first ever female President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
He said UNI Global Union had dedicated this year’s Women’s Day to call centre workers in T-Mobile, U.S.A who need a voice at the workplace. He said the T-Mobile Facebook campaign has a theme of “Women of the World Expect Better”.