Making Globalization Work for Women: The Role of Social Rights and Trade Union Leadership

354 Pages·2011·3.833 MB·English

by  Valentine M. Moghadam

WOMEN’S STUDIES
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Making Globalization Work for Women explores the potential for trade unions to defend the g Making
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socioeconomic rights of women in a global context. Looking at labor policies and inter- a
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views with people in unions and nongovernmental organizations, the essays diagnose the m
, Globalization
problems faced by women workers across the world and assess the progress that unions in F
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various countries have made in responding to those problems. Some concerns addressed n
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include the masculine culture of many unions and the challenges of female leadership
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within them, laissez-faire governance, and the limited success of organizations working ,
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on these issues globally. Making Globalization Work for Women brings together in a syn- n
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thetic and fruitful conversation the work and ideas of feminists, unions, NGOs, and other w

human rights workers. The Role of Social Rights and Trade Union Leadership
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“Making Globalization Work for Women is an illuminating, timely, and original collaboration
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among three prominent scholars that fi lls an important and missing niche in studies of
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transnational activism, global employment policy, and women’s work.” k
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— Dorothy Sue Cobble, author of The Other Women’s Movement: Workplace Justice
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and Social Rights in Modern America
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VALENTINE M. MOGHADAM is Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies and lo
Director of Women’s Studies at Purdue University. Her previous books include the award- b
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winning Globalizing Women: Transnational Feminist Networks, which received the American
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Political Science Association’s Victoria Schuck Award for the best book on Women and z
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Politics 2006. SUZANNE FRANZWAY is Associate Professor of Sociology and Gender t
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Studies and Portfolio Leader for Research Education at the University of South Australia.
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Her previous books include (with Dianne Court and R.W. Connell) Staking a Claim: Femi-

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nism, Bureaucracy and the State and Sexual Politics and Greedy Institutions: Union Women,
Commitments and Confl icts in Public and Private. MARY MARGARET FONOW is Pro- o
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fessor and Head of Faculty of Women and Gender Studies and Director of the School of
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Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Her previous books include (with Suzanne
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Franzway) Making Feminist Politics: Transnational Alliances between Women and Labor and
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Union Women: Forging Feminism in the United Steelworkers of America. W
A volume in the SUNY series, Praxis: Theory in Action o
Nancy A. Naples, editor m
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Edited by Valentine M. Moghadam,
SUNY n
P R E S S Suzanne Franzway, and Mary Margaret Fonow
State University of New York Press
www.sunypress.edu
SUNY
MAKING GLOBALIZATION
WORK FOR WOMEN
SUNY Series, Praxis: Theory in Action
——————
Nancy A. Naples, editor
MAKING GLOBALIZATION
WORK FOR WOMEN
The Role of Social Rights and
Trade Union Leadership
Edited by
VALENTINE M. MOGHADAM
SUZANNE FRANZWAY
MARY MARGARET FONOW
State University of New York Press
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2011 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever w ithout
written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the
prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact
State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Laurie Searl
Marketing, Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Making globalization work for women : the role of social rights and trade union leadership /
edited by Valentine M. Moghadam, Suzanne Franzway, and Mary Margaret Fonow.
p. cm. — (SUNY series, praxis: theory in action)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-3960-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-3961-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Women’s rights. 2. Women in the labor movement. 3. Globalization. 4. Feminism.
I. Moghadam, Valentine M., 1952– II. Franzway, Suzanne. III. Fonow, Mary Margaret, 1949–
HQ1236.M3427 2011
331.87082—dc22 2011007664
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
List of Figures and Tables vii
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Glossary of Acronyms and Terms xiii
1. Introduction and Overview: Globalization and Women’s
Social Rights 1
Mary Margaret Fonow, Suzanne Franzway,
and Valentine M. Moghadam
PART I
WOMEN, WORK, AND SOCIAL/ECONOMIC RIGHTS
ACROSS THE GLOBE
2. Toward Economic Citizenship: The Middle East and
North Africa 25
Valentine M. Moghadam
3. Promoting the Social Rights of Working Women:
The Case of Palestinian Women in Israel 47
Michal Schwartz
4. Tunisia: Women’s Economic Citizenship and
Trade Union Participation 71
Hafidha Chékir and Khédija Arafoui
5. Gendered Economic Rights and Trade Unionism:
The Case of Argentina 93
Graciela di Marco
6. Can a Focus on Survival and Health as Social/Economic
Rights Help Some of the World’s Most Imperiled Women
in a Globalized World? Cases from Ecuador, Ukraine,
and Laos 123
Rae Lesser Blumberg and Andres Wilfrido Salazar-Paredes
CONTENTS
vi
PART II
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD:
TRADE UNION AND MULTILATERAL PERSPECTIVES
7. The ILO, Gender Equality, and Trade Unions 159
Shauna Olney
8. Women’s Rights and Leadership: A Central Trade Union Agenda 169
Jo Morris
9. Achieving Equality Through Quality: Public Services and the
Role of Public-Sector Trade Unions 191
Nora Wintour
10. The Role of Unions in the Promotion of Gender Equality
in France 201
Pascale Coton
PART III
WHERE NEXT FOR FEMINISM AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT?
11. Trade Unions, Collective Agency, and the Struggle for
Women’s Equality: Expanding the Political Empowerment
Measure 213
Linda Briskin
12. Women’s Leadership in the South African Labor Movement 245
Neva Seidman Makgetla
13. Women-Only Unions and Women Union Leaders in Japan 265
Kaye Broadbent
14. Demanding Their Rights: LGBT Transnational Labor Activism 289
Suzanne Franzway and Mary Margaret Fonow
15. Ne’er the Twain Shall Meet? Reflections on the Future
of Feminism and Unionism 309
Jennifer Curtin
About the Contributors 325
Index 329
FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
Figure 7.1. Structure of the International Labour Organization. 160
Figure 7.2. Women Delegates at the International Labour
Conference (%). 161
Figure 7.3. Women Delegates at the International Labour
Conference, 2000–2009 (%) 162
Figure 9.1. PSI Executive Board Titular Members before and
after 2002 Congress. 197
Figure 9.2. Presidents and General Secretaries of PSI Affiliates. 199
Figure 9.3. Participation in PSI Education Programs by Gender. 200
Figure 12.1. Employment and Share Earning over R1500 per
Month by Broad Sector and Gender, 2005. 252
Figure 12.2. Employment by Gender and Occupation, 2005. 252
Figure 12.3. Employment Density by Gender and Industry, 2005. 253
Figure 12.4. Time Spent on Home Work and Childcare by
Gender and Employment Status, 2000. 254
Figure 12.5. Participation in Union Meetings, Elections, and
Educational Programs by Gender, 2005. 256
Figure 12.6. Participation in Other Organizations by Gender and
Race, 2005. 256
Figure 12.7. Reasons Given for Low Levels of Women in Union
Leadership by Gender and Age, 2005. 257
Figure 12.8. What Workers Want from the Employer, 2005. 258
Figure 12.9. Perceptions of Discrimination in the Workplace
by Gender, 2005. 259
vii
FIGURES AND TABLES
viii
TABLES
Table 1.1. Summary of Civil, Political, and Social Rights of
Citizenship 3
Table 2.1. Balance Sheet of Globalization 5
Table 2.1. International Conventions on Women’s Social/
Economic Rights, Year of Ratification, Selected
MENA Countries 32
Table 4.1. Women’s Presence in the Different Sectors and
within Unions 77
Table 4.2. Men and Women on Union Boards, 2001 83
Table 4.3. Women and the UGTT Congress in 2002 84
Table 4.4. Women in Decision Making Within the Unions’
Intermediary and Higher-level Structures
(2002–2006) 84
Table 4.5. Women’s Representation Within Intermediary
Structures, 2002 85
Table 4.6. Representation of Women Within Local Federations
in Different Sectors With a High Number of
Women (2005–2006) 86
Table 8.1. Women and Men by Occupation 175
Table 8.2. Membership of 10 Largest U.K. Unions, 2003 176
Table 8.3. Women General Secretaries 177
Table 8.4. Women as Percent of National Executive
Committee Members 178
Table 8.5. Women as Percent of TUC Delegation 179
Table 8.6. Women as Percent of National Full-Time Officers 181
Table 8.7. Women as Percent of Regional Full-Time Officers 182
Table 8.8. Women as Percent of Branch Officials and
Workplace Representatives, 2003 183
Table 12.1. Women Leadership in Large COSATU Affiliates, 2005 248
Table 12.2. Pay, Benefits, and Conditions for Women and
Men Workers, 2005 251
FIGURES AND TABLES
ix
Table 12.3. Perception of Influence Over Shop Stewards and
Response to Efforts to Contact a Union by
Gender, 2005 255