Doesn’t Matter It’s Left or Right, Trade Union Treats Women Inferior

The unionization rate amongst the male workers is 10% and female workers is 4%. 90% of trade union members are male and only 10% of the members are female.

Trade unions’ chairmen think that “discussing female problems and feminism is going extreme and these problems are the result of thousands of years.” Only sexual harassment comes to their minds when you say female problems.

Regulations of Petrol-İş and Turkey Journalists’ Union (TGS) attributes to gender problems.

Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş) has an ineffective female bureau and it doesn’t have any regulation. Türk-İş is still an androcentric confederation.  

Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK) has a female director in its management. It seems like DİSK cares women. However, they don’t do what need to be done and they are just repeating again and again these problems in the final declarations. They don’t bring these decisions into action.

The Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions (HAK-İŞ) identifies women as traditional status like mother and wife and its policy is suchlike.

These statements belong to the research “Women without Trade Union, Trade Union without Women” of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Betül Urhan from Kocaeli University.

Women’s Solidarity Foundation (KADAV) held a meeting today “Women Organization, problems and Models”. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Betül Urhan, discussed androcentric trade unions and female problems in trade unions. Urhan stated that the most  important factor was the quality of employment for female unionization and this quality affected the position of women in the workplace, her relationship with the union and so the approach against the women in union.

Meeting started with Serap Güre from KADAV. Nebile Irmak, Turkey Public Service Workers’ Union (Genel-İş) Building Workers Branch Chairperson, said “If women gets equal representation in unions, both workers and the labor will be free” and reminded that after the sexual harassment case happened in Movie Industry Workers’ Union (SİNE-SEN), the harasser was protected and the rape victim female was dismissed. Irmak stressed that unions and confederations female branches’ activities are only limited to International Women’s Day and International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

There was one female branch director in 1995, there are two in 2015.

Prof. Dr. Meryem Koray  from Yıldız Technical University compared the results of researches about trade unions in 1995 with the result of Urhan’s research.

Koray said “I saw two differences when I read Betül Urhan’s research after years. In 1995, two unions had nonfunctional female commissions; now the number increased. In 1995, there was one female branch director, now there are two.”

Women are seen as the reason of inequality

Urhan said that trade union’s policy was “Male workers first, female workers come second” and told that organizations were ignorant about gender.

Headlines from Betül Urhan are as below:

* Patriarchal postulates determine the approach of women against the unions.

* Positions of men and women in union, gender of union have basis of power relations between men and women.

Union managers identify women as her maternal position. This is the mutual perspective of union managers. It doesn’t matter if it is leftist or rightist.

* Women are seen as the reason of inequality.

* There is a hostility against feminism. Union managers say “Feminist discussions go extreme, the main problem is capitalist system and inequality is a result of three thousand years.” This hostility challenges feminist policies which include instant interventions against the inequality in the community and unions.

These expressions present the unions’ silence and unwillingness about female problems. They are giving intangible examples for the reason of the inequality. Male managers agree that the reason of inequality is not the trade unions. (ÇT/BD)