CIRCULAR NO. 26/87/2011/4 March 7, 2011
CIRCUALR TO ALL UNITS & MEMBERS
Dear Comrades,
As all of us are aware that 8th March, 2011 marks the 101st International Women’s Day. Throughout the world, the Day is being observed focusing the issues and concerns about of the conditions of women in our society.
Working women’s movement had started as early as industrialization. In the industries, migrant women were employed in large numbers from the second half of the 19th century. But they were forced to work under very severe working conditions. Their working period was about sixteen hours a day. Young girls even from age of 5 years onwards to 12-14 years were made to work. Their wages were very very low. The workplace atmosphere was very dangerous. Number of protests started and in the early 20th century number of women workers’ strikes increased.
In 1908 about 30,000 women in a shirt waist manufacturing company had come on streets in the severe winter of December, in Manhattan, Newyork. Their main demand was to allow them to have a union, and other major demand was for 10 hours working day. The women were treated ruthlessly, they were lathi charged and firing took place. Many were killed. Soon after that there was fire accident in one of two factories and as there was no escape or exit possibility about 125 women workers were killed. During the same period the suffrage movement for the voting right of women was going on all over the world.
In 1910, at Copenhagen, the 2nd Conference of the Socialist Women took place, wherein, the T.U. leader Com. Clara Jatkin had proposed to observe a day in memory of the working women struggles as “International working women Day”. The day was ultimately fixed as 8th March. Initially the workers and trade unions in some countries started celebrating the day. But today, the Day is being observed globally and internationally.
It is an occasion to highlight the inseparable role of women in human development and the need to continue and intensify our struggle against inequities, inequalities and injustices suffered by women. A society cannot be said to be progressing if the women in that society are suppressed. But even in this modern era, women continue to be subjected to all types of exploitation. As an inevitable effect and result of capitalist globalization policies, women are increasingly being commercially commodified. Women are denied their due share in the society.
Ø Today 1.2 billion of the world's 2.9 billion workers are women (40%).
Ø While women are massively moving into the labour market, more and more women are being pushed into informal/unorganized/contract/casual/daily labour in indecent work conditions with very low wages/earnings. They are integrated under the worse conditions with low payment and low working status remaining at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy and they also tend to have unsafe working conditions, something that serves as tool for the attack against labour rights.
Ø Poverty is increasingly feminized. Women are 60 % of the world's working poor people.
Ø More women than ever before are unemployed (81.8 million). They are mostly stuck in low productivity jobs such as agriculture, the field of services and the informal sector.
Ø Women are submitted to intense discrimination and they are paid lower salaries than men even for the same job. Globally, women earn 20-30 % less than men.
Ø Maternity protection for vast numbers of working women is barely guaranteed and working women who become pregnant are faced with the threat of losing their jobs, suspended earnings and increased health risks due to inadequate working conditions.
Ø Women are increasingly migrating, both legally and illegally, seeking for better employment. They represent almost 50% of all international immigrants and they are among the most vulnerable group exposed to exploitation and abuse.
Ø Women are being trafficked for prostitution and leisure including young girls between the ages 7 year to 14 years. This is happening within the countries and across the borders.
A society which suppresses women cannot progress. It is not charity but a fundamental duty to ensure that women’s rights are upheld and ensured.
While women in general suffer, working women face innumerable problems like unequal emoluments, harassment at workplace, lack of social security measures, denial of maternity leave benefits, etc. Working women have not only to be integrated more and more into active trade unionism, but problems of working women should be consistently and earnestly taken up and fought by the trade unions.
With greetings,
Yours Comradely,
C.H. VENKATACHALAM
GENERAL SECRETARY
Theme for International Women's Day 2011:
EQUAL ACCESS TO EDUCATION, TRAINING AND
EQUAL ACCESS TO EDUCATION, TRAINING AND
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
PATHWAY TO DECENT WORK FOR WOMEN