An exciting new book with a vision of the new South Africa.

Sharing

the Load'

An exciting new book with a vision of the

new South Afr ica.

Women

and

men workers

,

shop·

stewards and union officials from the

South

African Commercial,catering and Allied Workers

Union

(SACCAWU) speak 0t1l in this book about their struggle for gender equality, parental rights and

ehilclcare.

Strugg le a nd vteto ry

The book is

rich

in workers' experiences. Workers and union officials tell oftheir lives of struggle and challenge to build the union since early 1970's. They leM of

the

^fight by

wor1c.ers

for

their

rights:

the

right 10 organise as workers In trade unions, the right

to

decem wages and won<;ing conditions, the right lor workers

to be parents .

In the 19 70's women workers

who

became

pregnant ^W8f8 not

pr otected. H

they

did

not

lose

their

}obs,

they

were l orcecl to wOOc

under WHY difficult

conditions. Women workers tell of these painful and de sperate times · no job security and being forced to leave a tiny baby al

home 10 go back 10 WOfX.

The Joke was on the ee. . . .

Tha book lells 01how the union's demand for

8 maternity agreement was first tre ated as a

joke

by OK Bazaars

bosse

s. They said it

was 8 'ridiculous demand',

The

workers didn't think so. After a bitter struggle,

maternity agreements were signed in

the

early 1980's with OK Bazaars, CNA and

W oolworth

s.

This was a real breakthrough.

Women worker s were protect ed from losing their jobs when they became pregnant. They were guaranteed their jobs back when they came back from their

1 2

^{months unpaid}

matemity leave.

But

^{that was}

not

^enough.

The union asked many qUM tions. What use was unpaid leave? Why should women be punished for having babies? In fact,

aa

why should women be the ones 10 carry the load ofchildren and housewor1<?

No such th ing a. "women's

work'?

The

union challenged the idea of c:hildcare and housework being 'Women'. work', They saw lhal lhis was par1 of women's

oppressk>n.

TheylaW thai men

have a

responsibility to share the lcad . of children

and

housework. Fathers as well as mothers have the right to be perents • to time off at the time

of

the birth, and to time off to see to their children when they are sick or in need.

This was the beginning ofthe demand for and winning some parental rights.

SACCA'NU lorged ahead.

The

book tells of how the union did this.

The home front

The

book is also a s10ry aboul love.

Josephine Sithole

and hef

husband

Chrislopher begaII

lo

have problems

in their marriage because Josephine was getting invotved

in

hef union. Christopher talks

'Sh.lng1"- L.otld' ••

_Joint

^{pubUCIlion by}

Lu ." andTelCh, SACCAWUand LACOM. To buy_

c:opy .end RS.OO 10Learn.ndTUC:h Publlc:al.lofll, PO Box 11M,JohannMburg 2000.

"Fathe,.

a. we"a.

^mother.

h.ve

a

right

to

rime

0" at

^{the time}

of

a birth

and to tim.

0"

^{to . . . to}

their children

when

they ar• • /ck orIn need.-

-Today tMre ar . few men who .h.,.., butIn ten )9ar. time the,.. will

b e

man y

more, '

about how he feh at the time: "I knew things were

not

right with Josephine and me ... Ifell like I

wes nt

important to her anymore. She was spending so much time with the union peopl e and when she came home she only had time lor the children. Ileh confu sed · while

I

knew

I

was not playing my part with the kids

and

the

housework, I was

hurting

inside. I felt I had lost con:roI

of my

wife, my family, and my house."

Josephine and Chrislopher talk about how they sorted things OUI

between

them.

How to put

word .

In10actlon?

The

book lakes a hard and clear look at how women are oppressedin

society,

and -.try this has led 10 sofew women

in

lead ershi p

positions 81: all levels in the union. It also

points

to the fact that real equality means having 10 change many things

so

that women can be equals, both in union life and in home life. In this chapter many problems are raised, and possible ways 01solving them are writt en

a eect.

Georgina MbiJeni, whowas interviewed

in the

book spoke

at

the launch of the book in

Johannes burg recently. She

said:

With time allthese

things

that ate being started

wi.

^{work. h is stil a}

new

^{idea, but}

people

wiI get

used

to the idea and accept

it

Today thel"e are f _ men wl'lo share, but in 10 years time thel'e wiI

be

many morer

A book 01 hope and debate

SACCA'NU hopes the book will raise debate. This il certainly will do. It is a

boo k

of challenge and inspiration. It puts gender equality on the agenda and is valuable for anybody involved in the struggle for human rights.o

23 _SPEAK