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Uruguay: Women in precarious jobs

By Cristina Canoura

Montevideo, August.– Women take four every ten jobs generated in the last three months and are paid wages that account for 70 percent of men’s, as shown in a recent report by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Based on a national household survey conducted in early 2006, the document included people over 14 years of age who said to be employed or have worked at least for an hour in the week prior to the study.

Entitled A review of job seniority, the report included underemployed people who were working less than 40 hours a week, had precarious jobs and wanted to work longer.

Six out of ten people who had been working for less than a quarter were not making any contribution to social security; half of those who had been working for less than two quarters were making no contribution at all; and only one out of four who had worked for over two years made some contribution.

In the labor market, women were being discriminated against, INIE experts corroborated.

The local unemployment rate in the first half of 2007 stood at 9.7 percent of the economically active population.

There were over 1.3 million working-age women in a 3.2-million-inhabitant country. A total of 715,500 were actually involved in the labor market. There were 622,000 women employed and 94,700 unemployed. They accounted for six percent of the overall unemployment rate.

A precarious situation

INE data show that women are taking 43.5 percent of the jobs generated in the last three months. Two every three jobs are related to trade and services. Most of them have been created in the food, timber, paper, construction and hospitality industries.

One every five jobs were generated in trade and have been taken mostly by women. One every seven were created in domestic service, where the minimum monthly wage is 3,150 pesos (125 dollars). It is 20 percent lower if they are given lunch or dinner.

The minimum monthly wage for domestic servants in rural areas is 1,700 pesos (68 dollars). These workers account for 30 percent of wage-earning women. Over 80 percent of them work under precarious conditions, said Alma Espino and Paola Azar. These economists had conducted a study on the economic opening process and gender relations in Uruguay, which was published in 2002.

There are no data available on the actual number of wage-earning women in the areas of trade and domestic service.

Sweatshops: A dream cut short

By Sara Lovera

Mexico City, August.– There was a long line on Friday. Many men were waiting for women to arrive and pay admission at the entrance to the local ballroom. Women had stable jobs and promising dreams: supporting their families, buying houses, being further trained and getting organized.

They had left their hometowns in the south for the Mexico-U.S. border with the hope of changing their lives, their traditional status of oppressed women.

This was the case in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the western border, back in 1997. The first sweatshops were established 40 years ago in this city and Juárez (Chihuahua) under the name of Export-Oriented Industries (IME). They provided steady jobs mostly to women, paid higher wages and organized special training courses for them.

"Our little hands were very pretty", Margarita recalled. She worked in Nogales (Sonora). "We were then many, young and cheap. We are just a few, old and expensive today", she added.

These industries grew fast, with women accounting for 90 percent of the labor force. The dream came to an end in 2007, when they started to account for 51 percent and men for the remaining 49 percent. There is fierce competition between them in terms of capacities and skills. There are not so many possibilities, opportunities and benefits today.

The economic crisis and the unsuccessful export model have led to temporary, part-time jobs. Collective work contracts and union organizations have vanished.

Women have been confined to clothing plants. Agustina had worked for 20 years at a sweatshop in Izúcar de Matamoros (Puebla). She shows us her withered hands today. She is now working 12 hours a day rather than 40 hours a week. "My health condition is getting worse", she added.

"I had to go to the doctor because I was suffering with my nerves", she stressed. Matamoros Garment used to be a Korean company, but it is now being managed by an American, she commented.

The number of women workers has dropped after sweatshops moved from clothing to electronic, automotive-part and harness productions. While men are now plant operators, supervisors and mechanics, women are back into production lines, as was the case at the beginning.

María Eugenia de la O, specialist at the Social Anthropology Research Center, and Cirila Quintero, director of the College of the Northern Border, told WNS that women at sweatshops today are experiencing the same problems as women at other workplaces: segregation, precarious conditions and no social benefits.

Sweatshops are no longer intended for women. Statistical data show that the number of men and women working there is practically the same. Women account for 70 percent of total labor only in Matamoros (Tamaulipas), she added.

"Over 122,000 jobs at these facilities were eliminated in the 2003-2006 period. This situation affected 17.6 percent of men and 21.1 percent of women", De la O stressed.

Has there been a real change?, WNS asked Cirila. Well, the plants are prettier, cleaner and more security- and hygiene-conscious than in the past, but women's status remains the same. They are still being segregated, discriminated against and ranking very low, she answered.

An overview

Local export-oriented sweatshops have moved from the border to the central and western regions of the country. There are over 3,500 facilities at 17 states, from Tijuana to Yucatan.

The plants that are involved in electronics take 33 percent of labor; those in transportation, 22 percent; and those in textiles, 14 percent. The initial idea in 1965 had been to implement a re-industrialization program on the border and, some years later, to generate new jobs in the region and produce for the domestic market. "The actual aim has always been to recruit cheap labor and seek fiscal incentives and government facilities", De la O emphasized.

"These facilities moved to the south in the 1980s and recruited women for production only", she recalled.

"The patriarchal model has remained unchanged. Women speak today of double shifts, oppressive atmospheres and globalization", she added.

Health and rights

Human Rights Watch indicated that plant owners are making 29 billion dollars in profits a year. They often break the law and ask women to take pregnancy tests before they are employed. This has been the case at assembly shops in Tijuana, for example.

Dr. Mónica Jassis, director of the Women's Center in La Paz, told WNS that a survey that had involved 480 women workers in Tijuana in 2005 showed that they were facing really high health risks.

At electronics plants, for instance, they were and still are exposed to diluents, acids, welding vapors, poor ventilation, compulsory positions, (sitting, crooked or standing) and repetitive work for over eight hours. They often have low-weight children. One every five women has never had preventive tests and two thirds have never had Papanicolau (cytological) tests performed on them.

Working conditions

Gustavo Castro Soto, a specialist at the community-based Economic and Political Research Center, told WNS that people are living under extreme poverty conditions in Reynosa (Tamaulipas), where there are 170 plants under operation. "These facilities only accept women under 35 years of age, and some hire 13-year-old girls", he added.

They are not allowed to go drink water. While a worker is given five minutes to go to the washroom, another one is supposed to do her work.

"If they fail to meet daily production plans, they are fired", said Socorro Chablé, director of the Human and Labor Rights Defense and Promotion Center. "There are 71 export-oriented sweatshops all over the state. Most of them are engaged in clothing", she added.

Sweatshops in Yucatan had in the past hired more men than women, but they are now recruiting similar numbers. Introduced in 1985, these facilities totaled 300 when they boomed in the region.

"Many plants have been closed down and local workers have been left unprotected because there have been no other jobs generated for them", she indicated.

The so-called China-United States multi-fiber agreement has made it possible for the Asian giant to be more competitive than other nations. Chinese export quotas had in the past been restricted by the World Trade Organization, she recalled.

"This agreement has dealt a heavy blow on many countries, especially Mexico. And women are the first ones to get fired", she concluded.

Oil industry: A traditionally male-dominated sector is being taken over by women

By Helen Álvarez V.

La Paz, August.– Oil-related issues are discussed in economic, social, political and cultural quarters. Any effort at improving living conditions or promoting industrialization depends on increased oil production and export.

There are just a few women involved in oil production, however. The sector is still male-dominated, but such hegemony is not absolute, said Tania Aillón, a sociologist who wrote a book entitled Oil monopolies in Bolivia. Women are beginning to hold managerial positions, she indicated.

She is currently a professor at San Simón University and a PhD student at the University of Paris-Nanterre.

She spent a year (2006) at camps of Andina and Chaco oil companies. The former had no women involved in production and the latter had one working as a plant operator.

The same applies to PetroBras-Bolivia. Engineer Carla Armijo told WNS that there are more women than men working in management and more men than women in production. They have been trained for different areas, she added.

Engineer Milka Hinojosa recalled that she had been the only woman in her class. She graduated from San Andrés University in 1986. Although she had wanted to specialize in drilling, she was forced to take deposit research.

Women in oil engineering

The number of women being trained as oil engineers has been growing since 1982 at the universities of San Andrés in La Paz and Gabriel René Moreno in Santa Cruz.

As the oil industry has been booming, five private universities like Aquino (Udabol) have featured the specialty.

Udabol academic director Ramiro Cordero told WNS that men have traditionally accounted for 80 percent of total.

"We have 40 percent of women this year, stressed Claudia Llanos, a system engineer now working at the university. Women students are more responsible and do better than men", she added.

"We have women professors teaching chemistry, topography, deposit research and structural geology", she commented.

Apprenticeships

As Canada is providing aid to promote women's involvement in various professional sectors, the local Oil Ministry and other agencies are further training young women engineers, said Isabel Chopitea, director of the Ministry’s Exploration and Production Division.

She has held this position since last April, but has worked in the ministry for over five years.

"Young engineers take up managerial tasks, mostly control activities, when they go to camps", she added.

Chopitea feels that, when production volumes grow, there will be more women involved in the process. There is one woman every 10 men today at Bolivian Oil Deposits (YPFB).

While she was working at camps, Aillón shared views with university students under placement.

Chopitea believes that new policies will probably be formulated to fight labor discrimination at privately owned companies, which usually prefer to recruit men. "I was not even considered for some posts because I had just had my baby", she recalled.

Some companies do not let you make a decision. If you have a baby, you better look after him/her, they often say.

Laundrywomen and cooks

Oil production demands long stays at camps. One of the companies where Aillón conducted a study asks its workers to stay 21 consecutive days at the camp and 21 days at home. The other one asks them to work for two weeks and take another two weeks off. "This is not feasible for women who have children or families to support", she said.

"While there are just a few women professionals working for these companies, young girls are often recruited for cleaning, food preparation and washing", she corroborated.

Chopitea feels that this is in keeping with social traditions that promote the idea of women being good cooks, even away from home.

Oil companies usually recruit girls aged 18 to 22 who leave their children with their mothers. They work for three days in a row and take one day off, and are often exposed to sexual harassment and prostitution.

Aillón stressed that men make up 90 percent of the labor force and women, the remaining 10 percent. "Companies should not allow any type of sexual relations between workers", she commented.

Discrimination and self-discrimination

The People’s Defense Office accepted a claim by an oil engineer who graduated from Santa Cruz despite her professors’ attempts at discouraging her.

She found it difficult to get a job. She was only given the opportunity to work in offices rather than out in the field. Her current salary is lower than that of her colleagues.

A government report indicated in 2004 that professional women were earning half of the money made by men in identical jobs. No updated data are available.

"Salaries at state-run institutions are defined by categories rather than by gender", Chopitea remarked.

"PetroBras’ salaries do not change according to sex or any other non-professional consideration", Armijo stressed.

Chopitea highlighted the fact that many women self-discriminate because they do not compete with men. "There is one woman every 20 men applying for jobs at our ministry", she commented. "However, a woman is about to be recruited because of her merits", she added.

"While some women working in the field are willing to do strong physical effort, others are not. This negatively affects the former", she stressed.

"I was laughed at when I began working in the sector 16 years ago. Therefore, I urge women to persevere", Hinojosa concluded.

Peru: Working really hard

By Julia Vicuña Y.

Lima, August.– She walks slowly. She has gained weight (over 20 kilos). She will give birth to a girl within three weeks at a social-security hospital and have one of each. "Fortunately, my husband has health insurance coverage. I work for a fee and have no benefits", Laura told WNS.

"I have, for eight years, been working 11 hours a day at an ophthalmologic clinic in Lima. I am saving money to set up a business at home, she told us quietly. I will make more money and look after my children. I spend the 600 soles (190 dollars) I earn here on daily bus fare and snack", she added.

Fee receipts are payment checks to be delivered by individual workers at the time of getting paid for services provided. This is a formal obligation for taxpayers and a right of customers and buyers under a process regulated by the National Taxation Office.

Former Labor Minister Fernando Villarán wrote an article entitled an agenda item for the next government: promoting good employment. He indicated that the main problem faced by the local population is inappropriate employment.

Only one every three Peruvians manages to get a well-paid job, and two every three are unemployed, underemployed or recruited by the informal sector.

Over 70 percent of the population works in small-sized companies (having two to nine workers each), is self-employed or works for the family.

Labor exploitation, however, is more clearly seen in agriculture. While production is steadily growing, workers are given inhumane treatment, especially in asparagus cultivation. This is a leading export item.

Women’s manual skills make them ideal for this crop. They work 10 hours a day, starting at 4:00 a.m., despite severity of weather.

Agricultural workers are paid lower wages than industry workers and are entitled to half of vacations and one third of compensation when they get fired, stressed Karim Flores, head of the Labor-Policy Department at Aurora Vivar Association.

Labor standards under the legislation in force will be in effect until 2021. "The Peruvian State is giving priority to productivity and competitiveness over human rights", she added.

"This is extremely discriminatory, goes against the principle of equality under the law and questions International Labor Organization conventions to which Peru is a party", she emphasized.

Social inequality and poverty became all the more evident last August 15, when a terrible earthquake destroyed several cities in Ica, 250 kilometers south of Lima.

Over 50 percent of the local population is poor. Men and women there have no basic rights and are paid extremely low wages. They live under precarious conditions, in houses made of straw and clay blocks.

Ica and Libertad, 500 kilometers north of Lima, are the leading agricultural exporting areas, generating 3.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

Recuadro

Guatemala: Women have the right to vote, but no decision-making power

By Alba Trejo

Guatemala, August.– When local women were asked why they do not run for public positions, they discreetly said that they were afraid of jealous husbands and other people who could speak ill of them. We have completed third grade only, many of them stressed.

These answers did not surprise United Nations staff who conducted a survey showing that there are just a few women holding local-government posts, although they make up 51 percent of a 13-million population.

Both indigenous and mestizo women said that the patriarchal system in place does not make room for them in public life. Most men believe that home is the place where women belong. Most political parties do not promote women’s participation either.

There are practically no women candidates for the next election of the country’s president, congress people and local mayors in September.

The Election Supreme Court reported that only 74 women have been nominated for parliament, as compared to 288 men. While the number of women nominated for local governments was 253, the number of men was 2,076.

There is still political inequality in this country, said Catalina Soberanis, former Education minister, MP and Congress chair.

Out of 158 MPs, merely 14 are women, she exemplified. And only one of them represents indigenous women, despite the fact that the Mayan population amounts to six million, she added.

Out of 331 local government bodies, eight include women councilors and only one is an indigenous person herself.

Rural women have been traditionally marginalized, especially in education. According to the National Institute of Statistics, while 64.1 percent of men are literate, only 48.3 percent of women are.

The country’s mother mortality rate is one of the highest in Latin America (153 women every 100,000 live births).

A report of the United Nations Population Fund indicated that Guatemalan women do not hold decision-making posts in government and political parties.

Women’s participation in political organizations is extremely limited, almost inexistent. There are no legal standards to promote gender equality, it added.

Nineth Montenegro, a human-rights activist who has been an MP over two legislatures representing the leftist New Nation Front party, stressed that Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras and Brazil are the countries of the region with the lowest number of women in parliament.

She has been nominated for Congress. Her party and the Guatemalan Republican Front have nominated 25 women for local governments.

The Grand National Alliance, the National Hope Unity and the Christian Democratic Association have nominated around five women for such posts.

This shows that women, especially indigenous women, are still seen as pure folklore elements, said Carmen Quiej, a Moloj women’s leader.

"Not only mestizo women are being discriminated. Although there are four million inhabitants in 23 Mayan groups, we are not a majority in power posts", she added.

José Dávila, director of the Central American Institute of Political Studies, feels that local women should hold as many posts as men because they stand for a majority in the population.

"We should put an end to the belief that women are second-class citizens and make them really eligible. A democratic government should promote gender equality in the first place", he stressed.

Guatemalan women have had the right to vote since 1945. Illiterates were excluded on that first occasion. All women were given the right to vote in 1965. Guatemala became the first Central American country to allow women to vote.

The Political Association of Moloj Women, the National Revolutionary Front and the Civic and Political Association of Women have coordinated their actions in an effort to overcome the current situation.

Undertaken a week ago, the crusade includes forums, surveys and posters to demand increased women's access to public positions, discourage the use of women’s body in election campaigns and promote informed suffrage.

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean, International News Agency, offers this weekly service. No reproduction without authorization. Any comment o suggestion please contact us: semlac@redsemlac.net