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Page context: Home > Transport International Magazine > Issue 35 - April 2009 > On track for equality
Where do women work in the railway industry?
Women railway workers tend to be concentrated in administration, sales and marketing, as well as cleaning and catering, according to data collected by the ITF railway workers’ section. There is a minority of women in core technical and operational functions such as driving, signalling, and shunting, with higher levels of women in these positions in passenger rail as compared to freight. In some countries, there are no women in these occupations. There are some women in supervisory and management positions, but they will often struggle to get these positions.
What are the barriers for women working in the rail industry?
In some railway occupations the working conditions are not practical for women. For example, rail freight drivers spend a long time away from home, making these jobs in the industry unattractive for women. There can also be a lack of awareness about the opportunities available to women in the industry.
At the ITF meeting in Brazil, several delegates reported that barriers existed to stop women from working in certain roles, even when women wanted to work in these occupations. These barriers can be:
What role do women play in unions?
The poor representation of women in the rail industry as a whole is reflected in women’s representation in union structures: there are a lot of activists in lower and middle positions but few in the higher positions and union leadership roles. Women are also absent from union bargaining teams.
Steps have been taken to change this. In some countries, clear policy decisions have been made to introduce equity targets for employment. At the ITF meeting in December, delegates from Spain, Canada and South Africa reported that legislation had been introduced on equal opportunities for women and men.
In South Africa, employment equity law requires management to consult on setting targets for improved representation of women at all levels of employment. ITF affiliate SATAWU is active in this process. According to data supplied by the union, 29.3 per cent of passenger drivers (or 259 out of 885 drivers) and 16 per cent of freight drivers (or 441 out of 2,749 drivers) are women.
What kind of discrimination do women face?
Although provisions for maternity leave and pay exist in many countries, as well as procedures for alternative duties during pregnancy, these are not always effective. Some delegates at the ITF meeting highlighted that often transferring to “light duty” means a loss of overtime pay and mobile bonuses (for those in mobile positions such as locomotive drivers). Because of this, many women delay declaring their pregnancy. Often, the “light duty” is not productive and so women often end up being required to report for work but doing nothing for months. Even with legislative provisions, the reality can often depend on the company and local management response. When women do return to work there are sometimes no promotion opportunities or the role is no longer practical.
Unions also report that other forms of discrimination exist in the railways. These include work and family life balance, provision of toilet facilities and employment practices where female job applicants are obliged to disclose their marital status and whether they have children at their job interview. Hidden discrimination also occurs, as women are more likely to be employed part-time or as contract workers, leading to a gender pay gap.
Violence and sexual harassment are also significant workplace issues in the railway industry for women. According to results from the 2007 ITF gender equality testing survey, 50 per cent of railway respondents said workplace policies or agreements on sexual harassment were in place; however, one third said there was no training on using the policies for employees; only 22 per cent said managers were trained, and only 39 per cent said that the company took swift action in cases of sexual harassment.
How are changes to the industry affecting women?
Privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation continue to affect the railways around the world. Restructuring can often mean that the roles traditionally taken by women – the non core functions such as cleaning and catering, which are lower paid and less skilled – are threatened by redundancy or outsourcing to subcontractors, who often have little regard for labour law, working conditions and pay. When women are unable to be as flexible as men, due to family responsibilities, they are more vulnerable. The trend for this restructuring and outsourcing counteracts the increase in the number of women coming into the industry.
“As a result of the restructuring process, there are now five separate independent companies and it is difficult to move from one company to another,” reported the delegate from Croatia at the meeting. This was echoed by the delegate from Sweden who explained that there were now 40 or 50 companies, which were often small, and so there were no opportunities for career progression.
Gema Perujo Corcobado, CCOO, SpainHas the union managed to organise the increasing amount of women rail workers? Yes, the union has managed to organise them, and that is why the union has power of negotiation with the contractors (private companies). Having people with responsibility in the union has made it possible to carry out collective bargaining. We have improved working conditions, therefore workers have a better quality of life and this is why so many women have joined the union. In Spain there is a lack of union culture among the youth, so this makes it difficult, but due to the progress we have achieved in improving working conditions, membership has increased, especially among women. When the membership process started, were there any women in leadership posts in the union? No. It has been a gradual process: at the beginning women started attending negotiating meetings, then women had access to positions of responsibility inside the union, not in management. This gave us a boost and women workers were able realise that there is an important fight for them. What can be done to promote organisation and a more active participation of women in the union? Information and training during working hours are essential. In Spain, training always takes place outside working hours, in which case only men attend. I think information and training during working hours and skills are very important. Karina Benemérito, Unión Ferroviaria, ArgentinaWhat are the gender issues in the Argentinean railways? There is equality in terms of salary and working conditions. However, the railways in Argentina are structured into different areas and only men can access some of those areas. It is very hard to include women in areas that have always been fully operated by men only. What areas are difficult for women to work in? The operational area, not only because of the timetable (it is normally required to work at night), but because of the service; only men can cover these positions. It is hard to include women in an area where there are only men. These places would need to be adapted to meet women’s needs. Also, we are trying to make progress to improve the general treatment of women and remove discrimination. Has the situation improved? It is improving. When I started working for Roca in 1994-95, women covered administrative positions only (ticket sales). Nowadays, women are included in operative groups, where they work on the train as ticket inspectors and can be promoted. Has the union helped in achieving this change? Yes, and we are still working hard on this. An important work is being done together with the union’s women’s department to address gender and equality issues, and we are trying to make progress on discrimination and violence issues. How many women participate in the union? There were 100 women in the union in 2006 and 300 in 2007. There is a total of 800-900 women in the whole railway. In 2002-3 the “ley de cupo femenino” [law on women’s quotas] was approved. According to this law at least 33 per cent of the workforce must be female, and at present this quota is below 8 per cent. In Roca there are 50 delegates and only four of them are women. We are trying to reach the 33 per cent quota as there are a lot of women willing to participate. |
What can the ITF and its affiliates do?
Unions have a key role in challenging the negative effects of globalisation. An important part of this must be to promote gender equality. At the ITF meeting in December, delegates agreed a series of action points that address the issues raised during discussion at the meeting and also identify different tools to do this.
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Issue 35 - April 2009
Other pages for Issue 35 - April 2009:
Gaza relief effort | Climate change | Hebei Two campaign | Murder at sea | Young workers | European Works Council | Power to the workers | Book review | Leading by example | Working life | In this issue
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