Slide 1Ups and Downs of UnionsTrade UnionismWhat has it taken for Women to become labor activists?Sonia OliviaSlide 6Society and Gender from Olivia’s ViewClass and GenderClass and GenderWomen in the WorkforceWorking ConditionsWork and SocietyStart of a Union (1975)Start of a Union (1975) cont.Society at this timeDangerous StrugglesDangerous Struggles cont.As a result…As a result….Women’s InvolvementMaternal Politics?Slide 22Slide 23Mothers or Feminists?ConclusionsWritten by: Deborah Levinson-EstradaPresented by: Sam PfannensteinUps and Downs of Unions1954- States de facto policyUsed terror to get rid of political activityLate 1950-1960Industrial growthRebuilt trade unionismMid 1970Industrial growth was concentratedLarge influential labor movementsCall for revolutionary changeState responds by redoubling terrorEnd of 1980Most urban working class leaders were dead or in exileIndustry had declinedTrade UnionismDominated by menOppose or try to control women’s involvementTrade unionism, militancy, and solidarity seen as masculineStrong sense of masculinity, worth, honor and courageEmpowers them in situation of extreme stressWhat has it taken for Women to become labor activists?Deborah looks at the experience of a 1970s union leader, Sonia OliviaHistory of this union at a Japanese-owned ACRICASA thread factorySonia OliviaSmall village in Eastern GuatemalaParents separatedFather was a peasant, mother didn’t live with themOlivia did all the houseworkMoved in with AuntWanted to further education and there was no high school in the areaAunt refused to let her go to schoolMade her work as a cashier during day and clean house at nightMoved into boardinghouse with a friendShe was working and could support herselfAble to attend night schoolSonia OliviaOlivia then left school to work in the thread factoryWas able to get involved in the union because… “There was no one at home to stop me, a woman..no husband, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law. I was alone.”Society and Gender from Olivia’s ViewAwareness of the oppressive nature of gender roles and ideologiesShe had to be “alone” outside of gender relations in order to be an activistViolation of women’s ascribed role in the householdHer mother rather than her father left the homeOlivia left the home to go out and workPaid work as liberatingOlivia was able to support herselfGave her the chance to leave her aunt and live on her ownAble to get an educationClass and Gender Women gain status and worth for the accomplishments within the homeMen gain status and worth through social and economic value of workingBUT….Class and Activism complicate these idealsThere is a gap between the real and ideal self of men and women in working class and poor families in GuatemalaClass and GenderThe secret is out! Women and children are actually the breadwinners and the fathers often abandon themWhen the father loses his job it is the mother that holds the family togetherWorking class families live in the gray area of gender constructionActivism demanded an intellectual and world clarity that went beyond gender constructionsWomen in the Workforce1970s- many women worked for wages outside the homeDomestic servants, school teachers, factoriesUnderstood women’s work outside the home to be temporaryEspecially factory workMale work; not an extension of the women’s caretaking roleWorking ConditionsContrast between how the machines and workers were treated“The machines got everything they needed to function twenty-four hours a day without hitches or failures, but we did not”Poor conditions not specific to womenLow pay, 12 hr shifts, lack of face masks for dust, no transportation to the plantPoor conditions specific to womenAbsence of toilets, supervisors slapped them, felt vulnerable at night, pregnant women had to walk excessively, some were sexually abusedWork and SocietyThe fact that women were in the workforce showed a breakdown in the male’s breadwinning capacityManagers sexually harassed womenStole male workers masculinityMen rushed to defend women and their masculinityNot outrage about the abuse, mad about them messing with their class’ womenClass struggle over women’s bodiesLine between protect and possess is thinAllowed women to join unions to protect women and to keep them in their placeStart of a Union (1975)Men started organizing a unionOpened leadership up to a womanOnly because several men were fired after a spy infiltrated their secret meetingsWomen were selected for the committee because there weren’t nine men willing to risk being union officialsWoman resigned next day because her husband and mother made herSo they appointed OliviaIf they wanted a union they had to accept womenStart of a Union (1975) cont.Secured an injunction against company to prevent firings>100 workers, most of them women, joined the unionUnion was off and runningTook 9 months to get recognition, and another 15 months to get a contractDuring this time women were hard at work employing tactics to pressure management to negotiateCrowded into managers office, brief illegal strikes, painted signs inside the plant and on managers carsFinally won a contract in 1977But had to pressure the company to abide by itSociety at this timeGrowth of a capitalist industry and agriculture under a terrorist stateState, national, and foreign companies gave unions troubleUnion members engaged in dangerous struggles to win minimal demandsDangerous StrugglesMarch 1977- Workers night shift strikeRefusal of the company to pay overtimeOlivia wasn’t working but wanted to join the strike Scaled an 8 ft wall and jumped to the ground while 6 months pregnantThree months later- Seize factoryForce compliance with the union contractOlivia grabbed her days old son and rushed to the factoryRiot police surrounded the factoryThreatened to use tear gas, but then worker threatened to blow up whole factory and the riot police backed offCamped inside for 15 days until company agreedDangerous Struggles cont.Union LeafletsHelped other workersExposed injustices in the workplaceSpoke about more than unions and workplacesSupported the growing Sandinista struggle in