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2 TUC women’s conference

3 Su Patel, chair for 2019

4 women in construction

5 Kendal Bromley-Bewes

6 gender pension gap

7 Kerala and Sudan

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 1959GRAPHIC FROM THE WOMEN’SINTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATICFEDERATION

TUC women 2019NATIONALASSEMBLY OFWOMEN CHAIRANITA WRIGHTTAKES A LOOKAT THEAGENDA FORTHIS YEAR’STUC WOMEN’SCONFERENCE

IT comesas no sur-

prise to findthat, once again, in come in equality, thegender pay gap, poverty and dignity atwork, are top of the agenda at this year’sTUC Women’s Conference.

women and pay inequalityIn 2018, the UK’s estimated average gen-der pay gap for all employees includingthose who work part-time, was 17.1%(Office for National Statistics). Deprivingwomen of the wages they are legitimatelyowed is nothing more than daylight rob-bery, yet employers seem to be gettingaway with it. The introduction in 2016 oflegislation requiring employers to publishtheir gender pay gap showed that 7,795out of 10,016 employers in Britain still paytheir men more than women.The number of women in work is ris-

ing – 78% in 2017 compared to 57% in1975 according to the Institute of FiscalStudies – so it’s even more important thatthe gender pay gap is a top priority forour movement. It is a national scandal that across

Britain women still have to fight for equalpay for work of equal value and whenthey do win, as in the case of theGlasgow City workers, they are some-times accused of being money grabbing.The Glasgow cleaners, carers and cater-ing workers were underpaid by the CityCouncil for 12 years and fully deserveevery penny of their settlement.This is why Unite’s motion on collective

bargaining is so important. For too longthe struggle for equal pay and the repre-sentation of women in some workplaceshas been seen as purely a women’sissue without recognising the widerimpact of work and pay inequality. As theNAPO amendment makes clear: “Womenare more likely to occupy insecure, lowstatus jobs with little or no decision mak-ing authority. Those in such jobs experi-ence higher levels of negative life events,relationship, housing and mental healthproblems, physical and emotional abuse,and reduced social support.”So it time for trade unions to make sure

that women are at the negotiating tablefor all sectoral collective bargaining dis-cussions, not just in workplaces whichwith a majority of women workers.

women in the workplaceWorkers have the right to be treated withdignity in the workplace yet, according to

the recent TUC report, over half of work-ing women experienced sexual harass-ment and/or bullying in their workplace.Despite this four out five women did notreport it to their employer for fear it mightnegatively impact on their work prospectsor relationship in the job. Our silence hasallowed this harassment to persist for fartoo long and it’s not good enough to dis-miss it as a “bit of banter”. Without seri-ously challenging this behaviour it willcontinue for generations to come and weare already seeing this becoming anissue for girls and women teachers inschools and colleges. This is why dele-gates will be asked to support the cre-ation of a ‘gold standard’ complaints pro-cedure that is robust and gives membersconfidence in the process, and campaignto protect women’s rights to respect anddignity at work and the introduction ofcompulsory sexual harassment trainingby employers.Another aspect of harassment is the

way pregnant women workers are treat-ed. A government commissioned reportin 2018 found suggested that 54,000women may lose their job due to preg-nancy or maternity leave every year –that’s one in nine pregnant women whohave been fired, made redundant or feltforced to resign. Although pregnancy andmaternity discrimination is illegal it isclear that the current laws are just notstrong enough to deal with this problem.

women and povertyDespite more women being in work,poverty in Britain is rising. Four millionworkers are living in poverty, a rise ofmore than half a million over five years.This rise in in-work poverty has been dri-ven almost entirely by the increase in thepoverty rate of working parents, particu-larly for lone parents, 91% of who arewomen (Joseph Rowntree Report 2018).We now have nearly half of children inlone-parent families living in poverty andthe introduction of the Universal Creditscheme has made it 10 times worse.Despite it being deeply flawed the gov-ernment seems determined to pushahead which is why the TSSA motioncalls for an immediate halt in the roll-outand an entirely new scheme to be devel-oped.Women are going without food so their

children can eat and malnourished moth-ers are giving birth to underweightbabies. For many women the impact ofpoverty pay and welfare cuts can meanchoosing between food or sanitary wear.A number of trade unions have beencampaigning against Period Povertynotably CWU and Unite and severalmotions for the TUC Women’s Con -ference focus on this issue. The ASLEFmotion commends the Scottish govern-ment for introducing schemes to offeraccess to free period products to lowincome families and in educational insti-tutions and the Welsh government for

ring-fencing £1 million for free sanitaryproducts for those most in need and callson the UK government to follow theirexample.

women’s healthThe World Health Organisation recognis-es that women and girls have specifichealth needs that are different from menand many health systems are failing tomeet the needs of women and girls. Women are the main care givers in our

society, and as such are the custodiansof family health, playing a critical role insupporting other family members includ-ing children, the elderly and disabled.The strength and endurance of women isoften key in keeping a family going.Underfunding of the NHS and mental

health services has led to shortages ofqualified staff including school nurses,midwives, sexual health advisors andpsychologists which in turn means thatmany women and girls are not getting thesupport they require. A recent NHS sur-vey of over 9,000 young people foundnearly one in four young women hasexperienced mental illness. Youngwomen aged 17 to 19 were twice as likelyas young men to suffer; and nearly half ofthose in their late teens with mentalhealth problems had self-harmed orattempted suicide.The International Council on Women’s

Health Issues is right in saying that thephysical and mental health of women andgirls determines the health and well-beingof our modern world which is why weneed to step up the campaign for properfunding levels for our health services.

women and the far rightProlonged periods of austerity and theincreasing gap between rich and poorhas led many people to become disillu-sioned with traditional social democraticparties. This is fertile ground for the far-right and we have seen these forces rein-venting themselves as ‘popularist’ par-ties, most notably in Brazil, Ukraine andItaly. For the first time since 1932Germany now has members of the fascistAlternative for Germany (AfD) elected toits parliament. In such dangerous times,international solidarity is vital which iswhy the UCU is calling for support forBrazilian academics that face growingrestrictions on free speech and expres-sion, especially in relation to anti-fascisthistory and activism.

and finally...As the delegates of the TUC Women’sConference 2019 pack up their papers onthe final day of this three day conference,after sharing their experiences and chal-lenges they will undoubtedly leave readyto carry on the fight in their workplacesand communities for women’s equalityand justice. We must be ready to jointhem in the struggle.

2

women need unions...

SU PATEL, USDAW REPRESENTATIVE ONTHE TUC WOMEN’S COMMITTEE, IS THECHAIR OF THE 2019 TUC WOMEN’SCONFERENCE

WE meet at a time of great uncertain-ty for women workers in the UK – a

time of rising inequality, poverty and jobinsecurity. Britain’s exit from the EU onthe 29th of this month threatens to unrav-el hard-won equality and human rightsprotections which have underpinned therights of women workers for so long. As women we find ourselves at the

sharp end of an increasingly casualisedeconomy – concentrated in low paid,exploitative, temporary and insecure jobsand paid less than men for doing thesame job. Violence against women andgirls is rising whilst prosecutions and con-victions of perpetrators remains scan-dalously low. This government’s savage cuts to adult

social care, social services and socialsecurity are threatening our relationshipswith those we care for, our physical andmental health, our ability to work andprogress in work and undermining stillfurther our social, economic and financialindependence. We are under-represented in decision

making structures and bodies from gov-ernments to board rooms and over-repre-sented in poverty statistics. At everystage of our lives, from the cradle to thegrave, women feel the full force ofinequality and discrimination.

And yet women are the face of themodern trade union movement. Indeedwe are the future of the trade unionmovement. We are shaping the directionof our unions and winning for women inour workplaces. Our experience of sex-ism and discrimination acts as a powerfultrigger, pushing us to join and becomeactive in our unions. And so I am delighted to be chairing

TUC Women’s Conference at such animportant time for women in unions. Myunion is Usdaw, the shop workers union.The retail sector is not only the largestsector in the UK economy, but outside ofthe NHS it is also the largest employer ofwomen in the UK. Usdaw represents over250,000 women workers. The big issuesthat matter to women in Usdaw right noware the same as those that matter towomen workers in all sectors and acrossall unions. Balancing work and family life in

increasingly insecure workplaces thatoffer women little in terms of pay andguaranteed hours of work is likely to be atthe top of the list of concerns for almostall women workers. UK family friendly working rights aren’t

working for most women workers. Theydon’t reflect the reality of our lives makingthem almost useless to anyone notemployed in permanent, well paid andfull-time employment. High street stores are closing at an

alarming rate. Stores where generationsof women have spent their entire working

lives and built their careers are closingdown or facing cuts to staffing budgetsforcing women out of work into the armsof the social security benefit system. But the scale of the Conservative gov-

ernment’s savage attack on the welfarestate means that it no longer offers anysense of social security. Instead womenworkers are pushed into debt or towardscharitable organisations to help feed andclothe their families. Universal Credit is another disaster for

low income working families, disabledworkers and single parents in particular.The four weekly assessment period, theintroduction of the benefits cap, thefreeze of working age benefits, the reduc-tion of working allowances, not to men-tion the removal of the first child premiumand two child limit for new claimants haveall made it harder, not easier, for workingfamilies to make ends meet and has ledto a surge in the numbers of children liv-ing in poverty.But women in unions are rising to meet

these challenges. We need to standtogether and make our voices heard. Wemust challenge the view that women cando it all and will cope with everything thatgets thrown at us. I am pleased that myown union and so many others are focus-ing on the issue of mental health as manywomen are struggling with their ownmental health as well as looking aftereveryone else. I would like nothing more than to see

women from Black and Asian back-grounds, disabled women and lesbian,bisexual and trans women gettinginvolved and active in their unions and inpolitics more broadly. This conferenceand the TUC’s women’s structures arereally important in giving working womena voice and making sure that our issuesand concerns are centre stage in theTUC’s work for the coming year. Thewomen’s conference is a vital linkbetween the TUC and the daily lives ofwomen workers. Over the next threedays we discuss and debate all theissues that matter to us from AbortionRights through to Zero Hours. We bring our voices to the TUC and we

speak for the thousands of women whocan’t be here with us. Never has the saying “women need

Unions, and Unions need women” beenmore relevant.

3

why women constructionworkers deserve better

UNITE is passionate about ensuringthat all its members regardless of

race or gender throughout all its sectorsare not discriminated against in the work-place. This commitment is demonstratedby the work that Unite is undertaking insectors such as construction, wherewomen are currently very much a minori-ty of the workforce. To better understandthe challenges that women experience inconstruction, Unite recently surveyed ourfemale members working in the sector.The response rate was phenomenal andprovided vital insights into the workinglives of women in construction.The majority of respondents (65.3%)

said their employer had failed to makeadjustments to accommodate their needsas women workers. One membersummed up the issues members face: “Ina perceived male-dominated workforce,you have your skills and abilities regularlydoubted mainly because you’re a womanand some men almost feel threatenedwhen you complete a job better thanmale colleagues. Some, if not all, men atfirst can be extremely patronising towardsyou, questioning your job or presumingyou work in an office.”Aside from issues about pay equality,

the dominant concern that arose from thesurvey concerned welfare facilities: thelack of clean toilets, the supply of sanitarybins and shower facilities. For example, amember gave a graphic account of herfrustrations on trying to use a women’stoilet on a construction site. “Toilets forfemales are a basic requirement but areusually locked, you have to seek the keyfrom someone so by the time you find theperson, usually male, with the key andafter asking several people, also usuallymale, half the site know you want to usea loo and when you open the door, guesswhat, it is usually being used for storage.”Unite has been running a period dignity

campaign across the whole union. Thecampaign is about period povertybecause some workers struggle to payfor sanitary products. Unite’s campaignhas been very successful with manyorganisations adopting it. This weekRolls-Royce announced that not only wasit adopting the period dignity campaignthroughout the UK but globally across 50countries.Our survey clearly demonstrated that

for period dignity to be achieved forwomen construction workers the cam-paign needed to be more wide-ranging.Unite is now asking construction compa-nies to sign up to four simple policies toachieve period dignity.< Designated female toilets, always

accessible, regularly cleaned andlockable

< Handwashing facilities with runningwater and soap provided

< Sanitary bins provided which areclean and regularly emptied

< Sanitary products provided in a dis-penser in a discreet location and ide-ally free.

The first site to endorse Unite’s campaignwas the Glasgow University campusbeing built by Multiplex and a campaignpack to ensure other sites followMultiplex’s lead is in the hands of all theunion’s reps. Implementing these simplefour steps will make a significantimprovement to the lives of women con-struction workers, judging by the com-ments our members made including:< “There are female toilets available but

generally the ones on site are unisex por-taloos. These are usually disgusting”< “I have to keep my sanitary products

in my toolbox because there are nomachines in the toilets. I have beentold to keep them in a drawer but Idon’t work in office?”

< “Asked for sanitary bins, got ignored.If a female says anything they don’tlike, they put it down to PMT.”

Construction is facing ever-growing skillsshortages and effectively excluding halfthe population means the industry is try-ing to tackle the problem with one armtied behind its back. Sadly, while there isa shortage of construction apprenticesacross the board, it remains much moredifficult for women applicants to secure atraining berth. In total nine per cent ofmale applicants eventually secure a con-struction apprenticeship while the figurefor women is just six per cent. Achievingperiod dignity for women in constructionis a small first step to making the con-struction industry fit for purpose forwomen in our industry. Employers whostep up to the mark and do what is righthave a far greater chance of retainingand attracting a skilled workforce.Unite will not stop campaigning until

women construction members achievefull equality in this sector.

GAIL CARTMAIL IS ASSISTANT GENERALSECRETARY OF UNITE

4

Celebrate International Women’s Day

WOMEN AND THE INTERNATIONAL

WORKING-CLASS STRUGGLE

Ealing Green Church, Ealing Green, London W5 5QT

(Nearest Underground – Ealing Broadway)

Saturday 9 March 2019, 6.45 to 9.15pm

International Rally & Cultural Evening

International speakers, music, poetry

Finger buffet provided

Admission free

All women and men welcome

Organised by

The Coordinating Committee of Communist Parties in Britain

prof ile: young woman activistNAW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER LIZ PAYNE INTERVIEWS UNISON’S KENDALBROMLEY-BEWES ABOUT HER LIFE, KEYCONCERNS AND BEING A UNION ACTIVIST

I’M talking with Kendal Bromley-Bewes.Kendal is chair of Unison’s Young

Members’ Forum and sits on the TUCYoung Workers’ Committee. It’s Saturdaymorning and she tells me that she’s goingto spend the rest of the day working onher dissertation. She’s a student chil-dren’s nurse in Bristol and is researchinghow to achieve best outcomes for young-sters with diabetes. I’m very glad that Icould catch her for an interview forSisters. I’ve known Kendal for some timeand tell her that she’s one of the busiestpeople I know. Her hospital shifts andstudy can take up to 90 hours a weekand she also works to support herself,currently teaching aqua-aerobics and life-guarding at her local pool. But this isn’tall; Kendal at 22 years old is, in her ownwords, “a committed trade union activist”.I ask how that came about. Her step dadis a branch secretary and when she gother first job he told her she should join aunion. She’s never looked back. I want to know what are the big trade

union projects she’s involved in at themoment? She immediately brings in‘2019 – The TUC Year of YoungWorkers’ – an idea she herself first sug-gested in Unison. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t itbe amazing to actually get the wholeunion to focus and think about youngpeople for an entire year.’ It went forwardto the TUC Young Workers’ Conference,where it passed unanimously. Then it gotmoved at Unison’s National DelegateConference, where again it passed unan-imously. Then it was taken to TUCCongress, where I moved the motion forthe third and final time and again itpassed unanimously.”What does the Year of Young Workers

involve? I quickly learn that there aremany initiatives by both the TUC andindividual unions. The TUC are in theprocess of rolling out young leadershipcourses, to get our young people at theforefront of the movement. Unison,Kendal explains, has lots of importantyoung workers projects in the regions –on raising awareness of sexual harass-ment at work in the Eastern region, onpensions and young people in the north-ern region and campaigning to getemployers to sign up to Unison’s RespectYour Youth Charter in the south-west andCymru/Wales (where the charter wasdeveloped). Unison is releasing new education

options for young members and, fortrade-unionists who aren’t so young, it ispublishing education packages on inter-acting with young people and how towork effectively with young members’officers in the branches. It is working withits self-organised groups and sectors tocreate better communication, so that peo-ple of all ages understand how young

people are at work, and the issues theyface on a daily basis.Kendal tries to sum up these issues for

me, drawing on her own experience andthat of other young workers she knows,as well as Unison and TUC research:“It’s no wonder we’re working all the

hours god sends, when you see how littleyoung people are paid. One in threeyoung workers is on low pay and we’repaid £2.81 less per hour than our oldercolleagues. Plus, people under 25 get alower minimum wage. But what hasstruck me is that so many young peopledon’t even seem to know they’re beingunderpaid. And the ones that do knowdon’t raise it because they’re scaredthey’ll be out of the door. So often we justput up with it.”Kendal is no stranger to zero hours

contract and says she’s noticed thatyoung people, herself included, alwaysget called to cover shifts other peopledon’t want. She’s sometimes felt underso much pressure that she’s missed lec-tures to go in and work. “As soon as Isaid no, I stopped being offered work.You’re backed into a corner” she said. She tells me of a young woman she

knows who got called in at such shortnotice that she didn’t know, even fromone hour to the next, if or when she’d beworking. Most of the time she got pres-sured into doing night shifts. Often, she’dturn up and simply be told when she gotthere she wasn’t needed after all. Shewas in a poverty trap, isolated andcouldn’t do anything to change her situa-tion either. No possibility of getting a non-zero-hours job, a decent place to live,enough sleep, time with friends and fami-ly for her! She might get called to work atany moment and she couldn’t refuse.This same woman was a young and veryable trade union activist but had to givethat up too as she didn’t know from oneday or hour to the next when she’d beavailable, which was a big loss to theunion. “According to TUC research,”Kendal says, “one in five 21 to 30 yearolds have had a zero-hours contract, soall of this is a common experience.”We talk about young women at work.

Kendal says that one of the biggestissues is harassment and bullying. Shedescribes the situation as “horrific” andsays that it’s happening all the time and

everywhere. The perpetuators are man-agers, work colleagues, service usersand customers. It’s very tough to be ayoung woman and if you are black, dis-abled or LGBT it’s so much harder still.“Young black women face so much hateon a daily basis.” Young women oftendon’t see women in management andmore senior jobs and sometimes thewomen who have made it through are notsympathetic to young women. There aretoo many blocks and barriers still towomen getting on at work and a lack ofopportunities to train and take on newroles. “Women should be empowered tobelieve in themselves.” What about women and young people

in trade unions? Kendal unsurprisinglysays that although huge progress hasbeen made much needs to be done.Young people need to be listened to andtreated with respect and tokenism avoid-ed. Power structures work against youngpeople and especially women. Youngmembers should not only be in youngmembers’ positions speaking for youngworkers and women should not only be inwomen’s positions speaking on women’sissues. Much more resource needs to beput in, so that the resolutions that arepassed on a regular basis can be proper-ly implemented and young activists don’tget run ragged. Young workers should beseen, heard and listened to in everythingthe union does. This is something Kendalsays she fights for on a daily basis. In summary, Kendal suggests that the

TUC Year of Young Workers should betreated as “a call to arms” with tradeunions and campaigning organisations,such as our National Assembly ofWomen, listening to and getting behindthe next generation – understanding itsexperience and building to genuinelyinvolve young people. This will require ahuge intergenerational effort but withoutit, the future of the labour movement andits struggles in the workplace and for jus-tice and equality in society will be in jeop-ardy. Kendal thanks Sisters for giving her the

opportunity to speak. I tell her that thethanks all go to her for giving us aninsight into her life, values and activities. Iwish her well and hope that she gets allthe support she and others like her needand deserve from the movement.

5

gender pension gap

OF course we must fight the genderpay gap, but the gender pension gap

is even more alarming.The fact that many women are severe-

ly disadvantaged when they retire haslong been recognised by the NPC(National Pensioners Convention). Manyolder women suffer because they reliedupon their husband’s NI (NationalInsurance) contributions and consequent-ly now receive only a fractional BSP(Basic State Pension). One would havethought that these women could apply forPension Credit at £163 per week.However, many women in couples findthey are not eligible for Pension Credit asbenefits are calculated on the jointincome. This actually discriminates fur-ther against women.Further problems have been caused

for women born in the 1950s by the intro-duction of the New State Pension in 2016because it coincided with the governmen-t’s decision to accelerate equalisationwith men of the SPA (State PensionAge). Their state pension entitlementschanged without warning; now they sufferinequality and unfair treatment. In spite of NPC meetings with senior

government ministers about the unfairtreatment of women in this age range, nocompensation has been considered. But these women have not given in.

The Morning Star on 5 October alerted usto the rally planned for 10 October toprotest against the government’s refusalto change its plan to raise the SPA forwomen. Backto60 and Women AgainstState Pension Inequality (WASPI) joinedto express their anger. The New State Pension requires five

more years’ NI contributions. TheInstitute of Fiscal studies (IFS) comment-ed that “most people born after 1970could expect to receive less from thestate pension”. However, it will be uprat-ed using the ‘Triple lock’, and manywomen will be better off than on the oldBSP. You are advised to study the NPC

booklets, in particular the recent pam-phlet Understanding Women’s PensionInequality. If you are at the WTUC inMarch these will be available at the NPCWomen’s Working Party stall. The ways in which current arrange-

ments determine a worker’s pension ben-efit high earners to the disadvantage ofpoorer workers, such as those in part-time work, on maternity leave or caringfor children or parents. Credits of NI con-tributions can be awarded in a number ofdifferent circumstances, most not auto-matic. It is wise to enquire from theDepartment of Work and Pensions ashaving too few NI contributions can leadto reduced pension entitlements. The trade union Prospect reported that

“UK women face pension ‘gap’ of£7,000”, based on their analysis ofresponses to the DWP’s FamilyResources Survey.

The Sunday Times on 4 Novembercovered Pension Equality: “Seven sins sodeadly for women’s pensions” reportedby Kate Palmer. Many of the same issueswere capably addressed by the Women’sBudget Group (WBG) that made aresponse to the autumn 2018 Budget thatincluded raising personal allowances.The WBG suggested that as this benefitsa larger proportion of men than women,the chancellor should instead have raisedthe state pension to the Minimum IncomeStandard. The WBG also criticised the missed

opportunity to prevent the irresponsiblewaste of taxpayers’ money on tax reliefused to encourage workers to take upwork based pensions. This benefits thoseon high salaries (mostly men) who arenot in need of support, whereas themoney saved could fund an increasedstate pension. Another WBG comment was on the

chancellor’s attempt to boost private pen-sions for the self-employed. His measurewill not help the growing number of self-employed women, who earn less thanboth female employees and male self-employed. Instead he should increasethe state pension that benefits all lowearning workers. In particular the WBGrecommends that Auto-enrolment pen-sions should be converted into VoluntaryEarnings-related State Pension Addition(VESPA), a pay as you go scheme that isbetter suited to the needs of womenworkers. The WBG’s evidence backs up NPC

policy: we must demand an adequatestate pension. Note that auto-enrolmentdoes not help women. It is a defined con-tribution private savings scheme, whichwe believe is incapable of delivering ameaningful income in retirement to mil-lions of low paid workers – many ofwhom would be women – because thecontribution rates are so low.Women, get the facts about pensions

and help the NPC campaign.

BY JANET SHAPIRO MEMBER OF THENATIONAL PENSIONERS’ CONVENTIONWOMEN’S WORKING PARTY

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: UNDERSTANDINGTHE NEW STATE PENSION AND A DECENTSTATE PENSION FOR ALL GENERATIONS £2FROM NPC

WWW.IPE.COM/NEWS/PENSIONS/UK-WOMEN-FACE-PENSION-GAP-OF-7000-REPORT-SAYS/10027639.ARTICLE

WBG.ORG.UK/ANALYSIS/AUTUMN-BUDGET-2018-WBG-FULL-ANALYSIS/

WWW.PENSIONSADVISORYSERVICE.ORG.UK/ABOUT-PENSIONS/PENSIONS-BASICS/AUTOMATIC-ENROLMENT

WWW.BACKTO60.COM/

WOMEN AGAINST STATE PENSIONINEQUALITY WWW.WASPI.CO.UK/

protect thebus passT

HE National Concessionary BusPass scheme has been enormous-

ly successful, allowing free bus travelbetween 9.30am and 11pm on week-days and all day at weekends for pen-sioners and eligible disabled peopleanywhere in the UK. Last year, as part of the #protectthe

passcampaign, the TUC MidlandsPensioners’ Network travelled aroundtowns and cities on buses speakingwith residents and shoppers to raiseawareness of protecting the pass,investing and expanding the bus ser-vices and defending the workforce.The campaign was a winner at

Midlands TUC’s awards night on 30November 2018.With the help of partners throughout

the Midlands, members of the TUCMidlands Pensioners’ Network trav-elled from Hereford to Skegness, visit-ing 23 places, collecting over 1,700 sig-natures on postcards which were sentto over 90 of the Midlands’ 107 MPsand to about 50 others. Ten Midlands Labour MPs cam-

paigned with them includingWolverhampton MP Emma Reynoldswho said: “I think the free bus passdoes a huge amount of good to ensurepensioners are not isolated in theirhomes. It gives them the freedom totravel and go anywhere they like – italso benefits the economy as they willbe spending money when they are outand about.”The TUC Midlands Pensioners’ Net -

work is urging other communities tofollow their example and join in thecampaign throughout 2019.

YVONNE WASHBOURNE REPORTS

6

women in Kerala

TRAVEL is good for the soul. It’s alsogood for widening your understand-

ing of how the world works and the prob-lems and issues faced by workers. During a recent visit to Washington DC

at an international conference on TheFuture of Labour Law, it was clear thatworkers in America face the same prob-lems as workers in the UK. Low uniondensity, even lower coverage of collectivebargaining arrangements, both of whichhave led to increased levels of inequality,poor pay and insecurity at work. Add tothat, hostile judicial decisions that try tobreak trade union organisation and youhave a perfect storm brewing. But workers are fighting back.

Teachers – predominantly female – inOklahoma, Los Angeles, Virginia, Denverand Oakland have taken to the streets,joining together with support staff (mostlyfemale) in strike action demanding higherpay and more investment in schools.Their mood is optimistic. Their demandsare supported. Plus, public opinion forunions is standing at a 15-year high withGallup reporting recently that 62% ofAmericans approve of unions.In January I was in India.

Unfortunately, I missed the strike action,when millions of Indian workers went outon strike demanding an end to PrimeMinister Narenda Modi’s attack on work-ers’ rights and collective bargainingarrangements. That was swiftly followed in early

February with a demonstration organisedby the Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M)-led Left Front. The demonstra-tion attracted over one million people inKolkata’s largest public park, pledging tooust Modi’s right-wing BJP party fromWest Bengal in the upcoming elections inMay.All good stuff. Workers on the march.

So, I was particularly disappointed toread about the general strike in Kerala –

a place I’m very fond of, with family con-nections and led by the CommunistParty. Why? Because this particularstrike was called by Hindu chauvinists inprotest against women’s right to enter atemple.In September 2018 the Supreme Court

in India overturned a centuries-old ban onthe entry of women of reproductive ageinto the temple. But opponents of the rul-ing continued to block women betweenthe ages of 10 to 50 from entering theshrine on the basis that menstruation isconsidered impure! Despite the aggression, in early

January two women in their 40s, walkedinto the temple – leading to it beingclosed down for a “purification ritual”.Hindu hardliners – using the temple as arallying point for the far right – haveattacked female pilgrims, threatened jour-nalists and pelted police with stones. Theresponse of the Keralan women wasimmediate. Tens of thousands of womenformed a 620-km human chain “in sup-port of gender equality”This isn’t just about religion. It’s poli-

tics. The ruling BJP, a section of whichorganised the “general strike” against thewomen, sees the action as a counter-attack following the 5.5 million strong“women’s wall” organised in support ofwomen’s rights by the CPI-M on NewYear’s day. With elections coming up in May, politi-

cal lines are being drawn and the BJP isusing violence and intimidation to try andundermine the CPI-M, which leadsKerala’s government. KK Shailaja, minis-ter for social justice in Kerala, said hergovernment stood for gender equality.She said those saying that women areimpure should be ashamed of them-selves. The Minister joined the women’schain to show her support.

BY NAW MEMBER CAROLYN JONES

sudanLIZ PAYNE IS ANNAW EXECUTIVEMEMBER

HUGE country-wide demon-

strations began inSudan in mid-December 2018,initially against thehiking of the priceof bread and in

general the disastrous economic mis-management by the 30-year dictatorshipof Omar al-Bashir which had left an econ-omy in ruins and the Sudanese peopleunable to afford even the basics of life.Women have from the outset been promi-nent in these protests. The backlash wasbrutal. Demonstrators were met withextreme violence, including live fire fromthe security services. Protestors,activists, journalists, trade unionists, doc-tors, lawyers, students and leading mem-bers of opposition parties have been sub-jected to mass round ups and arrest. According to reports, upwards of 150

women are now in prison at any one timefor no other “crime” than peaceful protest.These include prominent leaders of thelabour and women’s movement, someheld incommunicado in undiscloseddetention centres and many severely tor-tured. Abuse of detainees by theNational Security and Intelligence Service(NISS) is well evidenced and all thosebeing held are at serious risk accordingto Human Rights Watch. There are alsoallegations that imprisoned oppositionleaders, including elderly and vulnerablepeople, are denied their prescriptionmedicines and are unable to be seen bydoctors, thus putting their health and livesat risk. Among those detained is Adeela

Alzaibag, President of the SudaneseWomen’s Union (SWU) who, according tothe UK and Ireland branch of the SWU,was arrested together with other femalecolleagues and taken to an unknownlocation. The organisation has stated thatsome of the women have been severelytortured, that their families are notallowed to see them, and that they haveno access to lawyers. Another prisoner is Fayza Ibrahim

Nugod, an elderly woman arrested asshe came out of a meeting in theCommunist Party Headquarters inKhartoum. Fayza, is a renowned teacherand a member of the political bureau ofthe Sudanese Communist Party withresponsibility for trade union work. Hercomrade, Hanady Alfadul, a member ofthe Party’s central committee, is alsodetained. So is Dr Amal Jabralla, a con-sultant psychiatrist and clinical director ofa trauma centre for women in Omdur -man, a leading medical sector tradeunion ist and on the central committee ofthe Sudanese Communist Party.

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Holding women indefinitely is not theonly tactic of the security forces. A prac-tice designed to traumatise those whoare coming onto the streets and terrifythose who are even considering doing so– rounding up and arresting women, sav-agely questioning and then releasingthem on a rolling basis – means that it isimpossible to say precisely how many arebeing held and where at any one time.However, if this is meant to deter women,it is certainly failing. They are coming outagain and again in a manner describedby the Sudanese movement as “amaz-ing”, “astonishing”, “brave” and “resilient.”This is not the first time since Omar al-

Bashir seized power in a coup in 1989that street demonstrations in Sudan havebeen met with off the scale violence, noris it the first time that the security forceshave adopted a savage ‘shoot to kill’ poli-cy. This time it has left scores of protesters

dead and hundreds injured, with the tollrising daily. Doctors and medical staff arebeing intimidated, arrested and torturedto deter them from providing treatment tothe wounded. Twenty-six year old DrBabiker Abdelhamid asked the securityforces to let him get the most criticallyinjured protestors he was treating in hishome to hospital. Witnesses say he was

shot dead on the spot. The NISS is brutally interrogating all

detainees, hoping to find out who’s whobehind the organisation of the protests.Those viewed as leaders or key influ-encers of the opposition are being horrifi-cally and systematically tortured, includ-ing the 28-year-old spokesperson of theTeachers’ Professional Association, whoafter daily ‘questioning’ is almost certainto lose his sight and the murderedteacher whose horrifically mutilated andsexually abused body was dumped forthe family to find. But things are backfir-ing. It is being said on the streets ofKhartoum and other cities that the regimeof torturers has now crossed a threshold.“No one will ever forgive them for theseheinous crimes.” Amnesty International’s Deputy

Director for East Africa, in condemningthe arrests and killings in Sudan, hasstated categorically that the root cause ofthe deteriorating economic conditionsmust be addressed, not the prevention ofprotest. Given the nature of the ‘rootcause’, it is hardly surprising that womeneverywhere, including the young genera-tion who have grown up with the dictator-ship, are at the forefront on the streets.The regime has pursued a disastrouseconomic policy, slavishly following thedictates of the IMF and World Bank.

Opposition has been suppressed, freetrade unions banned, and faith-basedinequality imposed on women - affectingtheir family, work and social life and par-ticipation in the wider society. What start-ed last December as protests at a lack ofbasic necessities - bread, fuel, electricityand transport - and sky-rocketing inflationrunning at 70%, the second highest in theworld, were soon voicing the demand forthe regime to go to pave the way for theestablishment of a people’s democraticgovernment. This continues unabated.The Sudanese Women’s Union (UK

and Ireland) is calling on all peace,democracy and human rights activists toexpress solidarity with the peaceful pro-testers in Sudan, to condemn theSudanese government’s brutal crack-down on peaceful protests, demand therelease of all detainees and support theirdemand of bringing those who murderedprotestors to justice. We should demandthe immediate end to the arrest, deten-tion and torture of our brave sisters anddo everything we can to promote the rightof the people of Sudan to demand achange of government and choose a pathto a free and democratic future, withoutinterference from hostile forces eitherinside or outside Sudan.

Sisters, we salute your struggle!

8 March International Women’s DayThe National Assembly ofWomen sends greetings to

sisters everywhereFighting for equality, peace and progress

sudan continuedcontinued from page 7