23 January

We spent two and a half days at the V.V. Giri Labour Institute in Noida, a suburb of Delhi. Our thanks to Dr. Ellina Samantroy, Associate Fellow at the Institute, who did an amazing job of organizing the conference and inviting the participants. The Institute staff were wonderful and generous. We stayed in the hostel and the accommodations were perfect.

San Francisco Apprentice Electrician Noreen Buckley describes her experience at the conference.

The level of hospitality and openness that the Indian people have

shown us has humbled me. In this two-day conference, various voices

presented the many layers surrounding women construction workers in

India. The US delegation heard from members of the government and the

ways in which they are establishing policy and creating programs to

support the Indian construction workers as a whole.

 

The Indian labor organizers and union representatives shared

the work they are doing to gain rights for construction workers around

pay, safety standards on the job site, and pension after retirement as

well as spreading that information to the workers, informing them that

this option is available to them. The unions admittedly have tried to

ignore the issue of women in construction only to now acknowledge that

it is not going away. We sat on panels with activists who have been

fighting for the basic needs of construction workers, specifically

women construction workers. And we listened to academics that have

studied and researched women construction workers, identifying the

many hurdles they face in the field and their daily lives.

 

With just such a short time together, the Indian members did

a great job in painting the picture of Indian cultural, governmental,

economic, and social ways of life and how they all factor in to the

struggle that women construction workers face in their country. Before

arriving in India, it was hard for me to see how the US and India

could share best practices and benefit each other when our countries

are on two different socio-economic levels. We talk about a fair wage

for US union constructions workers being between $60-90/hour (for both

genders) while 300 rupees a day ($4.50 US) is the norm for Indian

female construction workers. But, the core issues that we as US

Tradeswomen face are the same as Indian tradeswomen.

Access to childcare:

• India – the women who “chose” to work outside the home are still

responsible for all household duties and looking after the children.

• US – the struggle women have to set up childcare (that is not family)

when a job starts at 6:00 am. The acceptance and allowing of missing

work to tend to a sick child as part of the cultural (as it is with

more traditional female professions)

Equal pay for equal work:

• India – women construction workers often work as a family, side by

side with their male counterpart. The women always receive less pay

then the man and often do not actually receive the money rather her

pay is given to the husband, father, male that she is with.

• US – as a country, women still make ¾ of every $1.00 that men earn.

Making Policy versus Implementing Policy:

• India – many of the Indian panelists acknowledged, and at times joked,

that Indians are great at making laws and bad at enforcing them.  The

Indian government has taken steps, on paper only, to address some of

the hurdles of women and construction workers

• US – In 1978, Carter signed a law that 6.9% of the federally funded

construction work hours has to be done by women.  To date, nationally we are

roughly a little under 3% and we were slightly above 2% when the law

was created.

Cultural perceptions of what women can and cannot do:

• India – women are not strong enough, women are not smart enough, women

will not be respected, women cannot lead…

• US– women are not strong enough, women are not smart enough, women

will not be respected, women cannot lead…

Harassment and Sexual harassment:

• India – As a response to harassment of women, this country has

established separate ladies cars on trains, designated ladies only

seats on buses and just yesterday, I read that Air India (a local

Indian airline) is debating if fights should have ladies only seating

options.

• US – I would go out on a limb and say that ever member of this

delegation could share a story of workplace harassment and majority of

the US female population could as well.

 

I have barely touched on the richness of this conference; the people,

the discussion, the stories. We, as a delegation, are moving on with

more questions than answers regarding the growth of tradeswomen in

India and the United States.

— Noreen Buckley, Electrician

 

V.V. Giri presented all the delegates with beautiful commemorative plaques.

Construction worker Priya joined us and we had the chance to present her with some construction health and safety posters that we had made in India.

The next morning after the conference, we visited a naka, a corner where construction workers wait for contractors to pick them up for work. We were able to spend time with ten women in a very challenging situation. See a hint below and more later.

Love and peace to all.