The Labour Movement in the Global South: Trade Unions in Sri Lanka by S. Janaka Biyanwila

Author:S. Janaka Biyanwila [Biyanwila, S. Janaka]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ethnic Studies, Social Science, Political Science, Regional Studies, General
ISBN: 9781136904257
Google: Pm7FBQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 17583072
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2010-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

Women workers in the social economy

A senior male Buddhist monk leading a union dominated by women workers illustrates how male privilege in the public realm overlaps with the healthcare system and labour markets, including trade unions. The PSUNU comprises mostly educated (skilled) “professional” women workers who hold official positions within the main coordinating body. However, they have limited alliances with the women’s movement. From the union standpoint, the values of nursing culture are firmly rooted in women’s role as care-givers, constructed around the notion of service to the people and social responsibility (duty). This ideological positioning of the union sustains conservative notions of “femininity” that are built into the very definition of nursing (Kenway and Watkins 1994). Nursing is often appropriated as a “respectable” or “proper” job for women, particularly in the images of self-sacrificing mothers and care-givers. While their official work uniform is a short dress, for public union events the nurses often dress in saris, symbolic of patriarchal femininity. In effect, the union reproduces the dominant representation of women primarily as mothers, wives or “care-givers”, while subordinating their identities as workers and citizens in the public realm.

The PSUNU leadership has often invoked Buddha as the originator of women’s liberation and draws on heroine characters of Buddhist mythical history. Women, however, are identified primarily as mothers in this perspective which ignores a range of feminist interpretations within Buddhist doctrine (Chakravarty 1981; Omvedt 2000). “Woman is the symbol of motherhood, woman should be viewed from that perspective” claims a Hedamina article written on International Women’s Day in 2000.

Although International Women’s Day is recognised by the union, no celebrations are held. The manner in which International Women’s Day (IWD) in 2000 was introduced in the union newspaper (Hedamina) reveals its positioning in terms of the women’s movement. Alongside a short article describing the IWD, the editors lament the exploitation of women workers where the “capitalist society has made women into a play toy”. In evading constraints faced by women, the newspaper not only ignores, but trivialises women’s organisations by claiming that the IWD is the only time of the year to activate these organisations (Hedamina, March 2000). This alludes to a pervasive anti-NGO anti-feminist argument of patriarchal ethno-nationalists, including state-incorporated unions, which belittle, dismiss and undermine politically active women’s organisations as “foreign-funded” or Western interests. However, the contradiction of this anti-feminist critique is that the union also draws on the strength of women’s NGOs, particularly during the 1985 struggle.

The celebration of International Nurses’ Day with the patronage of the state, while downplaying the IWD, is illustrative of PSUNU’s gender politics as well as internationalism. International Nurses’ Day is generally celebrated as the main annual and cultural event for nurses, with the participation of various Health Ministry officials and political party leaders. Besides the speeches, the celebration includes the garlanding of a Nightingale statue (a three-foot-tall portable statue). In 2000, the invited special guests included previous and present ministers of health, the Director General of Health, and the chief guest was the Vice-chancellor of Kelaniya University, a prominent Buddhist nationalist monk.

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