Introduction
'The forms that workers' organizations have traditionally taken have been inadequately for women's point of view because they have failed to recognize and build into their structure the specificity of gender. Trade unions, for instance, have been organized to represent 'the worker', political parties to represent 'the working class'. The failure to take account of gender means that in practice they have tended to represent male workers. Working women have tended to represented through their dependence on male workers. In addition, the specific problems that concern women as a subordinated gender are often problems which it is not easy for conventional forms of trade union or working class political activity to tackle.1
In Hong Kong, because of its under-development in the field of labour and women research, there is little study done on women workers as well as on trade union, and certainly even less on whether there is a 'happy marriage' between the two. 3 Therefore it is difficult to assess whether the observation quoted above is true here in this part of the world based on the existing literature. We do have a history of labour movement in this politically transitioning and industrialising British Colony, with an increasing female labour participation rate. However, the established trade unions have done little to reflect on the women workers' issue. It is more individuals and organizations who are concerned of women's issue that start to analyse the situation of women workers from a feminist perspective. One part of this article is an attempt to find out factors affecting women workers' participation in trade unions.
The basic assumption of this article is that trade unions of the industries which employ mostly women like electronics, garments, textile, etc. in Hong Kong do not attract too many female membership. The reasons are firstly, male-domination both in ideology and in practice in trade unions. The trade unions have not paid much attention to the specific needs and problems of women workers. Secondly, the familial ideology and the domestic responsibilities hinder women from participating in trade unions. By revealing the response of the trade unions towards the situation of women workers and on the other hand, how some female union and non-union members and organizers perceive such phenomenon, we want to see how the above factors affect women workers in Hong Kong. The introduction of two developing but more gender oriented working women's groups serves as cases for discussion on whether there is any alternative organization for women workers in Hong Kong outside trade unions.
Direct interviews as well as informal sharing with women trade unionists, labour activists, organizers, union members and non-members serve as the basis of discussion of this article. These interviews and sharings were done between March and May this year. Two unions had been approached for interviews. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Electronics Industry Employee's General Union was very generous to accept while the Hong Kong and Kowloon Machine-sewing and Garment-making Trade Workers' General Union, for some reasons, refused. This reflected, to certain extent, the degree of openness of the traditional trade unions towards the concern for the betterment of women workers in Hong Kong. There were nine women being interviewed all together, four of them being garment workers, the other being electronics workers (group interview) and one was a full time organizer.
Historical Development of Trade Unions, Labour Groups and Women Groups
Since early twentieth century, trade union movement in Hong Kong has been much affected by the political movement in China, particularly by the ideological and political struggle between Kuomingtang (Nationalist Party) and the Chinese Communist Party. Both parties organized workers as a means to consolidate their power.3 After the retreat of Kuomingtang into Taiwan in the late forties, the conflict between the unions of the two camps became more intensified. The Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) with its affiliated 'leftist' unions and the Trade Union Council (TUC) with its 'rightist' unions declared loyalty to the Beijing Government and the Taiwan Government respectively. Along with the rapid industrialization of Hong Kong since 1950's, both sides competed for members in rapidly developing industries like the textile, metal, garment, transportation and in the service sector too. Therefore it is not unusual to find two unions existing side by side in the same industry. In terms of membership and influence, FTU has been a much stronger labour organization than the TUC. But during the 1966-67 political storm, FTU had lost many members as they supported the leftist course of action in Hong Kong, inspired by the Cultural Revolution in China. The declared membership of all unions dropped from 171,670 to 165,579 between 1966 and 1967 while members of FTU dropped from 96,735 to 95,408.4
The rate of workers' participation in unions in general was 13.5% at 1968, rising to the peak rate of 25.2% in 1977 and dropped to 16.2% in 1981. For manufacturing industry alone, the rate in 1981 was 7.2% which was the lowest among all sectors. Furthermore, in 1976, electronics and garment industries which employed mostly women had the lowest rates when compared with other industries in the manufacturing sector. They were 1% and 6% respectively and by then 62,083 and 177,310 workers were employed in the respective industries.5 Since the fall of the 'Gang of Four' in 1978 in China, the leadership of the Chinese Government shifted their attention towards economic development. The resultant change towards a more welfare-oriented policy of the FTU and its affiliated member unions has prevented them from supporting militant actions of workers in industrial disputes. The membership of FTU dropped from 228,313 to 168,280 between 1977 and 1984, while the membership of the rightist and independent trade unions remained quite stable.6
During the seventies, small labour groups sprouted as a result of the effort of some concerned church groups and local activists. The upsurge of the issue-oriented social movements in that period,'7 the inactiveness of the trade unions and the general needs of the shopfloor workers had created a 'favourable' ground for these small labour groups to flourish. They were active in fighting for changes in labour legislation, workers' benefits and were more vocal in supporting workers in industrial disputes and strikes. Educational programs for workers were also conducted. Young Workers' Confederation, New Youth Evening School, Tsuen Wan Labour Education Centre and workers' groups affiliated to social service centres were some of the groups that were set up during that period. It was not until the early eighties that the trade unions began to 'rejuvenate' and started to co-operate with the labour groups in certain issues. During the same period, the Labour Department of the Government has also become more active in settling industrial disputes. Labour laws have been more actively enforced. In 1981, the women workers in Hong Kong were finally granted the right to paid maternity leave, after a campaign started in 1978 by various labour groups.
8.7% in 1966 to 42.8% in 1971 and 49% in 19818, their participation in unions have been always low. Between 1976 and 1983, the percentage of women in union membership has only increased from 22% to 24%.' A few women workers' groups were formed outside of the union structure in the past decade, but they did not last long. Most of them are dispersed already. For example, the women workers' group formed under the Christian Industrial Committee was one of the initiators of the 'Paid Maternity Campaign' started in 1978. Together with some unions and workers' groups like the Electronics Union, they won in their campaign for ten weeks paid maternity leave. .
After the campaign, the women workers' group dispersed. The reason for the dispersal was that they saw no other women workers' issues around which they could be organised. An other women workers' group was formed under the New Youth Evening School. The organizers were intellectual activists who approached the question of women workers from a more conceptual and feminist perspective. The group also stopped its activities two years ago.
Overall speaking, the organization of women workers in the past ten years was scattered, short term and issue oriented. There was no continuous and sustained effort for the promotion of women workers' benefits and rights. At the same time, the women's movement in the seventies also experienced a similar path of development. The more persistent women's group was the Hong Kong Council of Women. It is not until quite recently that more grassroot-oriented women's groups are born and more local activists become aware of the needs of women.
Women Workers' Situation and The Trade Unions — The Cases of The Electronic and The Garment Industries
In this section, the situation of the electronic and the garment women workers, as being part of the working class and part of the female gender, will be discussed. How far have the established trade unions been responding to the situation which most of their majority women members face? This is the question in mind. The following information is based on a group interview with four electronics workers. Three of them are members of the executive committee of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electronic Industry Employee's General Union (HKEIEGU). Since the Hong Kong and Kowloon Machine-Sewing and Garment-Making Trade Workers' General Union (MGTWGU) refused to be interviewed, the information related to the garment industry is based on interviews with four garment women workers and from secondary source.
According to the 'Manpower Survey of the Electronics Industry' in 1980, there were 92,968 workers employed in the Electronics industry and 62,467 or 67% of them were women. Out of the 69,866 operatives (75% of the employees) on the assembly line, 57,809 (83%) of them were women. On the other hand, over half of the male employees in this industry were employed as craftsmen, technicians and technologists. This phenomenon of sexual division of labour within workplace was confirmed by all women workers interviewed. It was found that is this industry, sexual discrimination in terms of wages still exists. Very often, men are paid more than women, even in similar jobs. One woman worker Cheung said.
'In my factory, in the process of packing, women workers do the same physically consuming job as men, like tying and moving big boxes. But we receive lower wages than men, like more than one hundred dollars per month. We can do what they can. Why should we be receiving less? I think this is not due to difference in capability, but is a problem of attitude. Bosses give more wages to men.
Women workers are also discriminated against by employers in terms of receiving either informal learning opportunity or formal technical training which are vital for job promotion. One woman Yip recalled that when she started to work in the electronic factory, most of the chances of learning were given to men workers. She said that her employer thought that work was not the final goal of women. It would be a waste to train women workers who might finally got married and stop working. And when they continue to work, he would also have to pay their maternity leave sooner or later. Yip continued,
'There are men working in assembly line. After two or three years, the boss would ask them whether they are interested to learn repairing machines. For women, we would have to ask the same question ourselves.'
Other than this unfair treatment, Yip discovered that women workers faced unfavourable objective conditions too in learning a skill. She said,
'To learn a skill, one's mind is needed. But for women workers, especially those who are married, their minds are for housework. There is not time spared learning. This makes it unfavourable for women to learn something technical. Therefore we have not been able to earn as much as men who have time and attention to learn fast.'
Another woman, Kwei talked of her own experience,
'I have enrolled in a technical course learning electricity. In the beginning there were 26 students and nine of them were women. Now only three women remain in the class and l am one of them.'
She continued,
'If a woman worker wants to get promoted, she must know somebody at higher positions. Some who get promoted are under such great pressure they are forced to return to their original positions.'
As a result of sexual discrimination in terms of wages, training and promotion, women earn less than men in the industry. According to the 1981 Annual Report of the Labour Department, the average daily wage of male electronic worker was HK$82.55 and for female worker was HK$63.79.
The Hong Kong and Kowloon Electronics Industry Employee's General Union was founded in 1972 with a membership of around two thousand in 1985 (1,608 in the year 1983-84). The ratio of female and male executive committee members is around 8 to 2 while the same ratio for membership is 6 to 4. According to the women officials of the Union, many members are technical personnel who are mainly men. The Union organises regularly interest classes (dancing, knitting, make-up, photography, handicraft, etc.), leadership and volunteer training courses and other technical courses like 'How to become a Q.C.?' for its members. When asked whether they have training course on trade unionism, the women officials interviewed said no. There was no "market' for such kind of programs, they said.
Yip is the more experienced official of the Union. She has been involved in union work for more than ten years. She decided to join the union after an industrial dispute in her factory and which was finally settled with the help of the Union. Cheung, another woman, was introduced by her friend to participate in an interest class. Afterwards because of her curiosity about the Union, she continued to join some volunteer training program. Finally she decided to become a member and has since been actively involved in organising work. Kwei is an active member of a non-union labour group. After several years of involvement with workers' group, she is conscious of the importance of workers' solidarity. She thought that workers should participate in unions. But she was critical of the way trade unions function and saw her role to be more significant in organizing work in non-union workers' group. The experiences of these women reflect some of the channels women used to join union. Unions for them is a place for self-development and social life, like any other social service centres in Hong Kong.
How does the Electronics Union react to problems faced by women workers, particularly concerning the discriminative sexual division of labour, unequal opportunity in receiving training and job promotion? The women unionists interviewed were quite proud of their involvement in 1978 in the campaign for paid maternity leave. However, they considered the problems raised above as general and long existed problems which could not be dealt with by an individual trade union. They did not have any plan to promote women workers position neither at the workplace nor at home.
Concerning their leading position in the Union, the women unionists did not feel strongly about its significance. They saw their involvement as a chance of learning. Traditional Chinese humbleness may explain partly their response but it does seem that women leadership has not influenced the operation of the union in terms of raising the issue of women's oppression.
Garment industry is one of the largest industries in Hong Kong, employing around 269 thousand workers in the 4th quarter of 1984. Out of these workers, 69% are women.'10 According to Wong, an interviewee who has been working in the garment industry for more than 10 years, less young women are willing to join this industry now. It is because of constant underemployment in the industry. When there is not sufficient work, income is reduced. Most women employed in the industry are sewing workers who are paid by piece-rate. According to Wong, an average worker earns HK$100 (US$14) a day if there is nine-hour work provision. Recently the rate of underemployment is increasing. Many young women therefore prefer to join the electronic industry which consists of mostly large factories (foreign capital) that provide better welfare and more stable income.
The discriminative phenomena such as sexual division of labour, less chance of getting promotion, unequal pay for similar work exist also in the garment industry.
'There is a clear division of work. Sewing is for women. Cutting is for men. In my factory, no woman worker is ever allowed to sit at the cutting table because we are considered by the men workers to be 'dirty' - we have menstruation. One time, the daughter of our boss sat at the cutting table. The men there dared not scold her. But they were very mad. If there would be any industrial accident, they would put the blame on us.'
This was the experience of Luk, a women worker who is at her early twenties and has worked in the garment factory for five years. Her experience was not alone as Wong echoed,
The cutting table was a forbidden place for women. But now our factory has begun to employ women because the boss find that women are more loyal if they are offered some more money. Instead, once men have acquired a skill, they would try to start their own business or shift to other factories which pay higher wages.
When asked whether she was capable to do the job of cutting, Luk said,
'I think I can. It is not difficult. We just have to cut the cloth according to the paper design. All we need is to be careful when using the electric scissor. I think there is a traditional superstition against women.'
Wong also talked about their chance of getting promoted,
"The chance of getting promoted is very little since we usually have low level of education and training. The existing sexual division of labour also put us in limited range of jobs and we often have to remain in the same job forever. The employers think that we need not be trained. We have to get married anyhow.'
Concerning the reward of labour, Wong continued,
'We do not receive equal pay for similar work because women are not regarded as financial supporter of the family. But this is not true. Some women do their job much better than men because we are more responsible. Under such situation, I think women workers need more occupational protection and long term benefits.'
According to a survey "Working Mothers and Family Functioning in Hong Kong' done in 1982 by Hong Kong YWCA and Hong Kong Shue Yan College, 44.7% of the married women workers explained that they work in order to supplement the income of the family. This confirm Wong's personal observation that women do have to contribute economically to the family and their labour should not be discriminated only because of their sex. Wong also pointed out that because of the burden of housework and child rearing responsibility, the problem of double work remains unsolved among her fellow married workers.
Garment women workers who remain unmarried do not face less but just different sort of problems. Wong and two other interviewed women Lam and Leung are near their early thirties and are single. Their age is considered to be late for marrying, but it is common among garment women workers that they do not get married until their thirties. Like many other women, the three of them felt pressure from their families akhough they have devetoped stronger self identity after years of involvement in labour groups and thus feh easier to face this 'problem'.
Lam began working in a plastic flower factory at the age of twelve and has joined the garment industry for ten years. Leung, who grew up in Macau, came to Hong Kong and work in a garment factory at around twelve years old immediately after she completed primary school. Both Lam and Leung are elder daughters in the family. During the sixties, the majority of the families in Hong Kong was Uving under subsistence level. Education was not compulsory. Most parents expected their elder daughters to work after completing primary education so that they could earn money to support their brothers' further education. Lam and Leung were among these young girls who had given up their chance of education. According to traditional beUef, women do not need as much education as men since women will be dependent on their husbands after they get married. For some parents, getting the daughters married was also one way to alleviate the financial burden of the family and to indicate the end of their parental responsibility towards their daughters who afterall should belong to some other famiUes. Besides pressure from family, single women also receive conunents like 'psychological imbalance', 'old maids always grumble' etc. Lam said,
'I don't feel troubled by these comments because I want to choose my own way and I believe that there should not be a limit on the age for marriage. Since I am active in church and labour movement, people think that I am too busy to consider getting married. But for many single women workers in the garment industry, their self identity is so weak that they really lose their self confidence.'
Leung who has similar attitude towards marriage as Lam, talked of her experience she had with her fellow women workers,
'It is common to see late marriage among us because in the early years, we have put our heart in the family instead of on our own future. Many women who have passed the 'marriage age' feel ashamed of their single status. They are tired at heart and feel that there is no future for them. Therefore they do not want to learn anything. When they think of the difficulty to find a husband as they get older, they are very bitter at heart. Some even cry when asked of their marital status. Most of them, instead of trying to widen their social circle, go home after work and do not want to communicate with others or join any activities At work, they are also very submissive and fatalistic.'
We have no opportunity to interview the Hong Kong and Kowloon Machine-Sewing and Garment-Making Trade Workers General Union on how they perceive the problems faced by women workers who constitute the majority of their members. MGTWGU, formed in 1949 with a membership of 4,173 in 1983, is the bigger leftist union of garment workers. The other one is the less influential rightist Hong Kong Garment Industry Free Workers General Union which has a declared membership of only 69 workers in 1983. According to Wong, who became a member of MGTWGU only three years ago, the Union organises mostly interest-group type of activities. Occasionally the Union intervenes in labour disputes in representation of the workers. But Wong observed that among her fellow women workers the Union does not have an image of supporting the workers and helping them out. She said in minor collective negotiation for wages" that occurred inside individual factory, the Union's representatives are seldom involved. Women workers who have joined the Union are mostly attracted to recreational activities organised by the Union. The Union has not paid any attention to problems specific to women workers inside and outside workplace, said Wong.
Why Are Women Workers Hesitant To Join Trade Unions - Different Views
We have examined the objective situation in which the garment and electronic women workers are positioned and the attitude of their respective trade unions. Here below we will find out the reasons why the traditional form of workers' organization are not attractive to most women workers.
The trade unionists of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electronics Industry Employees' General Union is aware of the low participation of women workers in trade union. Yip, the woman unionist explained that most workers were not conscious of the usefulness of joining jinions because they could not get any immediate benefits from the organization. This was agreed by Wong who has been more active in labour groups than in the garment Union. But she was a bit more critical of the union itself,
'Young workers do not know about the functions of unions and unions are less enthusiastic to recruit members than before.'
Luk, at her early twenties and who did not even know of the existence of unions in the garment industry, talked of her experience which was quite typical to most young women workers in Hong Kong.
"There are not any publicity of union activities in my factory. I do not know of the function of trade unions and how I can be benefited from them. I cannot identify any kind of need that has to be fulfiled by unions. If I want to further my study, I will go to a night school since trade unions do not give recognized certificates. If I want recreation, the social service centres in the community where I live are easier to reach. If I am sick. III go to any clinic.'
Luk's mother and aunt were union members at their early stage of being garment workers. Luk compared the difference in needs between her generation with the older one.
'I have an impression that in my mother's generation, women workers participated in trade union activities to widen their sphere of social life. But now, young people have an enlarged social circle. They don't have to join trade unions. Furthermore activities organized by unions are not attractive enough. They are for people belonging to older generation. On the other hand, youngsters are more materialistic and more inclined to enjoyment and freedom. Other women garment workers prefer to spend their time in going to night school, hoping to improve their status.'
But Luk's experience revealed that the most prevailing image of unions among women workers is the provision of welfare and recreational activities like cheaper banquets, food, tours etc. But these functions can be replaced by other welfare agencies or even by commercial agencies. That is to say, as Luk pointed out, workers of younger generation, and still less women workers will look upon the trade union as an organization representing their rights, or responding to their needs.
This was echoed by Lai, the organizer in a women workers' group.
"Trade unions have not emphasized the needs of women workers. Therefore they could not strengthen the confidence of women workers towards the union's functions. If these women have problems, they would look for from social workers, women's groups of Labour Department. Furthermore, there is no education for women workers on trade unionism.'
Lai had also given a significant argument on the structural constraint of this type of organization in relation with the different way of socialization of women.
'Women do not like and are not used to interact through formal organization. They like to talk freely. Therefore structurally, trade unions are too big and formal for women, expecially for women who are not educated about the way such kind of organization operates.'
Lai continued,
'Generally women are more used to serve people rather than to think. If is a crisis or any urgent needs, they would gather together to do something. Otherwise, it is more difficult for them to organize.'
Although the direction of the trade unions, particularly the leftist unions, have changed quite drastically from political agitation to welfare promotion since the eighties, due to the lack of union education, political apathy still inhibit women workers from joining trade unions. This was considered by Lai as one of the minor factors affecting the members of her group. Wong spoke more explicitly of her own experience.
I joined the garment union only three years ago. Before I was afraid to join because of their politics. Later I realised that union is the outlet for workers, because I found capitalists and workers always in conficting positions.'
Wong was a member of the dispersed women workers' group which led the 'paid maternity leave' campaign in 1978. After that she became involved in a workers' study group on China. Her class consciousness and openess to Chinese politics is developed within these years. These experiences have stimulated her to give a second thought to her relationship with trade unionism.
The lack of support given by the trade unions to workers' organising effort on the shopfloor is also a reason for women workers' apathy towards the trade unions. Kwei said,
'Overall speaking, the workers in Hong Kong do not know the union well enough. On the other hand, there is not sufficient support fi-om unions so that they (active members) could be more courageous in doing organization wok at shopfloor level One might be fired by her boss once she is identified to be organizer or activist. One has to hide her status until very necessary situation.'
All the women interviewed had mentioned with different level of emphasis that ideological constraints and the objective family responsibilities faced by women workers are the main cohesive factors hindering their participation in trade unions. Ideological constrains include how they perceive their work, marriage and family. Wong talked of the attitude of the women workers in the garment industry towards work problems.
'It is difficult to identify problems which are typical of garment industry at large. There are more struggles at shop floor level The women don't feel the necessity to join trade union. Women workers usually just quit if they face problems in their workplace.'
Lai, on the other hand, analysed the situation from the point of view of how women see their work life.
'Life in a factory is short for them. Any change in their marital status will lead to the end of such life.'
Luk also observed the same way of thinking among her fellow women workers.
'Most of the women I work with do not participate in trade union. They think of marriage and child rearing as their final goal in life. For those who have married, it is natural that they do not participate in union because their primary concern is the family. Furthermore, women workers usually do not know what they can do in an organization, particularly those who received little education. They only care about earning more money. Some do not even bother to think of promotion.'
Kwei pointed out also the reality which most married women are faced with:
'A married working women's life is to shoulder the responsibilities of two lifes. Afterall, she thinks that caring of kids and housework are her natural duties even though she has to share economic responsibility with her husband.'
This situation of double burden faced by married women workers is also a factor restraining them from participating in union activities. According to Yip, the woman unionist, married women workers seldom take part in evening activities. They usually participated in daytime holiday activities like picnics.
Recent researches in Hong Kong have also studied the relationship between married women workers' participation in trade unions and the integral factors of dominant familial ideology, and the situation of double burden of married women workers. The survey report on "Working Mothers and Family Functioning" published in 1982 found that 72.8% of the industrial women workers were responsible for all the housework at home. Only 4.2% of the women workers said that housework were shared with their husbands. 70.6% of the industrial women workers were totally responsible for child rearing at home. Only 15.3% of the women shared the responsibility with their husbands.
The same survey found that 44.7% of the women workers had to work for economic reasons while reasons quoted by women for terminating their jobs were, "after having given birth to second child", "economically better off and "nobody take care of their children". These findings indicated that most women workers find their primary role in the family. However, when they have to share the economic responsibility of the family, it would not mean that they would be freed from household responsibility. It would only mean another load more.
Another survey carried out by the Association for the Advancement of Feminism in 1984 concludes the relationship between women's role in the family and their participation in public organization in the following words:
'Thus whether a woman gives up her job after marriage and becomes a full-time housewife or continues to work outside the family, there would be little time left for her to participate in oher serious activities. Family responsibility make difficult for her to pay attention to public affairs and to participate in organizations. '12
Despite the pessimistic picture painted by the interviewees of the mentality and social restraint imposed on women workers, they themselves are examples of women workers breaking through the familial ideology and asserting their identity and rights as producers in society. Lam, Leung and Kwei expressed that they will not quit their job even after they get married. Lam said.
'I am sure what work means to me. It is a way of self-actualization and to economic independence. If the economic burden for women after marriage is not so heavy, we should have time to develop ourselves.'
Yip also pointed out that many of the officials of the Electronics Union were married. They did not stop their involvement in the union because they were already emotionally attached to the union. This shows that marriage is not necessarily and naturally the final goal of the life of women.
Cases of Gender Consciousness and Organising Around Women's Needs
From the discussion of the above two sections, we can identify quite varied reasons explaining the low participation of women workers in trade unions. They are: trade unions are not emphasising and dealing with the needs of women workers in terms of gender oppression; women are not used to interact in formal structures and organisation such as the trade unions; family responsibility and the familial ideology hinders women from playing a central role in the work place. It has to be emphasized that these factors are not isolated from each other. Instead they are mutually reinforcing factors.
In this section, we introduce two alternative attempts in organising women workers. One is an unsuccessful attempt by a small group of garment women workers and the other is a new women workers' group affiliated to the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee. Although both groups still need time and effort to develop, their motivation, experience and strategy can serve as stimuli to the development of alternative organization for women workers in Hong Kong.
In section three, the two interviewed garment women workers Lam and Leung mentioned about the situation of unmarried women workers. Last year Lam, Leung and one other garment women worker sat together to talk about the situation and problems of themselves and their workers in the industry, especially in relation to late marriage. They decided to do something. The first attempt was to organize a training course for single garment workers who were over 25 years old. They planned to discuss subjects like late marriage, family, work and self-identity with workers in the course. But later due to insufficient publicity, the training program failed to recruit enough targeted women. So the program was suspended for the time being.
Lam, who was involved with a women workers' group affiliated to a church for around ten years. The scope of activities of the group ranged from bible study, life reflection, discussion on work problems to participation in labour issues. Later the group was dispersed. Talking about their attempt in organising a course on marriage, family and work, she said,
'This is a new way of thinking. Before I was only concerned about problems of general workers, although most of them were women. Now I think women workers have to face and solve their own problems before they can become active. How can they be expected to concern themselves with general labour problems if their own problems are not attended by anyone? We should not be too issue-oriented but should render concrete support to our fellow women workers. Women at the age of 25 are mature enough to share their problems. It is not a simple job. But we hope that we can change our traditional attitude towards marriage.'
Leung, before joining any labour group activities, was already very active in her garment factory. After participating in a worker organizers' training course, she wanted to start some shopfloor level organization among her fellow women workers. She said,
'In order to do this, their concrete difficulties have to be dealt with, like the double burden, submission to their traditional roles and fatalism.'
How did Leung start to discuss with her fellow workers about their attitude towards family? Leung said,
'The first step is to communicate with them, like talking about their children. We have to identify with them emotionally. Slowly during conversation, some message or new way of thinking on how they can perceive their position inside family can be suggested. It proved to be quite successful Some women gradually change their minds. Sometimes, I loudly talk about some new social issues so as to attract attention from them. Then some conversation can be started.'
Leung was quite confident and hopeful in this slow process of gender conscientization. Also she identified her concern for the problems that women face and her responsibility to do something about it, as being a woman herself.
'I saw progress among women workers within these few years. Because of more labour disputes coming up these time, many women workers are forced to know, to learn by themselves and not just to ask their husbands. Women are more active now than in the sixties and the seventies. Also the mass media advocates more about family responsibilities to be shared between women and men. This influence women's attitude towards family and society.'
What Lam and Leung have tried was to start conscientization work by personal contacts and influence. Although their first collective effort on the educational program has not been realized, they found out that close personal contacts proved to be more appropriate in the initial stage of organising women workers. Afterall, the personal changes of Lam and Leung towards a higher level of gender consciousness and their commitment to face the specific problems of women workers are already very demonstrative and encouraging.
The women workers' group of the Christian Industrial Committee (CIC) was formed less than a year ago. It is composed of around ten women who are wives of the victims of industrial accidents, and based in the Kwun Tong Community Church of CIC. Some of them started to work in factories only when they had to shoulder all or most of the economic burden of their families. According to Lai, the organizer of the group, at their early stage the group talked about problems at work, visited other victims of industrial accidents and organised recreational activities. Later they started to talk about their own situation and the difficulties they encountered as working mothers. One of the common problems was child caring. Since there is not enough nurseries in the Kwun Tong area, some members of the group have to bring their children to the factories when they go to work. Finally they decided to conduct a survey on nursery provision in Kwun Tong.
These women were very active and enthusiastic about the project. They participated in ahnost every step including setting the questionnaire, interviewing pregnant women in hospitals, and discussing the findings of the survey. In the beginning, they were afraid in doing the interviews. But after some time, they gained confidence and felt that they could do something meaningful. On March 8, 1985, they had a discussion with some District Board*13 members about their findings which showed that more nurseries were needed in Kwun Tong.
According to Lai, the nursery survey was the first step to widen their scope of concern. Actually when they have more chance to sit around and talk, their life spectrum could be more diversified.
After this issue, these women became more interactive and a stronger sense of solidarity was felt among the members. Lai said that although women workers do not incline to organize themselves, they would initiate action towards their own needs. Talking about organization potentials of the group, Lai considered that some could be co-ordinators. There is a sort of informal leadership among the members although they have their limitations like older age, limited knowledge, not confident enough to make decisions. But their eagerness to learn is the basic condition that they can be trained to become organizers themselves. In addition to these, the emotional linkage among these women workers is another favourable and unique condition to the further development of the group.
Alternative Women Workers' Organization
From the discussion of the previous sections, the reasons explaining the distant relationship between women workers and trade unions could, in different degrees, be valid arguments. For the first reason concerning the domination of male-ideology in unions, due to the limitation in information about the internal functioning of the interviewed unions, it is difficult to conclude whether the male-domination practice is obvious in those unions with majority women executives. But it is quite obvious that even this type of quantitatively 'women-dominated' unions like the Hong Kong and Kowloon Electronics Industry Employees' General Union is not particularly addressing to the problems of women workers which they recognize. This reflects, in my opinion, the orientation and practice of these women trade-unionists still follow the traditional concept and form of unionism which represents "the class'. Although the HKEIEGU had once participated in the 'paid-maternity leave campaign' in 1978, their involvement in a long run, is still issue-oriented and has no systematic analysis and strategy towards the more hidden and specific problems faced by women workers as part of the subordinate gender. Therefore unions is not a place for women workers who identify more with the problems relating to their marriage, family, self-fulfillment, etc. rather than work problems. Also since most women workers generally accept the unequal treatment between themselves and their male counterparts, those who have joined the union still do not have the consciousness and action to request these unions to pay attention to the discriminating situation like lower wage, no promotion, sexual division of labour etc. Therefore, I tend to agree the observation made by Elson and Pearson quoted in the beginning that 'the specific problems that concern women as a gender are often problems which is not easy for conventional forms of trade unions or working class political activity to tackle', in the context of the situation in Hong Kong.
Both the interviews and other secondary data included supported the assumption that the mutually reinforced familial ideology and the domestic responsibilities were significant factors hindering women workers' participation in trade unions and in any other organizations or in public affairs at large. The long-existing separation of 'private sphere' and 'public sphere' and the socially defined role of women in the previous one are the objective situation that we need to face and break through, if we want to promote women's participation and thus organization.
Although the development of labour groups in the seventies up to the present is still very small-scale scattered, and do not much influence in the improvement of workers' situation, they have provided basis and opportunities for some women worker activists to develop their self-confidence, organizing skill, class consciousness and for part of them, gender consciousness. They are more ready to develop women workers' groups from the perspective of gender needs. I could perceive that the potentials in developing women workers organization lie very much on the effort input from the conscious women workers' activists themselves as well as the feminists who advocate grassroot movement.
There have been debates going on among labour activists about the direction of long term development of labour groups in Hong Kong. Should the individual conscientized workers eventually join their trade unions and push for changes inside or should they organize themselves to become a stronger but different labour organization from the trade unions . By contrasting the orientation, structure and functioning between the trade unions and the case of the women workers' group affiliated to CIC discussed in this article, it seems that there are more advantages in developing alternative women workers' groups than integrating more women workers into the trade unions.
First, in terms of ideology and structure, established trade unions are more inflexible to change to cope with the needs of women workers and to intervene into the capitalistic cycle of using the subordinating position of women in production. I do not mean that trade unions are totally meaningless to women workers' struggle. If more attention and effort are paid to such needs and situation, particularly by those unions with majority women members, these established institutions are more influential in pushing for changes both at policy and shopfloor level. But I would not be too optimistic about these changes in this direction at the present stage of trade-unionism development and it is more difficult for outsider to dialogue with the trade-unionists in power about such issues. On the other hand, the developing momentum together with the flexibility in structure and openness in ideology of women workers' group are favourable conditions to further and extended form of organization. Of course, by counting number and resources, the present influence of small groups are much more marginal in society than the trade unions. But only when women workers themselves being conscious of their own problems and the need of organising for solutions to such problems that a movement can be started.
Secondly, concerning organizational strategy, it is always advisable to start where the target people are. It is important to recognize the different way of socialization of women from men. Joining big and established organizations are always quite threatening to women who are usually not confident of their own identity and capabilities. As the organizer Lai said, they feel freer to interact in small group atmosphere in which more personal needs which are often related to their marriage and family and never taken seriously could be expressed, discussed and attended. This is also the way to alleviate domestic responsibilities hindering their participation. Emotional linkage and support is possible and important in the initial stage of organization. Therefore it is more favourable to start small groups among women first. After certain period of adjustment and training, they would be more competent to integrate together to become bigger and stronger organizations
It is under such organization pattern that gender issues faced by women workers would not be subordinate to the class issues which are more recognized by traditional form of trade-union movement. When women workers can restore their identity and confidence as being women and be conscious that they have alternative roles other than those socially confined to, then they would start to challenge their being in subordinate economic position, stereotyped sexual division of labour, discriminated wage-earner, slaves of domestic chores, etc. There is a need for alternative organization for women workers outside trade unions in Hong Kong if we want to promote a more gender conscious perspective on the question of women workers. Similarly, Christine Chau concluded in her dissertation on women workers and their organization in Hong Kong that 'there is the need to promote a more gender conscious perspective within the labour movement so it can become powerful vehicle of change for the working women and feminist struggle at large; while a more active women participation within the labour movement shall help to enrich and strengthen the workers' movement"14 It is time for local labour groups and feminist groups to come together and work out strategies for changes.
Notes
1. Diane Elson and Ruth Pearson, The Subordination of Women and the Internationalisation of Factory Production, "of Marriage and the Market", p. 164.
2. Christine Chau, who is one of very first local women writing on this issue, has put on her M.A. dissertation Women workers and their organization in Hong Kong, October 1984, University of Warwick that there 'is an optimistic affirmation of a marriage between labour movement and the movement for greater women workers concern'.
3. The Machinery Trade Union and the Garments Trade Union which were the two earliest trade unions in Hong Kong formed in the years 1911 and 1921 respectively. The former one was pro-Kuomingtang (the ruling party) while the latter one was more leftist and radical.
4. The membership power base of trade unions in Hong Kong, p. 73. "Different Views on Labour Question" by Ng Shek-hong, November 1984, most figures quoted in this essay are from annual reports of Registror of Tiade Union, Hong Kong.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Besides labour issues, the most popular actions were from the communities, mostly related to housing problem in Hong Kong.
8. EPA Resources - Vol. 5, No. 8,9,1984, Hong Kong Christian Council.
9. Annual Report of Registror of Trade Unions.
10. Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics, May 1985.
11. Since most sewing garment workers are paid according to the price of a unit of finished product (e.g. sewing the collar of shirts is HK$6 per dozen) and the quantity of production, many times, workers have to negotiate with the employee or supervisor for higher prices if they find them unfairly low.
12. Preliminary report. Survey on Women's Participation in Public Affairs in Hong Kong, February 1985, AAF, p. 9, section 9.2.2.
13. District Board is the regional institution of the government administration for discussion of regional affairs. It is similar to City Council in some other countries.
14. See Footnote 2.
Reference
1. Women and Trade Unions in the Workplace by Nicola Charles; Feminist Review 15, Winter 1983.
2. Women Workers and Their Organization in Hong Kong by Christine Chau Yin Chun, M.A. Dissertation, University of Warwick, October 1984.
3. The Subordinatmn of Women and The Internationalization of Factory Production by Diane Elson and Ruth Pearson, "of Marriage and the Market", edited by Kate Young, Carol Wolkowitz and Roslyn McCollagh, October 1981.
4. Women, Gender Relations and Wage Labour by Anna Pollert; Gender, Class and Work (1983) Gamarnikow, Morgan, Purvis, Taylorson edited, Heineman London.
5. How Far Have we Care? Women's Organization in the Unions in the United Kingdom by Ruth Elliott.
6. Participatran of Women in Trade Union Activities, IFPAAW.
7. Different Views on Labour Questions by Ng Shek-hong, November 1984.
Chan Shun Hing has been a grassroot organizer for more than five years and was involved in a Labour Development Project in the past two years. She is presently an executive member of the Association for The Advancement of Feminism, a newly formed local feminist group in Hong Kong