In other words, how much discrimination has been overcome between a working man and a woman at work places doing the same work or capable of doing the same work, in the context of coming into existence favourable constitutional provisions to achieve this objective such as equal pay for equal work and so on.

Reports about prevailing situation at work places in urban and rural areas show that the pace of overcoming this inequality or discrimination remains very slow. This continuing discrimination lowers the quality of labour movement, harms workers' cause in the long term and only enables employers to profit by it. It therefore requires a serious study of reasons for this slow pace in overcoming this discrimination.

In recent months, there has been a lot of controversy in the media on the Bill for reservation for women in Parliament and the related issue of empowerment of women in the country. This seems to have encouraged the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to commission a study on “Social Dialogue and Gender Equality in India”. The study has brought out some interesting facets of male-dominated unions and employers organizations and the manner in which they have sought to resolve this hiatus, even if partially.

It has been found, for instance, that the gender concerns in the agendas of trade unions and employers' organizations remain on the periphery. Being men-dominated, the gender concerns do not form integral part of their daily work or thinking.

At the same time, over time, however, they have come to realize that they have to attend to gender issues because of their growing impact in the course of their work. The ILO study says that central or state trade unions set up special separate women-workers' committees or cells to keep track of gender issues. Employers organizations set up women wings to address gender concerns.

Another conclusion of the ILO study is that although importance of gender equality is being admitted increasingly but in practice, action is largely limited to instituting studies on issues. Alternatively, women are allowed to participate in a range of gender sensitive issues. “The more difficult task of gendering institutions and workplaces is yet to be undertaken in a real and meaningful way,” the study says.

According to ILO study, there are machineries and processes available for redressal of women's grievances but “these remain underutilized”. Moreover, “as further evidenced from analysis of collective agreements, it shows that gender concerns are mere additions to “regular” agenda and rarely nuanced to accommodate substantial gender issues.”

It has to be said that problems pertaining to the equality for women at work cannot be fully comprehended without taking into account the vast mass of the unorganized workforce both urban and rural. The unorganized labour is estimated to be 92 per cent of the total 400 million workers; among them the women workers face much worse situations. Indian social conditions what they are historically, for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe women workers, they, more often than not, face more complex variety of inequality, economic as well as social. Trade unions ignore it, employers use it to their advantage if they can. The ILO study has taken only a limited view of this social reality of Indian workforce, especially in the context of equality for women.

The ILO study takes into account the large-scale increase in trade union membership in the recent past. It is attributed to increased unionization of the unorganized/informal workers. Most women are employed in this informal sector. This ipso facto does not create gender sensitivity among unions.

The study's conclusion about the accretion in the trade union membership, with women workers joining them in good number, is important and need to be taken note of by labour leaders. The ILO study says : “While this is a surge in the increase of women membership, this is not adequately reflected in the composition of the leadership, both of the industry level union and the central trade union organizations.” The women representation in collective bargaining at the national level is a pointer to the relatively smaller role played by women within these organisations.

The study has made yet another observation about how central trade union leadership seek to ensure participation of women at their national conclaves even if they do not get elected at the local level. Many trade union organizations adopt an informal way of reserving some seats for women in their national conclaves and they insist that local unions must send stipulated women delegates. And this has paid.

The informal mode of ensuring that central trade unions focus attention on the specific concerns of women, for instance, through informal cell/committee, though has proved useful, but the study underlines that some of these concerns deserve to be more emphatically dealt with so that they do not get sidelined in the matter of wage revision, leave, seniority. These concerns are often of more pressing importance. The study has noted many other issues of women workers' concern which have to be taken care of. For instance, ensuring decent rest rooms, toilet for women, ensuring safety of women employees in sector like transport, training and skill development of women workers. The functioning of sexual harassment committees in establishments need to be specially watched.

The big question remains who and how to create women worker activists who can constantly ensure that unions remain conscious of these concerns of women workers who are entering the labour market in ever larger numbers every day. There have been important women leaders in central and state unions. This writer can recall some of them who did play or are playing role in labour movement. For instance, Parvati Krishnan, active in Tamil Nadu, was a part of the united AITUC leadership, Sarla Sharma in Delhi, Vimla Dang in Punjab, Brinda Karat MP of CITU, now CPI-M politburo member, Subhashini Ali, former MP, in Kanpur, Amarjit Kaur of AITUC. AITUC even organized a fairly good all-India women workers demonstration before the Parliament in support of workers' demands.

It would however appear that all this has fallen short of leaving their impact on men-dominated unions to remain sensitive to gender equality issues. It would be good if the trade union leaders at central and state level become aware of this problem just as they had to realize the importance of attending to the problems of contract worker. There need to once in a year special sessions of, say, national council of CTUOs which focus only on gender issues and its growing complexity. Possibly solutions will follow. These sessions should invite wider participation of local women workers. Building women worker activists is a precondition for unions working on gender sensitive issues as integral part of their thinking and action. (IPA Service)