Gender neutral agendas have made it difficult for trade unions to focus and address issues specifically related to working conditions of women thus leading to such issues being swept under the carpet, according to leading social economist Naila Kabeer.
"Your future lies in the ability to represent all workers. The idea that you only represent male organised sector who are in any case is privileged, to me it signals end of the trade union movement," Kabeer said while delivering a paper at the first global International Conference on Gender Equality-1 at nearby Kovalam.
Kabeer, a professor at the gender institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, had presented her paper on "The Politics of Claim - Making Women Workers in the Global Economy" at the meet attended by leading scholars and academicians from world over.
Kabeer urged other countries to follow the example of Brazil who have recognised the need of trade unions to be more sensitive towards issues of women which in turn has contributed to their economies.
"I think trade unions could be a force for the good. The only thing they need right now is to get off their high horse and start looking at what work means and are they or are they not representatives of work regardless of sex, gender and caste," she said.
The social economist, who works primarily on poverty, gender and social policy issues, highlighted the 'anti sweatshop movement' which campaigned to improve the conditions of the labourers characterised with low wages and poor working conditions in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Other speakers at the conference urged for stringent laws against harassment of migrant labourers, specifically women, in both the countries that send and receive them.
Social worker Lissy Joseph noted that women comprise around 29 per cent of Indian migrants, and attributed the low number to certain socio-economic and cultural factors prevailing in the country.
"Even though India has law for protecting the migrants, there are many inadequacies which should be addressed," said Joseph, who works with the National Domestic Workers Movement in Hyderabad.
