In a legal attempt to transform traditional gender roles and relieve unequal care burdens on women, South Africa’s Constitutional Court this week is taking up a case challenging sections of the country’s employment act that permit four months of maternity leave to biological mothers only. By comparison, fathers are only entitled to a 10-day paternity leave. If affirmed, the case will transform how maternity and parental leave is granted in South Africa and set an important precedent for the entire continent.
“Although we do anticipate the Constitutional Court confirming the judgment,” says Ziona Tanzer, Solidarity Center law program counsel, “how it does so and what it says about gender, the redistribution of care work and feminist labor law will be significant.”
Based on constitutional rights of non-discrimination and dignity, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled last year that working parents must both have the right to time off after the birth of a baby or adopting a child, and can share four months of paid maternity leave made available to women under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). The High Court judge recognized that current provisions of the law do not permit families to autonomously determine who performs infant care work or equally share responsibilities between parents.
Although the High Court issued an interim order, the judgment must be affirmed by the Constitutional Court–a necessary requirement for all cases concerning the constitutionality of laws. The Constitutional Court could make the lower court’s order of unconstitutionality immediately applicable, which means the law will change from the date of the judgment, or it can give the South African legislature one or two years to amend the law.
The lower court also found that provisions in the BCEA unfairly and unconstitutionally discriminate against fathers and parents of children adopted or born via surrogacy. Pointing to an unequal care burden on women, the presiding judge said that although it is not discriminatory to grant leave to a birth mother, the real question underlying the act is a policy choice with respect to child nurture, which could be done by either parent.
Bringing international and comparative law–which is increasingly recognizing the common responsibility and rights of both parents to contribute to the raising of children–to the court, South Africa-based Labor Research Services, the Solidarity Center, the Solidarity Center’s International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network and the University of Pretoria’s Center for Human Rights together submitted “friends of the court,” or amici arguments. The amicus arguments focus on the gendered underpinnings of the BCEA. In its premise that mothers are primarily responsible for child care while fathers’ care responsibilities are secondary, the BCEA not only forces an unequal care burden on mothers, it also unfairly and unconstitutionally discriminates against fathers and non-traditional families, such as parents of adopted children or those born via surrogacy. The attorney representing the amicus is ILAW member Kayan Leung, from Lawyers for Human Rights.
The ILAW Network is a membership organization for union and worker rights’ lawyers. Its core mission is to bring together legal practitioners and scholars in an exchange of ideas and information to best represent the rights and interests of workers and their organizations.
The Solidarity Center established the ILAW Network in 2018 as a way for pro-labor lawyers worldwide to bring together legal practitioners and scholars in an exchange of ideas and information in order to best represent the rights and interests of workers and their organizations wherever they may be.
ILAW lawyers working together have taken legal strategies that are successful in one country and deploy them elsewhere. In doing so, they have set new legal precedents that build a stronger foundation for the expansion of worker rights around the globe.
Credit: Mosa’ab Elshamy
Solidarity Center Executive Director Shawna Bader-Blau welcomed attendees, describing the network of over 1,300 members in more than 90 countries as “uniquely situated to take on global corporations suppressing worker rights.”
She cited the successful advocacy of women labor lawyers for new International Labor Organization (ILO) treaties, like Convention 189 on domestic workers and Convention 190 on violence and harassment. She also noted the inclusion of a plenary on feminism and labor law in this year’s conference as an example of ILAW’s leadership driving the global labor movement agenda towards equity.
Solidarity Center Rule of Law Director and ILAW Network Chair Jeffrey Vogt laid out the conference’s purpose. “Around the world, the rights of workers and unions are under attack. Employers are well-resourced and coordinated in their efforts to shape law and policy. It is essential that workers and unions do the same. Through ILAW, we can learn from each other, build from successes and failures, and strengthen our impact through legal solidarity.”
Vogt also highlighted the importance of the feminism and labor law plenary: “The ILAW Network is a feminist network, and we are proud of that. Labor law needs to work for everyone. Having a labor law that is feminist is a way to make it work for everyone.”
Credit: Mosa’ab Elshamy
The importance of interconnectedness was woven throughout many plenary sessions and discussions. Networking, learning from and collaborating across countries and regions was a key part of the conference, as attendees talked about the commonalities of their work.
The opening plenary, moderated by Solidarity Center’s Rule of Law Deputy Director Monika Mehta, focused on the impact of technology in the world of work, including but not only digital platform workers, from Amazon warehouses workers to content moderators for major social media firms.
Panelist Liz Lenjo described the content moderators in Kenya who filed a lawsuit against Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads) and Sama, the local contractor, citing poor working conditions, union busting and inadequate mental health support.
These workers were hired to screen posts, videos and messages for Facebook and remove harmful or offensive content. Workers spent hours viewing violent and disturbing images and videos. They were left on their own to deal with the psychological trauma. In a landmark ruling, the Kenyan court determined it had jurisdiction over Meta.
Credit: Mosa’ab Elshamy
Sandra Muñoz discussed how women in Colombia’s parliament recently passed legislation to prohibit gender-based harassment in the workplace and linked the fight for gender equality to equality for all. “Unless we can overcome gender inequality,” Muñoz said, “we can’t overcome inequality as a whole.”
Kayan Leung also described successful litigation she undertook in South Africa to establish parity in paid parental leave in order that the responsibility of care does not default to women. The ILAW Network filed an amicus brief in that case.
During the panel on Just Transition, Angelica Maria Palacios Martinez spoke about the efforts to get Colombia’s government to recognize trade unions’ essential role in Just Transition and protecting the whole population. “From the trade union world, we have called out the government to recognize us as a key player, she said, “so that these public policies are focused on protecting the entire population, and in particular, protecting the workers.”
Abdullah Nahid of the Maldives, one of the countries most affected by climate change, described union efforts to support workers in the tourism and fisheries sector.
On the panel on the informal economy, Madhulika Tatigotla discussed the growth of the informal economy in India. India’s informal economy continues to grow, as the formal sector continues to informalize as, for example, 40 percent of factory workers are now on temporary contracts. Recently, workers and their legal advocates developed a comprehensive draft law for workers in the informal economy to extend labor rights and benefits.
In the final right to strike plenary, Paapa Danquah noted the increasing international threats to the right to strike, linking it to civil liberties. “The attack on the right to strike on the international level is the first step to taking away the right to strike everywhere,” Danquah said. “Whenever you see attacks on the right to strike, there are also attacks on collective bargaining and civil liberty.” He described how the ITUC was involved in litigation before the International Court of Justice to protect the right to strike as a principle of international law.
As the conference ended, attendees discussed priorities for the coming year, from more collaboration between all members to deepening national and regional labor law networks, cross-pollination between ILAW regions, increasing engagement with social movements and Indigenous communities in order to support union growth. Attendees left the conference energized and committed to forging a robust labor law network for a stronger global labor movement.
Gender-based violence and Harassment (GBVH) is a pervasive issue in Nigeria, affecting individuals across various sectors and walks of life. It encompasses a range of harmful behaviors directed at individuals based on their gender, including physical violence, sexual harassment, psychological abuse, and economic exploitation. Legal frameworks and policies aimed at addressing GBVH remain weak, and cultural beliefs still reinforce the culture of silence and stigma.
Efforts to combat GBVH in Nigeria have gained momentum in recent years, with increased advocacy, awareness campaigns, and support services for survivors. Initiatives like “Mista Silas: A Tale of Unheard Voices” play a crucial role in this fight by using art to amplify the voices of those affected and raise awareness of the issue and its impacts.
Scenes from the play “Mista Silas: A Tale of Unheard Voices ” from the performance. Credit: Maigemu Studios/Solidarity Center
“Mista Silas” is a compelling stage play that explores the profound and often overlooked impact of GBVH in the workplace. It shines a spotlight on the prevalence and effects of discrimination and GBVH, brings to life the stories of those who have faced such challenges and gives voice to their struggles and resilience.
The event commenced with a panel discussion with union leaders from Nigeria’s two labor centers, the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), with Solidarity Center Country Coordinator Chris Adebayo. The panel session titled, “The Impact of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the Workplace” provided a platform for deeper exploration of the theme presented in the play.
“We have a lot of laws in place in Nigeria, but implementation is close to zero,” said NTUC Women’s Commission President Hafsat Shuaib. “But right now, we have [ILO Convention]190, which is really at the forefront for everybody. Together, we can put it into action. Eliminating gender-based violence and harassment is everybody’s business, and so we must all come together and fight against it. All hands must be on deck.”
From left: Chris Adebayo, Country Coordinator, Solidarity Center; Comrade Hafsat Shaibu, NTUC Women’s Commission President.
“Gender-based violence and harassment is criminal. It is a crime against the individual, it is a crime against humanity, and it is a crime against God. We are valued as human beings, as individuals. We work to earn a living, and earning a living does not include [access to] our bodies,” said Rita Goyit, head of the Women and Youth Empowerment Department for the NLC.
Left to right: Comrade Rita Goyit, head of the Women and Youth Empowerment Department for the NLC; Ms. Toyin Falaiye, global labor lawyers’ network ILAW.
After the panel session, the play set the stage for a narrative exploring the toxic nature of abuse of power that fuels GBVH in the world of work by introducing Mista Silas, a perpetrator of GBVH, in his office. With an air of entitlement, he disregards women’s autonomy, seeing them merely as objects for male pleasure.
As the story unfolds, it highlights the insidious nature of GBVH and the attitudes that perpetuates it. Mista Silas’s words and actions exact an emotional and psychological toll on his victims, confronting the audience with the harsh realities many women face in the workplace.
The women experience harrowing harassment and retaliation for refusing Mista Silas’s advances, portraying survivors’ trauma and resistance. Their synchronized movements and harmonized voices evoke the solidarity and strength found in shared experiences and illustrate the widespread impact of GBVH and the courage required to stand against it.
By understanding the experiences of those affected by GBVH in the workplace, we can raise awareness and cultivate empathy and a more profound commitment to fostering safe and respectful workplaces.
The play is a call to action. It underscores the importance of implementing effective policies and support systems to protect and empower all workers. Workplaces must collectively strive to create environments where everyone feels valued, respected and safe.
The audience responded to the performance with a standing ovation. Some wiped away tears, while others expressed gratitude and requested additional information from the Solidarity Center. Audible murmurs and gasps of shock and empathy were heard throughout the performance, especially during scenes depicting abusive experiences. The play’s power to elicit such emotional reactions highlights the effectiveness of storytelling and the personalization of the issue of gender-based violence and harassment.
From left: Sophie Hart, MEL, USDOL, and Marie Ledan, Grant Officer’s Representative, USDOL, giving special remarks.
In their closing remarks, Sophie Hart and Marie Ledan, representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor, reiterated the importance of addressing gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work and thanked the Solidarity Center for using the arts and storytelling to raise awareness of the issue.
An unprecedented, binding, worker-centered program designed to comprehensively address rampant gender-based violence and harassment in several garment factories in Lesotho is succeeding in creating a safe and dignified workplace in Lesotho, attendees of a high-level summit in the southern African country were told last week.
The July 27 summit, “Eradicating Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Work in Southern Africa,” brought together government, labor and business leaders in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital, to highlight advances in ensuring worker rights and civil-society participation—including the program that arose from groundbreaking, anti-GVBH agreements negotiated collaboratively by local unions and women’s rights groups, multinational brands sourcing from Lesotho, international worker rights groups and a Taiwanese factory group producing clothing for Western markets. The event was co-hosted by the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights (M-POWER), the Lesotho Federation of Trade Unions and Lesotho Labor Council, and was supported by the Solidarity Center.
“I experienced so much harassment at the factory before the program at Nien Hsing was established,” said garment worker Popoti Ntebe. “Because of the high level of unemployment in our country, workers tend to be harassed because of poverty.”
Before the program launched in 2020, Ntebe said a variety of behaviors by supervisors and managers were common, including bullying, verbal and physical abuse, and sexual harassment. The desperation to have a paying job made workers vulnerable to situations where supervisors would demand sex for letting workers past the factory gate, granting overtime work or not terminating a work contract.
“After you were hired, you were given a 3-month contract. Supervisors threaten to terminate the contract if we don’t agree to have sex with them. And workers desperate for work agree,” she said.
However, since the program of education and awareness raising for workers and managers, “the rate of GBVH has really decreased. This program is so beneficial to workers,” she said.
The program has educated thousands of workers and managers about GBVH and worker rights at Nien Hsing factories in the country. It is the first attempt to end GBVH at work that is binding on the factory to implement the program; enforceable through the economic power of U.S. brands; and grounded in ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment. And, in another milestone, it established an independent organization, Workers’ Rights Watch, to investigate allegations of violence and harassment, and remediate violations–with workers able to report issues to a newly established toll-free information line.
Other speakers on the panel, “How Workers and Companies are Addressing Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in a Global Supply Chain: Focus on the Lesotho Agreements,” were: Jeffrey Hogue, chief sustainability officer, Levi Strauss & Co. (by video); Samuel Mokhele, secretary general, National Clothing Textile and Allied Workers Union (NACTWU); Matsie Moalosi, education and awareness raising facilitator, NACTWU; Itumeleng Moerane, information line manager, Federation of Women Lawyers Lesotho (FIDA); Motseoa Senyane, lead assessor, Workers’ Rights Watch; and Leeto Makoro, shop steward, Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho (IDUL). Thusoana Ntlama, programs coordinator of FIDA Lesotho, moderated the panel.
Samuel Mokhele emphasized the importance of collaboration in addressing GBVH in Lesotho’s garment factories. “We came together with international organizations we are working with, namely the Solidarity Center, then we asked what we can do to eliminate the challenges that workers are facing at work,” he said. “We learned from other countries what kind of models they had and how we could domesticate that into our country.
“This is where all of us came up with the agreement to have a program on gender-based violence and harassment,” Mokhele added.
Speaking on behalf of educators and facilitators, Matsie Moalosi stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of GBVH and collaboration across cultures in addressing GBVH. “There are root causes to GBVH. So we have to remove them: the abuse of power, disrespect of women’s rights and gender equity. We are from different cultures. So we have to know about gender and how it’s diverse in order to accommodate LGBTQIA+ because they are people who are most vulnerable in the workplace,” Moalosi said.
Itumeleng Moerane and Motseoa Senyane emphasized the importance of the principle of confidentiality throughout the process of gathering workers’ reports of GBVH through the information line, then investigating and making determinations on remedies for valid cases, with the express consent of workers.
To date, Senyane said, Workers’ Rights Watch has issued 108 determinations, and five cases are currently under investigation.
But, more importantly, she said, “This program puts justice in the hands of workers.”
The program’s power to right injustices has elicited calls from workers in other factories and organizations, panelists said. Currently, the work is limited to factories owned by Nien Hsing, a signatory to the agreements. However, the need is great.
“Some of our (union) members are interested in the program but it’s only at Nien Hsing, as a pilot. It would be helpful to extend it to other factories,” said Mokhele.
M-POWER is a historic global initiative focused on ensuring working families thrive in the global economy and elevating the role of trade unions and organized workers as essential to advancing democracy. The government of the United States and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) co-chair M-POWER, joined by steering committee members: the governments of Argentina, Canada and Spain; the International Domestic Worker Federation; the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU); the AFL-CIO; and Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE). Additional partners include the governments of Germany and South Africa, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum, ProDESC, Solidarity Center and Worker Rights Consortium.
Event partners for this M-POWER summit were: the Congress of South African Trade Unions; Federation of Women Lawyers Lesotho; Independent Democratic Union of Lesotho; International Domestic Workers Federation; International Trade Union Confederation-Africa; International Trade Union Confederation; National Clothing, Textile and Allied Workers Union; Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council; United Textile Employees, Lesotho; Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust; Worker Rights Consortium and Workers’ Rights Watch.
Myrtle Witbooi, a fierce advocate of domestic worker rights who recently passed away, is remembered in this Solidarity Center Podcast episode by Solidarity Center Domestic Worker Global Lead Alexis De Simone. We also hear from Myrtle herself, as she accepted the AFL-CIO’s Human Rights award on behalf of the International Domestic Worker Federation, which she helped form and led.
“Her deep conviction that when women, when the working poor, when
women of color, when workers in the Global South, when union sisters and brothers decide to join forces, decide that they are in it together, there is no option but victory,” says De Simone.
“That is so much of Myrtle’s legacy.”
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This episode is a re-broadcast from the podcast, Labor History Today, produced by the Metro Washington Labor Council.
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