Abstract
In this chapter, I will analyze the attitudes of women miners in Chile toward participating in labor unions. In order to carry out this analysis, I will try to understand the process of how women have been integrated into large-scale copper mining, a strategic area of the country’s economic activity, one which enjoys higher pay and more status than the average Chilean job. The hypothesis is that, despite the importance of the incorporation of women into large-scale mining operations, this integration has not been able to change the existing role of women as mothers, and in fact, this is reflected in the representation of women in labor union activities. In order to support my thesis, I analyzed 20 in-depth interviews conducted with women workers of the El Teniente and Chuquicamata divisions of the state-run mining company, Codelco. These women had different positions within the company’s power structure, ranging from workers to supervisors and professionals.
This chapter is a result of Semilla project 063-2014, “Disposiciones y resistencias subjetivas a la participación sindical en mujeres de la Gran Minería del Cobre en Chile”, funded by the Universidad Diego Portales in 2015.
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- 1.
It is also quite difficult to represent unconventional jobs or precarious employment.
- 2.
Sernam’s Iguala Program is a tool that permits companies to observe labor practices and develop positive human resource measures in order to promote equal opportunity between men and women. The program defines seven areas of diagnosis and observation: (1) recruitment and selection processes in hiring, (2) career development and access to training, (3) equal representation of men and women in positions of authority, (4) work conditions, (5) protection of maternal rights and parental responsibilities, (6) conciliation of work responsibilities and family obligations, and (7) prevention and sanctioning of workplace harassment and/or sexual harassment at work (Codelco 2007).
- 3.
Retamal, Patricia (investigadora responsable), “Inserción laboral de mujeres en sectores estratégicos de la economía chilena: un fenómeno emergente”, research funded by the University of Chile.
- 4.
Until 1996, women’s participation in mining was restricted by the Work Code to administrative and domestic functions (Díaz 2014).
- 5.
Women’s participation in construction only reaches 6.1 percent (Díaz 2014).
- 6.
The “Good Practices with Gender Equity” Program has as its objective to increase the productivity and competitiveness of organizations through the implementation of actions that promote gender equality. In order to accomplish this, the program created the “IGUALA-CONCILIACIÓN” seal of approval, which certifies making strides in “Gender equality and the conciliation of work, family and personal life”.
- 7.
See Godoy, Carmen G., and Paula R. Quintana, “Economic Modernization and Redefining Womanhood: Women, Family and Work in a Centre-Right Wing Government”, in this book.
- 8.
This percentage is above average, as the total number of women reached 7.7 percent in 2014.
- 9.
It is a national survey.
- 10.
Twenty-seven percent of labor unions are composed in their majority of women.
- 11.
The figure of Bárbara Figueroa, president of the CUT (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores), has been described as more symbolic, and as not signifying a real transformation in the world of labor unions (Riquelme and Abarca 2015). At the same time, it is important to note that her position was not just due to union activity, but also to her role as a political militant in the Communist Party, part of Bachelet’s current governing coalition.
- 12.
According to mining culture lore, women’s presence in the mines brings bad luck, since the mine—understood as also being a woman—would get jealous. This is not a strictly Chilean myth, but rather is common to all of Latin America.
- 13.
For female Codelco workers, there are many material benefits, above all those associated with the collective bargaining process.
- 14.
This is a colloquialism; riña also means “brawl” or “fight” (translator’s note).
- 15.
Codelco organizes its workforce through a system of shifts, for example, 7 × 7, 4 × 4, or, in this case, 5 × 2. In the first two cases, this means that they work seven or four days sequestered in the mine and then have the same number of days off to spend at home. In the last case, it means they work five days in a row in the mine and then have two days off at home.
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Angelcos, N. (2020). Women Miners: Motherhood, Labor Integration, and Unionization. In: Ramm, A., Gideon, J. (eds) Motherhood, Social Policies and Women's Activism in Latin America. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21402-9_10
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