Workers` Education in the 21st Century

Transkript

WORKERS’ EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
ASIA PACIFIC WORKERS’ EDUCATION PRACTITIONERS
EXCHANGE
ORGANISED BY ASIA MONITOR RESOURCE CENTRE
MACAO, SEPTEMBER 2003
Workers’ Education in the 21st Century - AMRC
Asia Monitor Resource Centre Ltd
Over 25 years of promoting workers rights and democratic labour
movements in Asia and the Pacific
AMRC is an independent NGO, which focuses on Asian and Pacific labour
concerns. The Center provides information, research, publishing, training, labour
networking and related services to trade unions, pro-labour groups, and other
development NGOs in the region. AMRC’s main goal is to support democratic
and independent labour movements in Asia and the Pacific. In order to achieve
this goal, AMRC upholds the principles of workers’ empowerment and gender
consciousness, and follows a participatory framework.
THE ASIA PACIFIC WORKERS’ EXCHANGE PRACTITIONERS
WORKSHOP: WORKERS’ EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
21 – 23 SEPTEMBER 2003, MACAO
This workshop was funded by Committee of Asian Women (CAW), Olof Palme
International Centre (OPIC) and Oxfam Hong Kong.
This publication would not have been possible without the contributions of all
participants and organisers of this workshop.
Translation from Chinese into English by:
Prof. Ai Xiao Ming, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou
Proofreading by: Omana George
Transcription, layout and editing by: Susanne Wycisk
Hong Kong, November 2003
Published by:
Asia Monitor Resource Centre Ltd.
444 Nathan Road, 8-B
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2332-1346
Fax: (852) 2385-5319
Email: [email protected]
Copyright © Asia Monitor Resource Centre
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any
other way without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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I. Introduction
II. Issues, Challenges and Opportunities of
Workers' Education
- in China – Panel Presentation
- in Asia – Small Group Discussion
A View from a Popular Educator on Labour Education
By Rita Kwok, Hong Kong
A Demonstration of a Popular Educator on OHS
By Rita Kwok, Hong Kong
Synthesis and Input
By Chan Lean Heng, Malaysia
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6
10
12
14
III. Methods of Workers’ Education
Storytelling as a Method of Workers’ Education?
By Yuen Che-hung, Hong Kong
Literacy Class and Workers' Education: English Lesson,
By So Sheung, Hong Kong
Gender Sensitisation,
By Parat Nanakhorn, Thailand
Gender as a Labour Issue - A Case Study from Thailand
By Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Thailand
Educational work of Korean Women's Trade Union
By Park Namhee, Korea
Educational Work with Informal Sector Workers
By Pratibha D. Pandya, India
Decision-Making in a Group – The Electric Maze
By Irene Xavier, Malaysia
Raising Awareness on Safe Sex
By Elaine and Yuk Lan, Ziteng, Hong Kong
Educational Programmes on Occupational Health and
Safety in Guangzhou
By Juliana So, Guangzhou
Working Condition Arrangements and Labour
Occupational Health and Safety
By Liu Wan Ling, Ching-Jen, Taiwan
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30
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35
37
39
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IV. Evaluating Workers’ Education Programmes
By Annie Luk, Hong Kong
Programme of the Workshop
Expectations and Evaluation
47
49
V. Resources
Useful Links and Media
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Introduction
Since China opened up in the 80s, there has been a huge influx of foreign capital into
coastal cities of south China. This resulted in a great demand of cheap labour and the
rural young population meets this demand. In order to improve the livelihood of their
family, many of the young farmers, especially young women, started to travel a long way
from home to the cities to find jobs in the newly developed industrial zones. According to
statistics, there are about 100 million migrant workers working in the cities nowadays and
they have become a major workforce in the Chinese economy. Working in the cities has
always been their dream. For them, it is a place to earn “big money”. However, they have
not foreseen that working as labourers in the cities, far away from home, are not only
tough but they will also encounter lots of difficulties. These include the lack of
understanding about their rights at workplace, missing their friends and relatives at home,
difficult to adjust themselves with factory life, problems making friends and dating and
even marrying somebody. Every migrant worker, physically or psychologically, would be
more or less affected by these problems.
Training for workers
There have been some agencies trying to provide training for migrant women workers,
such as government departments, non-government organisations, Women’s Federation,
women’s departments in the trade union structure and research and training institutes
affiliated to universities. In order to help them to solve the above mentioned problems
and to build up a healthier attitude towards life and work, they provide women migrants
with relevant information and training. Through the trainings, the women migrants learn
how to protect their rights when they are violated.
Lack of teaching modules
However, the practitioners in this field always feel the gross lack of suitable, useful,
effective teaching modules and interesting materials in terms of content, form and
methodology. Instead, they have to stick to the old style which is long winded, factual
and non-interactive way of teaching method. This makes the workers receive the
information passively and there is a lack of enthusiasm to active participation and free
expression. The practitioners are badly in need of some readymade, vivid, live and
interactive types of teaching modules and education kits from the experienced overseas
practitioners in the same field. In order to brighten the mind of the Chinese counterparts,
the workshop is going to invite some experts to explain and demonstrate the modules
they bring along to share in the workshop.
Aim of this documentation
We are going to document the presentations of invited overseas groups which were used
to educate the workers in their respective countries. We hope these pro-active, lively and
imaginative education modules and teaching materials, which have been proved to be
effective to arouse the attention of the workers, will meet workers’ education
practitioners’ requests. Therefore the workshop tried to avoid one-way, long-winded
talks, presentations like the ones used in China. Instead the mainland organisers wanted
to know new and innovative methods to cheer the Chinese women workers up. Besides
this English version we are going to publish a Chinese version which is not a literally
translation of the English one.
Besides this English documentation of the workshop there is also a Chinese version
published by AMRC which is not literally translated but follows the same approach.
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Challenges and Opportunities of Workers' Education in China
Global Alliance for Workers and Communities
The educational work with workers in China is very difficult: there is generally a lack of
resources like money (no funds from international organisations), but also a lack of skills
and training or teaching materials.
Moreover, it is very difficult to access the workers, they are cut-off from society and in
other words trainers find it difficult to access them. Most of the workers work overtime,
16 hours a day, is quite normal. They are under big pressure, so workers don't have any
time to attend classes. At the same time the trainers themselves are not very well
organised. The question is, how to train the trainers, systematise and evaluate their work?
It is difficult to meet the needs of workers and use the right strategy: “I am not sure if our
workers' education is sustainable at all.” How can we train them more efficiently?
The Centre for Women’s Development and Rights
For the past year and a half, the Centre has been providing legal assistance for workers.
We deliver newsletters, offer knowledge and skills. Our focus is on workers' rights and
we train cadres within the trade unions. We organise women workers' groups and offer a
hot line.
Some of the problems encountered are:
- The competition with the All China Women's Federation (ACWF) on training
- How to connect gender issues to issues of workers’ rights
- How to use the right strategy. We have to work within the legal framework; we
cannot pressure the government like in the West.
Workers’ Hotline Service
A large amount of migrants coming from remote areas are working in Qingdao. In
Qingdao, there are a lot of foreign investors which worsens the situation of workers even
more, because the government protects only the interests of the foreign companies but not
those of the people. Recently 100, 000 women workers lost their jobs in Qingdao.
But only one percent know about labour law or trade unions. Overall the migrants’ lack
of knowledge is because of their low education. Because of tough competition they have
to accept any job that is offered to them, even though the employers do not accept the
labour law and violate their rights. They have to work overtime, get no benefits and no
life insurance. Women workers do not have equal opportunities at the work place like
men, therefore to help them the hotline offers legal training for migrants and every week
two hours of night-school.
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Issues, Challenges and Opportunities in Women Workers'
Education in Asia
How can we mobilise the workers?
Malaysia: We also have some political parties now in Malaysia whose members
basically are workers and through those parties you actually can also mobilise large
numbers of workers. But these groups do not have workers' perspective and they don't
really see the interest of workers in a broader context. For them workers just get higher
salary, that's enough.
So for us this is the issue that means the large numbers of workers are not being reached
which education that can make them think and be critical. Actually we've tried before in
the past and we gave up. Then now because of this new political party we are trying again
to mobilise the party mechanism to do training. We've done this in a more disguised way.
We've trained women leaders of the political party, it was leadership training. And in that
training one of the issues and challenges which we posed to them was: what do you know
about workers? Most of the members are workers, what do you know, what do you have
to offer for women workers. So through mechanisms like that we are trying to reach
wider numbers of people, because as an NGO you can't reach that many people. So this is
one of our issues: reaching the workers, because we can not use the papers. We cannot
use the media it is closed to us.
India: But what we do during our campaigns suppose we are doing some insurance
programme, then we will sign the leaflets, that means going house to house with small
leaflets with that particular activity. Supposed there is a big get together for minimum
wage campaign then that leaflet will contain something on the minimum wage.
Moderator: So you are talking about the opportunities, using a campaign to reach the
people through community work?
India: Yeah, So for the basic leadership training there will be not more than twenty or
twenty-five people. But for the members we do some programme for example sign some
messages that will be 30 to 40. There are different types of training as I told. Like: What
are the leadership qualities? How do we articulate ourselves? What is our status as
workers? It is a curriculum designed for two days. It is a residential programme; they stay
overnight and can have their chats and exchange among another.
Gender topic and informalised work as a challenge for trade unions
Korea: We have also a programme on several different issues. One issue was: Looking at
the world through women's eyes. We discuss about the women's issues. How we live as
women and what is the feminism about. We also invite some experts maybe some lawyer
and then we give the information about law, women's law especially. Two sessions like
that and then one session we study case studies: If I were harassed in my working place,
what can I do? Maybe two times a year we have a programme for women. We inform the
local newspaper and we also use our website.
Hong Kong: I have a question, if you have this programme especially for women how do
you get women joining? So just in our experience if you use this title "Looking at the
world through women's eyes" usually very little ordinary women will come. More people
who used to think before, college graduates or activists they will come, everyone who
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thinks similar will come. But in my experience, if I try to do this in China facing women
workers, it is quite hard to get them over. They have a very strong sense to learn. But
learn means sitting like a student, writing notes and then to know actual knowledge
techniques. When we do training on women's health they want to know all the details.
But when you talk about other things like things going on in your head like consciousness
it is a bit difficult to get into the issues. They are more willing to get more details,
techniques, knowledge rather than being active or a leader. How to make them come and
feel comfortable with the issue?
Thailand: How we can get gender issues in trade union work, because unions are less
concerned about that issue. Gender issue doesn't mean the number of leadership inside a
union. That is more the content, how we can put into practice.
Malaysia: Because even the informal sector for example the increase in informalisation
of work particularly women's work is not really an issue of trade unions. Trade unions are
not concerned about it generally. We are not talking about other alternative unions; we
are talking about normal trade unions. I'll give you the example of the National Union of
Plantation Workers from Malaysia. It was the largest union in the country, one of the
earliest unions also, and the president of ICFTU was the secretary general of this union
for many years. But that union, that whole industry has basically gone now, has become
so small, but that union doesn't care. It didn't care to organise the migrant workers who
replace them, now a lot of Indonesian workers are plantation workers, they didn't care all
about that. And basically that is because they look at it as career and money opportunity
for themselves. So I will die and that's it, not interested what happen after me. And that is
the attitude of all the big unions in Malaysia. If you ask them, we spoke to the electrical
union recently, we spoke to a woman who was not really at the top level, we asked her
about informalised work and all that. Her only opinion basically was: actually women
prefer to stay at home and work. And then she is not concerned that the work is being
outsourced. They don't think about it, because the union doesn't talk about it.
India: In our country those unions also have the agenda of informal workers, simply
because their members are decreasing in the organised sector. More and more workers
are getting unemployed or retrained, so they are concerned.
Hong Kong: I can recall as an example Hong Kong. As far as I know the HK CTU has
an affiliate it is the Hong Kong domestic helpers general union. And it is casual work, not
like the migrant domestic work, they are more casualised in terms of the wages, in terms
of conditions of work. So they get unionised and the membership is also 1.000. I think
that it is one of the examples. And there is an other example of a union, the membership
is coming from the personal care like hairdresser, any kind of services related to personal
care, could be self-employed like the drivers they are self-employed. So, whether the
union has itself this consciousness to break the traditional rule or not is important.
“We need independent and democratic trade unions as a basis”
Malaysia: I see that for example in Hong Kong or even in India there is an opportunity
for unions to function fairly freely whereas in places maybe like China, Malaysia to an
extent even Thailand we are not allowed to function freely. In Malaysia there is one
industry one national union. The other unions that you register can only be company
unions and company unions are severely manipulated by the management.
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Hong Kong: For us, gender is a very easy topic in China, because everyone gets funding
and it is not restricted by the government. But if you do labour there are a lot of
restrictions, you cannot do this and you cannot do that. So it is a problem how we can put
labour into gender rather than put gender into labour. It is a different question. Because
we have a big gender industry, a lot of research centres, a lot of academic staff going on
in the gender stream whereas in labour there is very little. In the gender topic they do
pretty well. In China you can have more space to do gender like women's health in
factories but usually it is difficult to do law, labour laws in factories. And it is even more
difficult to get labour leaders going. What we can do is to promote the law in the legal
framework, you solve the problem individually.
Moderator: The political situation is very repressive and it is very difficult to act in
China. You are talking about your own safety and whether you can continue or not.
Hong Kong: We are very concerned about our organisation. So we are very conscious
what to do and what is the result of our doing so we are very careful. And the thing is
every time when something comes out and the government feels very sensitive, it then
tightens its policy on the labour issues. So it will be not only about us, it is about the
whole thing. And then the government will step back again. It's slightly opening up but
then anything back again.
For all the friends here who organise women workers the approach of gender is the
contact point. Talking about the health and safety issues or women's health for example is
the contact point to the workers but still within your boundaries. How you move on to the
issue of workers rights as women worker is the issue.
A challenge and opportunity to form a women’s union
Korea: As for the Korean experience: Korea has two large union federations (KCTU
and FKTU) and then we are here the women's groups especially KWWAU and KWTU
and one women's trade union belongs to the KCTU. Maybe the federation union they
don't care about the women's issues since ten years ago. Then KWWAU submitted a
suggestion to the federations to raise women's issues. And then later on women workers
organised KWTU for organising women workers. We don't expect any more (from the
federation). We organised the women's trade union. Now in Korea there are several
women's organisations and unions and then the federation union leaders are nervous or
anxious. And now they care a little more on women's issues than before. So I think we
should try to make the women issues to one of the mainstream issues (and challenge the
other trade unions and federations).
Malaysia: Like in Malaysia we talked about this, but the law and the minister say: there
is no such thing as a women's trade union. Women are not a “trade” so you cannot have a
women's trade union. Which means you won't register it. So you know they just control
the law and the situation so that no independent union exists. That is the main idea.
India: I would like to share our SEWA experience. Even if we have 500.000 members
we are not yet a recognized trade union at the national level. We are only an association.
But we can function.
Malaysia: Definitely I will agree that having a women's union would become a challenge
and also an opportunity for other unions to take gender issues more seriously.
Thailand: In Thailand when we say about the gender activities only women groups men
don't want to join. I don't know why? For gender programmes we need men!
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Hong Kong: How about having men and women together talking about gender issues.
Malaysia: I guess it is also a matter of interest. In Malaysia they have done a bit on
violence against women. They have a men support group against violence against
women, so you have a few groups like that those are individuals, very middleclass. The
unions have a women's section but it is not elected, it is appointed by the men. Only in
the national level they have elections, everybody will vote and if the union doesn't
support you you'll lose. So basically it's a men's pressure to put these women they
decided this time that they want this women so this women will become elected. So you
still have to get the support of the man to win the women's election. They are always
under the control of the men.
Conclusion
Moderator: The four main issues we talked about until now are: One is linking every
day life to the economic and political structures in the country that will include issues of
mobilising workers. Then the other one is mainstreaming gender into trade unions. Third
one is development of independent, progressive trade unions. The fourth issue is about
informalising workers.
Korea: Yeah we need support to organise workers (support by men, by the government,
by the society), but at the same time we have to ask: Who prepares this kind of
programme, like us, so we need to have leaders of the workers.
Moderator: That means having progressive educators.
India: Having motivators among the workers themselves who can better convince the
workers about their interest. Yeah, community leaders are organising them.
Hong Kong: For me it is more like where to go. Even if I train leaders but what can they
do when they become leaders? It is difficult and politically very sensitive to form an
independent union or organisation now in China.
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A View from a Popular Educator - Popular Education and
Labour Education
By Rita Kwok, Hong Kong Baptist University
All education programmes are designed to make changes. How is change defined? What
needs to be changed? These are important questions that labour educators need to answer.
Education does not happen in a vacuum and the educators’ interpretation about the magic
word makes great differences about the content and methods of programmes.
The traditional method is designed to change: information, opinions, attitude and
behaviour of the target group. It is based on the assumption that individuals are
responsible for their problems.
Popular education challenges that position.
Popular education originated in the work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire
who challenged the basic premises of traditional education:
1. education is neutral, that ignores the social and political causes of problem
2. education is remedial, in the sense that individuals not the social causes needed to be
changed
3. teachers are the experts and students are empty vessels that needed to be filled with
the teachers’ knowledge, information and skills.
4. learning is individualistic
Popular education is transformational, in the sense that its emphasis is on social
changes, or removal of obstacles that causes social problems.
It is operated on the following principles:
The transformational education module emphasise:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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A democratic process – allow the expression of different voices, and not just the
teacher
A recognition of the experience of the learners
Experiential – it should be made clear that the object of study is the critical
understanding of the learner’s reality and how their rights and interests operate with
such condition
Activity-centred - learners’ prior knowledge must be elicited to serve as basis for
further discussion. Learner-centred activities may be designed to draw this out from
the learners. This means the activities should provide learners a venue to share and
express their experiences and knowledge.
Problem-posing - the facilitator should try to challenge the learners’ prior
knowledge by asking questions which try to draw- out inconsistencies or
incoherence in the learners responses. Such process encourages learners to think
through their thought process and forces them to rearrange their thought patterns to
make them more logically consistent and empirically coherent.
Participative - the techniques should encourage collective efforts in clarifying
concepts, analysing themes, and carrying out the activities. Exposing the learners to
the experiences of others is one way by which one’s experience and knowledge may
be expanded, validated or disproved.
7.
8.
Dialectical - it is not enough to just draw-out learners’ prior knowledge (thesis). It is
equally important to have them compare it with knowledge from other sources such
as facts, data, statistics, etc. (anti-thesis) and synthesise the resulting idea/s.
Analytic- it is important that themes emerging from the learners’ responses and the
underlying principle which links these themes be identified by the facilitator and the
learners themselves. The facilitator should ask the “why” and the “how” questions.
Such questions make learners think about why things are and how things come to
be. Learners should also be asked how things relate to one another, how they affect
each other. These are the questions which help learners see what is beyond what is
apparent
Discussion:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Have you learnt about the transformational approach before?
What is your first impression?
Can you apply this in your education work?
Any difficulties or limitations that needed to be overcome?
Any advantages over the traditional model?
Can you think of an example how you can apply it?
Please look at the following cases and answer the question: Would the
educator’s interpretation make a difference?
Case one - Mainland China
Chan aged 45, twenty two years of working experience in the same State-owed electrical
appliance enterprise. He had worked there since he returned from the “send down to
country side campaign”. The enterprise is now in great deficit and Chan is laid-off. He
needs retraining to get a new job.
Educator’s interpretation of the situation:
Chan is too old. He does not possess any marketable skills. His education level is too low.
His attitude needed to be adjusted. He still believes that the State has a responsibility to
provide him with a lifelong tenure job which is incompatible with market economy.
Chan (worker) perception:
We had no choice when we were young and able. We spent our youth at the countryside
and were deprived of good education. We could not change jobs and have been put on the
assembly line all our life. Where can I learn new skills? We made sacrifice to contribute
to building socialism. Now we are told that we must be adjusted to the competitive
market and look for jobs. I am now told that I am too old. Who is responsible for my
problem?
Case two - Hong Kong
Lee, aged 50, construction worker, came to Hong Kong when he was young and has been
working in a garment factory. He had been promoted to be the foreman, but the garment
factory had been moved to China ten years ago. He had not been able to get steady jobs in
factories since then. He became a construction worker and had been able to make enough
money for the family. With the collapse of the property market, he had not been able to
find jobs in the construction industry for a long time.
Educator:
He is too old to learn new tricks. We should give priority to younger people. Money
should go to training the young to use new technology.
Lee (worker): I have never been lazy. I work hard all my life and have been contributing
to the prosperity of our society. We should be given a second chance.
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After reviewing the above cases, what difference would be made, if the popular education
or transformational module is applied?
Your collective wisdom will give the answer and I hope this will give you some food for
thought for the rest three days of our workshop.
Demonstration of important principles of popular education
A group activity on occupational health and safety
By Rita Kwok, Hong Kong Baptist University
Instructions
I want to divide the auditorium into two groups, can be male or female, it can be
anybody. I give all of you three dots. Every group has two posters of the shape of a body
from the front and the back. Please think of any part of your body, the most painful part
of your body, is it the head or whatsoever, everybody has some pain, whether it is your
knee or your head. You think about that. Think of the three most painful parts of your
body, and then use the dots to indicate those parts on the back or the front of the drawing.
Let's see what happens.
Description of the group results
You know already what I am trying to do. I would like to put the drawings on the board.
Please look at these two sets of human beings carefully. Don’t you find it very, very
interesting?
This is group A and this is group B. Please compare the two, do you have any
suggestions?
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Respond: There are more similarities on the head, neck, shoulder and at the back there are
more dots than on any other parts of the body.
Instructor: These two groups show very similar results. What does it tell you?
Evaluation
Instructor: Actually I have done this a couple of times with many different groups and the
results are very similar. You can try this back to China and you'll see what will happen.
Can you imagine what you can use it for?
Aim
This a kind of material you can bring in and get people involved in occupational health
and safety. And then you can start with workers to talk about it. You can also compare
the differences regarding their workplace: we can ask people why is that part of your
body painful?
You get people participate collectively.
And fortunately these results are really matching with some official statistics about
occupational health. So this is easier for workers to understand instead of giving them a
big pile of research about occupational health.
Experiences and background information of the instructor
I chose this in order to demonstrate the most important point of popular education:
starting from workers' experience. I started from your experience.
This method is participatory – all of you participated and didn't sit there while I talked.
It is activity oriented; I don't need to use one single word. So it is trans-cultural; I can use
this method with a whole group from China, Thailand, India, Korea or Mongolia. We all
share; language barrier is no longer the barrier between workers. When we talk about
health, it is solidarity which is important, we overcome the language barrier and we all
share something in common. And that is the beginning how we as workers share so many
things in common even if we look at headache, heartache whatsoever. This is not just
talking about health but this is the beginning of organising. Organisers start with common
things, common problems that workers share.
But the most important task is: get the workers talking, get them to share, get them to
disagree with you, so that they start challenging you. I am not the university teacher up
there, but I make mistakes. Sometimes I make mistakes and let them talk and that is the
beginning to overcome the fear of authority; the authority of experts, of teachers coming
in feeding them with their experience, feeding them with their way of looking at the
world, feeding them with their way of looking at the workers' problems which is
definitely very far from reality.
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Synthesis and Input
By Chan Lean Heng, University Science Malaysia
This synthesis is a reflective summary drawn from what was presented in this
workshop. It also includes what was not covered, but essential in carrying out workers
education.
There will be 3 parts to the synthesis and input
(A)
The meaning and scope of workers’ education
(B)
What is needed in doing workers’ education?
(C)
Beyond educational programmes – what else is needed?
(A)
The Meaning and Scope of Workers’ Education
What is workers' education?
In this workshop 2 different meanings of workers' education have emerged. One
type of education that is referred to by presenters is the constant reference to
programmes, to workers' education as programmes as health and safety programmes,
safe sex education programme etc. Sometimes these programmes are referred to as
autonomous activities in themselves. Some of these programmes are part of an integrated
process of engagement and struggle with the workers we work with. That is the second
meaning. It is an approach to education, which refers to education as a life long
involvement and lifelong engagement and struggle. It involves people in a process of
critical analysis so that they can act collectively to change the oppressive structures. The
process is participatory, creative, analytical and empowering. In this approach to workers'
education you cannot separate organising and collective action from education and
learning. The learning from reflection leads to analysis of the situation which leads to
strategising for collective action and then reflects on the action to learn from it for further
action. In this approach all your specific activities or programmes are integrated into the
process of struggle, learning and action, grounded on the needs and situation of the
workers.
Different objectives: transmission of knowledge or education for change?
In our discussion some people have referred to education as transmission of
knowledge and information, giving lecture, giving instruction, telling workers what their
labour rights are, what the laws are. This is exactly how we have been taught in school,
like what our storyteller-friend, Yuen Che-hung told us how the school-kids learn the
right answer by rote learning and transmission of knowledge and information. This is in
contrast to another approach to education, which is referred to in this workshop by Rita
Kwok as popular education. In popular education, the emphasis is not just the
participatory methods, but equally important is the methodology. The emphasis is on
active participation of learners to construct their own meanings to produce new
knowledge as they reflect critically on their everyday experiences. Central to the practice
of popular education is taking the standpoint of the workers, of linking immediate issues
with broader social struggles, and of moving from personal experience to political
understanding and action.
Education here is a continual process, which starts with the lived experiences, the
realities, the problems, the needs of the workers. The content as an entry point is a means
and an end in itself. Like the case of literacy as explained in the SEWA presentation, it
helps people to learn how to read and write, as well as reflect and work together to
improve their situation. So it is actually a continuous process of reflecting on your life
situation, collectively analysing and collectively acting to redress their issues and
problems - and this is education for change! This is not easy. You always have to review
and analyse what you do, contribute towards change or conforming to or preserving the
14
status quo. We can teach labour rights to support and consolidate the status quo or we can
teach labour rights in such a way that you critique the limitations of the law and work
towards changing it. So the same programme can be conducted in two different ways by
having two different approaches.
The scope of workers' education
The presentations and questions from the daily reflections of the previous days’
presentations have also touched on the scope of workers' education. Some people refer to
workers' education as the two hours session with workers. Some people refer it to as the
three days workshop. The question that always remains are how one gets access to
workers. Therefore workers' education is not only a programme where workers come to
attend or participate. The scope of workers' education is not only the range of issues and
topics that are relevant. It needs to take on board the issue of access and sustaining
participation and involvement, which leads to addressing the issues affecting workers’
lives at the workplace, in the home and community.
For me workers' education starts with identifying the interests of workers and
working out ways to get access to them. This is where presenters talked about interest
activities: going for hiking, there were quite a number of examples shared from Korea
and from Thailand. Creating interest activities and sustaining the interest of the workers
through activities that bring them some joy, some fun, some life, are also important. As
many of us have said workers' life is always very difficult, tiring, and stressful - they
work overtime, they have no time to recreate themselves. So, we need these types of
activities as well, which usually are a greater attraction at the beginning. But, we don't
and must not stop at that. We also need support services, hot-line services, providing
discussions on health, learn how to make democratic decisions, etc. If a worker is sick,
providing the support services for her/him to get well is very important. If we don't
provide this kind of support services, then we are not addressing the objective/material
needs of workers. But the way we address these problems makes the difference. It can be
done in an empowering, learning manner whereby the worker become more conscious
and learns to take necessary action. In carrying out these activities, it is not only
providing support-services but we can also organise workers to organise these services
for them. We can mobilise workers to learn how to advocate and lobby for these services,
which are workers’ rights. This moves into education of organising, unionising, of
forming a women workers' organisation, especially when unions are not immediately
possible, like the case in many Asian countries. When Mabel Au talked about CAW's
networks – most of these women workers' groups are not unions, some are very informal
groups, some are centres, some are workers' themselves, organising the space for
themselves. These groups/centres are initiated by people who are like-minded, who have
the same heart, the same vision and are allies to workers. That is where the role of other
people, other professionals comes in.
Pratibha D. Pandya’s presentation on SEWA highlighted a holistic integrated
approach where the various sets of activities and programmes are integrated into various
stages of implementation where each programme contribute to and which ultimately leads
to the empowerment of the women. Here a strategy is needed, if you want education for
change. You must plan a strategy. If you don't plan a strategy you cannot dabble in
workers' education for change. Good intentions alone can reinforce the status quo. So, in
other words, the strategy and approach, guided by the vision and objectives are
important elements in formulating workers education.
The above synthesis highlights some of the related points that emerge either
directly or indirectly from the presentations. And now we move on to look at the broader
picture of what is required to be taken on board in formulating workers’ education.
15
(B)
When we do Workers’ Education, what is needed?
This workshop has emphasised programmes (hence the various types of content), about
methods, techniques and tools. However, before the content of educational programmes
can be decided on, there are various aspects or components that need to be considered,
which affect the nature of the content and the ways educational programmes or activities
are designed and implemented. I will discuss these various different components briefly –
educator/facilitators themselves, providers, contexts, workers' situation, vision,
methodology and methods.
Educators and Providers
In this workshop we didn't talk very much about ourselves as educators. We keep
referring to the workers as the learners. We didn't address ourselves, which is a very
important consideration in workers education: The educators or the facilitators
themselves who conduct the programmes. That is you and me need to be examined as
part of the package in workers’ education. The storytelling session by Yuen Che-Hung,
brought up a lot of issues on this – as educators, what are our own hang-ups, privileges
and power that need to be interrogated? What are the qualities, skills and orientations
required of worker educators? What kind of training do worker educators need to equip
them with the appropriate skills and knowledge? If the educators do not know or have not
been exposed to a participatory process or the methodology of popular education, surely
he or she will not be equipped with such knowledge and skills to conduct the programmes
accordingly.
We also need to look at the providers, who are the providers of workers
education? Government also sponsor a lot of workers' education, they conduct a lot of
skills training programmes, which support the capitalist market. Unions also do a lot of
workers' education and training and there are different types of union, there are yellow
unions and there are genuine unions. NGOs and self-help worker organisations (like
worker co-operatives) are also involved in providing for workers education. What type of
organisations are these, what are the limitations and possibilities offered by their
organisational structures? As educators we must be very alert to how organisations can
silence their beneficiaries!
Contexts
Programmes and methods do not exist in isolation, in a vacuum. They are always situated
in a context (or even many contexts), which determines the appropriate content and
methods. Workers in Hong Kong come from a econ-socio-political context, that is very
different from workers from China, but they also have some similar econ-socio-political
context as workers in Asia, as informal sector workers, as workers in multinationals – the
global/international economic, social and political forces impinging on workers are
similar but the effects may vary as they interplay with the national and local forces.
Likewise, the contexts and situation of each particular group of workers are different
from workers of another group/sector, yet they all are affected by a similar set of forces
surrounding them. These various contexts circumscribe the conditions and position of
workers and what is possible and legitimate, or legal, within the political constraints of
each national regime.
Context can be deconstructed into different levels. One level of context is to look
at the realities and milieu (local context) where that particular group of workers are
located in, next, the national socio-political and economic contexts of the country. The
global and international contexts are also important. The video that was screened last
night (Dust and Doll, CAW) has clearly highlighted how international contexts impinge
on workers lives - the effects of industrial restructuring and its effects on labour.
Likewise, when multinational corporations relocate from Malaysia to China, Malaysian
16
workers are unemployed but China workers are employed but underpaid, exploited, what
is the connection there? How should we address these issues in our workers' education?
The key guiding question here is what is affecting your specific group – from the
local, to national to international levels? For example, one of the things the panel on
China talked about is not having access to the work place, no space, no political access,
because the government is so repressive, that is the national kind of context. The laws are
so bad, the workers are not protected.
These are just some examples to show you how the context, the situation, the
social, political, economical environment affect not only the workers' situation. They also
affect how you do your educational work. For example if you don't have direct access to
them in the workplace, like many of us, we have to roam around the food-stalls, we have
to roam around near their dormitories, we have to organise after their shifts instead of at
the factory gate or on the shop floor.
The key challenge for us is in the face of all these tribulations and difficulties not
to take: ‘no’, ‘not possible’, as an answer. We need to have a different mind-set, to
confront the problems and difficulties as challenges, to find where the cracks are to focus
our hammering. As worker educators/activists we need to be creative, we cannot take 'no'
for an answer.
In many countries we are not supposed to unionise workers but there is a law
protecting the organising rights of workers. We have to work around it, to subvert it! We
still organise in different ways. The cartoon pamphlet that is for distribution is an
example of how even though the unionisation of electronic workers (in Malaysia) is not
permitted, we still attempt to organise. We have to find ways to work around it, to crack
it. But of course sometimes we crack it a bit, then we get repressed, then we have to find
another hole somewhere. So this is the kind of context we are trying to say we are
working in.
Likewise, in some countries, there have been some inspiring examples how
women workers have formed women workers unions and they are quite different from the
yellow unions. They are feminist progressive unions which organise differently, with
different structures, with more collective decision-making, power-sharing, empowerment
and so for. It must be another workshop to going to all these possibilities.
Workers conditions and lived experiences
What are the conditions and position of the workers that you are working with? The
conditions can be at different levels and dimensions. Firstly, there is the dimension of
objective conditions. What is out there that is affecting them: the occupational health
and safety, the sexual harassment that is in society, which creates a lot of insecurity to
walk alone after the night shift. What are their objective (material) conditions, living
conditions, working conditions, family conditions? Poor occupation and health relates to
their work conditions, no legal protection leads to exploitation of workers, they can work
12 hours and only get 8 hours pay. We always separate working life with personal life
and with family life, but a life is a life, whether it be work, family or personal. Your
individual personal life is also related to the work situation, is also related to the
community. So, there should be an attempt to link and address the various dimensions of
workers’ lives in our educational activities.
There are also subjective conditions that manifest at a personal level. The
objective conditions create a certain psychic impact on the individual or personal
dimensions of the workers. For example, lot of women workers are very fearful and
scared. They don't have the confidence, because of learnt messages that they are stupid,
incapable and so on so for. These experiences affect their lack of confidence, their poor
self-esteem. A lot of workers don't participate because they don't dare to participate. We
have to break that vicious cycle of fear. These subjective conditions are interrelated to
the objective conditions that affect the psychic, the psychology, the mindset and the
beliefs of workers – their subjectivities: the conscious and unconscious thoughts and
17
emotions of the individual, her sense of self, and her ways of understanding her relation
to the world. It is fundamental that workers education look into this as well.
When we talk about the realities and lived experiences of workers we must also
be analytical. Conditions alone don't necessarily analyse their position though it can
imply. So you must also look at their position, especial their position of
power/powerlessness in society. From the various presentations and discussions I have
picked up words like inequality, discrimination, workers don't have power; they are in a
marginalised, oppressed, disempowered position. When we talk about workers' realities,
it came out through all the presentations that men workers are very different from women
workers while there are a lot of similarities. Therefore the need to address the specific
needs of women workers: their reproductive needs, their productive needs, their needs to
be empowered, even by their own spouse, by their union leader. A lot of women workers
I know, are often taken advantage of and sexually harassed by their male leaders. In
doing educational work with women workers it also important to understand and put into
practice women’s way’s of learning, doing and being. Often the weaknesses of women
can be reframed as their strength. Likewise issues of difference and diversity need to be
taken on board.
Apart from men/women workers, there are also other different categories/types
of workers – informal sector workers, sex workers, home workers, unemployed workers
etc. The content focus and the way you do your education is different with different
groups of workers because the needs and situation of the workers are different.
Content
Content is the substance that you focus on in your education programme. What do you
need to do before you can determine on the content of educational programmes? You
need to understand what the position, conditions and lived experiences of workers are.
The conditions and position of workers are in turn circumscribed by the local, national
and global econ-soc-political forces impacting on them. Presentations on SEWA told us
and the panel on China highlighted issues of poverty, the illiteracy of workers, etc. We
also hear specific words like: there is discrimination, there is no safe sex, there is no legal
protection, unhealthy, unsafe work environment; jobs are insecure, casual work. We
cannot unionise, there is sexual harassment. Workers lack confidence, they are
discriminated, they feel ashamed, they feel inferior. If workers are illiterate, there is no
point conducting programmes that require a lot of writing; you have to use other means.
If they are very poor there is no point talking about coming together for education
without addressing their stomach needs. As explained in the case example of SEWA, a
lot of their programmes are linked to income generation, earning a livelihood.
Vision
If you want to develop a programme you also need to know for yourself: what is your
own vision of the future, apart from the specific set of objectives for your educational
programmes? One of the visions that SEWA talked about is building a movement. If
your educational work aims to build a movement, you will in your spectrum of
educational programmes, an integrated array of other areas like value
education/formation, leadership building etc. However, there are people who do workers'
education without a broad vision. They are only interested in rather narrow specific
objectives: to teach labour rights, to teach how to read and write - in isolation and this is
just transmission of knowledge.
I hope by bringing your attention to this it becomes a mirror for you to reflect
about your educational work with workers. Do you have a vision of bringing about
change, of facilitating empowerment, of creating alternatives versus very narrow specific
objectives of just learning, a skill how to sew clothes, of just learning what the law in this
country are, to teach workers to operate within what the law says. If you have such
visions, how are you attempting to achieve them through your educational programmes?
18
How should your programmes be conducted to enable workers acquire the critical
consciousness for social change?
Approaches and methods
In any educational programme, its underlying approach will determine whether the
programmes are transformational or status quo maintaining. In this workshop, most of the
presentations have not referred to this but have instead emphasised on the demonstration
of a variety of methods used, as well as the content focus of programmes. I want to
emphasise a difference in them. An approach or methodology is broader if it looks at
your ideological assumptions; it looks at your broader objectives, the whole process of
how teaching and learning is conducted and its implications of enabling a critical
consciousness for agency and collective action or merely the learning of facts and
information.
It is important to differentiate between approach, method/tool and content and to
know you to integrate to achieve the objectives. For example, there are a lot of women
not organised and you try to organise them in a certain way, you take a certain
methodology. It is not just providing services for them. While you provide the services
you mobilise them to be involved and foster a critical consciousness for further collective
action and building alternatives for themselves. Another e.g. can be seen in the "river of
life" activity presented by Park. It is a fun-activity but it is not an end in itself. It is a
useful fun-activity but it is also a means to help workers to reflect on their life
experiences.
In this workshop there has been a lot of reference to the use of games. The
underlying interest in games is because it fosters workers’ participation. While active
participation is crucial we must not forget that genuine participation must involve
workers in collective decision-making to act, to change their situation. We also have a
workshop exercise facilitated by Irene on the "Electric Maze" which helps us to
understand participation in decision-making. That is very, very important. Our methods
should not only be participatory. Participation without analysis, without decision-making,
without planning and engaging into collective action will not bring us to education for
change.
Designing and evaluating educational programmes
In educational work you also need to pay attention to designing the programmes. The
presentations in this workshop have not touched on this. Often, we take it for granted. But
it is very important how programmes are designed so that there is a logical coherence in
the flow of the whole programme and between the parts of the programme. The design
will need to look at the general framework, the objectives, the content and process. In
designing programmes you need to be clear with the objectives, to be explicit in the kind
of learning you want the participants to have. In any programme there must be a
rationale, there must be a flow, there must be a coherency otherwise it will be like a frog
jumping around. So in programme design what is very important is not only resource
materials/persons. They are important, but the facilitation process is critical especially if
you want it to be participatory, if you want it to be learningful. Helping people to learn is
important. So the facilitator needs to address both the content and the process, in
particular, helping to synthesis and to use a variety of ways to facilitate the learning of the
participants.
Another essential important component is about evaluation, which Annie has talked
about just now. There are different types of evaluation and different ways of doing
evaluation. Annie has given us one example (see evaluation of the workshop chapter III).
19
(C)
Beyond Educational Programmes – What else is needed?
If the goals of workers education are to bring about social change, long term institutional
and structural changes that can make a difference in the lives of workers, educational
work must go beyond workers education and move into worker’s action to incorporate
organising, advocacy and lobbying for changes in policies and laws in the country.
Understanding and putting into practice what education for social change and
empowerment means is fundamental, as often our educational activities may unwittingly
serve to maintain the legitimacy of the status quo. Understanding the different dimensions
of power and its interplay is also crucial to know how to act strategically, as well as to be
able to discern programmes that can empower workers. Ways to connect with and learn
from others, to continually critique our own work will assist us forward.
Concluding summary
Therefore to sum up, in formulating workers’ education, we need first and foremost, to
analyse the contexts of workers before we can discern content that are relevant and
appropriate methods to use. Part of this contexts analysis includes an analysis of the role
of the state, laws and policies in the country and how, as well as what types of workers
action is possible at that time and place. Participatory methods that can evoke
participation is important but not enough. There must also be participatory methods that
engage collective analysis and action. In any programme we need to have a vision of the
kind of society we are working for and a set of objectives to guide our educational work.
Finally continuous evaluation is necessary not only to assess the effectiveness of the
programme but also to evaluate whether the programmes are empowering the workers
apart from the attainment of the specific goals. To do all these in a sustained, creative and
critical manner, worker educators must continuously learn from others, especially those
outside of their own countries to find out what others are doing and how they can learn
from these experiences while reformulating appropriate strategies and programmes for
their own groups.
Visualisation of Synthesis
workers’ realities
Providers
Educators’ roles, needs,
characteristics
Scope:access
support
services
organising
Contents
Workers’
education
Vision
Strategy
Approach
Contexts
Realities /
lived
experiences
local
national
global 20
Programmes
Process of
learning +
collective
action
Conditions
- objective
- subjective
Position
- unequal
- marginalised
Vision/objectives
- empowerment
- skills
- Approaches
- Methods/
- Techniques
Design programmes
evaluation
Storytelling - a Method of Workers' Education?
By Yuen Che-hung
Introduction
The facilitator plays some soft music for a few minutes (either by harmonium, guitar or
CD) and asks the audience to close their eyes and dream. The facilitator then asks the
audience who would like to share their dream and wants to act it out in front of the
audience?
What is a good story?
-
a story which is true and has really happened
a story where you don't foresee the end
a story which is fun to listen to
a story which touches you
Whereas stories often told in schools
-
teach a moral
want to educate
pupils have to follow
pupils don't have the choice or cannot intervene
Skills to be trained through story telling
-
-
to get rid of the daily routine
to relax
to create space for imagination
to feel that you and your experience are important
"Create a picture of reality through storytelling instead of conceptualising"
Question of one participant:
If you face a group of workers in the age of 18 to 25 under pressure to survive, how do
you start to tell stories?
Answer of story-teller:
"Try first and then go - never mind if you are successful. Although I don't know anything
of their lives, I try to sympathise with them. I'll just approach them, we can talk about
something. Even very poor people must have something inside themselves that makes
them happy. Let them tell their story!
I will think of my own experiences and tell them about myself in similar or comparable
situations. We just share common experiences. Whatever these experiences are, they are
important. If we think like this we can change things."
Reflections of the workshop:
Is storytelling useful for workers’ education?
Difficulties:
-
adults are not any more as responsive as children are
how to get insight of workers, we hardly know
how to encourage them to tell their own story
story of lived experiences brings emotions or even traumas because they
are real
21
Possibilities to overcome difficulties:
-
-
address people properly
create an atmosphere of trust, confidence, support
let workers speak out and express themselves
be prepared to listen carefully (active listening is important)
take a story that has been shared as a starting point of a learning and healing
process on the way of empower the workers
during the whole process the facilitator/educator has to take responsibility for the
person who speaks out
The author has also published a book in Chinese on storytelling:
So Suk Lin, Yuen Che Hung, Pre-school Teacher – Story Teller, Hong Kong
2002, 2nd edition, HK$ 100,-; please contact: [email protected]
22
Summary and visualisation on the workshop’s results
Importance of
real feelings
Story telling
Heart to
heart encounter
“talking pain”
as a methodology
not only as a tool
implies :
- method
- content
- person
Equal
relationship
A case-study (as a
tool)
-opening
wounds
- healing
-empowerment
23
Literacy Class and Workers' Education: English Lesson
By Labour Education and Services Network (LESN)
Lesson I: Focus - home town and workplace
Song: "All together now... with love"
Lesson II: Focus - a. numbers, b. body pain and safety at workplace
Song: "We shall overcome...someday"
Lesson III: Focus -a. dormitory and factory; b. a day's work; c. the own vision
Song: "Imagine...the world will live as one"
Lesson I. Introducing Yourself
第一课自我介绍
1. Hello everybody, my name is
_______.
大家好，我的名字叫 ________。
_______, Hello!
_______，你好﹗
2. Good evening everyone! My name
is _______.
大家晚上好﹗我的名字是
______。
Good evening! ________
晚上好﹗________。
3. How are you? My name is _______
你好吗？我的名字是__________
。
How are you? _________
你好吗？_________。
4. How do you do?
你好吗？
他们是女人吗？不，他们是男人
。
7. Home town 家乡
Where do you come from?
你（们）从哪里来？
I come from ________.
我从＿＿＿＿＿来。
We come from _______.
我们从＿＿＿＿＿来。
8. Directions 方向
East 东
South 南
West 西
North 北
Where is Guangxi?
广西在哪里？
Guangxi is in south west China.
广西在中国的西南方。
9. Where do you live now?
你们现在住在哪里？
We live in Baoan.
我们住在宝安。
Baoan is north east of Shenzhen.
宝安在深圳的东北方。
5. What is his/her name?
他/她叫什么名字？
His/Her name is _______; Or
他/她的名字是 _______﹔或者
He/She is ________.
他/她是 ________。
6. Woman and Man 女人和男人
Are you a woman? No, I am a man.
你是女人吗？
不，我是个男人。
Are you a woman? Yes, I am.
你是女人吗？是的，我是。
Are they women? No, they are men.
24
Song: All Together Now
大家一起来
One, two, three, four
Can I have a little more?
一，二，三，四
可以给我再来点儿吗？
Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
I love you
五，六，七，八，九，十
我爱你
A, B, C, D
Can I bring my friend to tea?
A，B，C，D
我能带朋友来喝下午茶吗？
E, F, G, H, I, J,
I love you
E，F，G，H，I，J
我爱你
(Bom bom bom bompa bom) Sail the
ship
(Bom bom bom bompa bom) 航船出海
(Bompa bom) Jump the tree
(Bompa bom) 跳下树梢
(Bompa bom) Skip the rope
(Bompa bom) 跳一跳绳
(Bompa bom) Look at me
(Bompa bom) 看着我
(All together now) All together now
(repeat)
（大家一起来）大家一起来（重复n
次）
(Bom bom bom bompa bom) Sail the
ship
(Bom bom bom bompa bom) 航船出海
(Bompa bom) Jump the tree
(Bompa bom) 跳下树梢
(Bompa bom) Skip the rope
(Bompa bom) 跳一跳绳
(Bompa bom) Look at me
(Bompa bom) 看着我
(repeat 4 times)
（大家一起来）大家一起来（重复四
次）
Black, white, green, red
Can I take my friend to bed?
黑色，白色，绿色，红色
我能带朋友去睡觉吗？
Pink, brown, yellow, orange, blue,
I love you
粉红，棕色，黄色，橙色，蓝色
我爱你
(repeat 9 times)
（大家一起来）大家一起来（重复九
次）
25
Lesson II. 第二课
Part 1 Numbers
第一部数目字
1
One
2
Two
3
Three
4
Four
5
Five
6
Six
7
Seven
8
Eight
9
Nine
10
Ten
11
Eleven
12
Twelve
13
Thirteen
14
Fourteen
15
Fifteen
16
Sixteen
17
Seventeen
18
Eighteen
19
Nineteen
20
Twenty
30
Thirty
31
Thirty-one
40
Forty
50
Fifty
60
Sixty
70
Seventy
80
Eighty
90
Ninety
100
Hundred
How much is the minimum wage in Baoan?
宝安的最低工资标准是多少？
___________________________________.
Part 2. Body Parts
第二部身体部份
（人体图）
This is my _______. 这是我的_______.
Part 3. Pain and Safety
第三部病痛与安全
Are you OK?
你还好吗？
No, I feel sick!
不好，我觉得不舒服！
No, I have a headache!
不好，我有点头痛！
26
头痛
头晕
红眼
流眼泪
打喷嚏
咳嗽
发红
出疹子
发痒
烧伤
英文单词
Headache
Dizzy
Red-eye
Watery eyes
Sneeze
Cough
Redness
Rash
Itchy
Burnt
造句
安全标签 Safety Labels︰
Danger - Dangerous
Poison - Poisonous
Toxic
Hazard - Hazardous
Chemicals
Song: We Shall Overcome
我们一定会克服困难
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome someday
总有一天我们一定会克服困难
Oh deep in my heart
I do believe
我心深处这样相信
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
我们无所畏惧
我们无所畏惧
We are not afraid today
今天我们无所畏惧
Oh deep in my heart
I do believe
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
我们携手前进
我们携手前进
We'll walk hand in hand someday
总有一天我们会携手前进
Oh deep in my heart
I do believe
We'll walk hand in hand someday
总有一天我们会携手前进
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
Oh deep in my heart
I do believe
27
Motto:
小格言︰
1. Fun 趣味
2. Trust 信心
3. Learn Together 共同学习
4. Co-operate 合作
Lesson III
Factory Mapping
第三课
绘画工作间地图
Dormitory
Factory
Part 1 Describe your working and living condition:
第一部份描述你的工作和居住情况:
1. I work in a
2. I live in
Part 2 Describe Your Day:
第二部份描述你的一天:
In the morning:
早上
What are you doing at 8 am (or eight o’clock in the morning)?
Where are you at 10:15 am (or ten fifteen)?
Do you have a break from time to time when working?
At noon:
中午
What do you do at noon?
How long is your lunch break?
In the afternoon:
下午
What are you doing at 2 pm (or two o’clock in the afternoon)?
When do you start working in the afternoon?
In the evening:
晚上
When do you finish work?
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What do you usually do in the evening?
In your free time:
自由时间
What do you like to do in your free time?
Part 3 Like and dislike
第三部份喜欢和不喜欢
Do you like your work? Why?
Do you like to live in the dormitory? Why?
Do you like your day? Why?
What else do you dislike?
5. What is your ideal working and living place?
Song: Imagine
试着想象
Imagine there's no heaven,
试着想象这世界上没有天堂
It's easy if you try,
只要你愿意尝试这并不难
No hell below us,
在我们脚下没有地狱
Above us only sky,
我们的头上只有天空
Imagine all the people
试着想象所有的人
living for today...
只为了今天而活
Imagine there's no countries,
试着想象这世界上没有国家
It isn’t hard to do,
这并不难做到
Nothing to kill or die for,
再不需要为了什么犠牲或杀戮
And no religion too,
而且也没有了宗教
living life in peace..
生活在和平之中.
You may say I’m a dreamer,
你也许会说我是一个梦想家
but I’m not the only one,
但我并不是唯一的一个
I hope someday you'll join us,
我希望有一天你会加入我们
And the world will live as one.
而全世界将和而为一
Imagine no possessions,
试着想象没有私人财产
I wonder if you can,
我怀疑你能否做到
No need for greed or hunger,
再不需要贪婪或饥饿
A brotherhood of man,
所有的人都血肉相亲
Sharing all the world...
分享整个世界
You may say I’m a dreamer,
你也许会说我是一个梦想家
but I’m not the only one,
但我并不是唯一的一个
I hope someday you'll join us,
我希望有一天你会加入我们
And the world will live as one.
而全世界将和而为一
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Gender Sensitisation
By Parat Nanakorn, Thailand
Installation: Two drawings of shapes one of a women and one of a man at the wall
Questions
-
-
How are women different from men?
What makes women different from men?
Why are in our societies women different from men?
What are similarities or differences of men and women in your society?
Procedures of the activities
1. Brainstorming: What are the differences and similarities between men and women?
2. Introducing the social status and living conditions of Thai women
3. Questions and Answers:
a. Why do women have to sacrifice themselves for men?
b. As a woman, what do you think about women engaged with sex work?
c. Why do men want to be in a dominant position all the time?
Main points
1. The differences between men and women
a. Biological differences
b. Difference in social status — men’s social status is always higher than women’s
c. Questions and Answers:
i. Based on medical studies, biological difference led to difference in social status
ii. Impact of “gender stereotyping” on students through education
iii. In order to be more convincing in workers’ education training sessions may be
we should quantify gender differences and introduce a “gender difference
coefficient”
2. Introducing the social status and living conditions of Thai women
i. Thai women are subordinate to men and make sacrifices for men. They tend to
give up opportunities for further study in order to provide more chances for men.
Low level of education always means low paid jobs. Men have bigger access to
information.
ii. During the financial crisis in 1997, women faced massive lay offs and their
income was reduced drastically. Many of them had to support their family even
after they got married. In order to support their family and send their brothers to
school, many became sex workers and were treated as “bad women” and faced
serious discrimination and social pressure. On the contrary, men would not be
treated as “bad guys” if they buy sex services as long as they are educated and had
well paid jobs.
iii. Women’s sacrifices in return deepen inequality in social status between the two
sexes.
3. Questions and Answers:
d. Why do women have to sacrifice themselves for men?
Factors controlling women: government, culture, social norms, social division of
labour, class, etc. The question is: How does society look at domestic chores. Why
is domestic work seen as low-end work? This is all because of the social division of
labour (men are for work and women are for family). We need to discuss whether
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looking after family is a right or an obligation. We need to re-define and re-evaluate
the social rights and obligations, the power relationship between sexes.
e. As a woman, what do you think about women engaged with sex work?
Transformation of economic status led to the change in social status.
f. Why men want to be in a dominant position all the time? Why can’t men cry in
front of others?
Gender as a Labour Issue - A Case Study from Thailand
By Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Thai Labour Service and Training Centre
Instructions for the group
1. Read the attached paper of a real Thai case study carefully and
2. Answer the questions mentioned there!
The role of the instructor
He has to challenge the audience in order to argue on the case.
Role of the audience
The audience has to judge on the attitude of the women and plead her guilty or not guilty of
murder in a consensus.
CASE STUDY about Mrs. Somsri Chanta
- A true story from Thailand On 23 rd of March 1993, Thai newspapers carried a report that shocked many people.
One newspaper had the headline: “Mother kills baby, son like a monster.” Another
paper announced: “I can’t afford my child-evil mother, who broke baby’s neck and
buried it”.
The report then gave the details: On 9th of January Mrs Somsri Chanta, a shoe
factory worker, gave birth at the children’s hospital, abandoned the child and
disappeared. The hospital managed to locate her and told her to fetch the baby. On 5th
of March she came and collected the child.
Later the hospital again contacted her to say she must bring the child back
because they had given her somebody else’s baby by mistake. She did not respond.
The real parents then called the police. The police arrested Somsri at her house.
Tearfully she confessed to having suffocated the baby. She had then dumped the body
in the wasteland.
The police then locked her up and interrogated her for more information. She
told them her husband had left her when she was pregnant. She now lived alone and
had no money. This is why she killed the baby also because it was sick and half blind.
She was afraid it would become an outcast when it grew up. She told the police, the
factory would not allow her even one day of maternity leave.
Somsri is now under trial for murder. The prosecution lawyer, who is a
famous lawyer, opened the case pleading she should get life imprisonment or be
executed because she had committed premeditated murder.
Questions to the groups:
1. Do you agree with the prosecution lawyer’s idea that Somsri should get life
imprisonment or be executed? Why?
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2. Do you agree with the mass media that condemns Somsri as an evil mother who
broke baby’s neck and buried it? Why?
3. If you were the judge, what would be you verdict? Give reasons.
Interaction instructor - audience
Instructor: justifies life long imprisonment of the women who obviously murdered her son.
Arguments from the audience:
- participant from Taiwan doesn't agree on strong punishment, because it is the fault of
society and the limitation of the law who are responsible
- participants describe similar cases in Taiwan and about domestic violence in mainland
China
- the reason of the "evil" is not the women herself but the fact that society doesn't allow her
to educate herself
- you have to change the social conditions as you also see in Hong Kong or Macau, father
killed two daughters and made himself suicide because of economic hardship
Interference of the instructor
The audience have to come to a final common judgement either life imprisonment or death
penalty, because it is not in our capacity as a judge to change society.
Audience
- Judge has to balance between the right of the mother and the children rights
- You have to take into account the social circumstances
- The woman has the right to decide whether she wants the baby or not
Result:
No real consensus in the group; wide range between release, punishment for social work and
punishment up to 15 years.
Trainer tells real story
Background of the real story:
In fact boyfriend urged her to an abortion, but she refused, that's why he left her before she
delivered the baby. The Thai judge sentenced her to 20 years of imprisonment.
How to use for workers' education
With this story you can raise different questions or tackle different topics which are
worthwhile for trade union work, besides the personal responsibility of the mother:
1. first of all lack of money and low wages, but also the fact that she didn't get maternity
leave raises the question for responsibility of the employer as the invisible killer
2. secondly society has to provide facilities like nurseries for working mothers
Take the case study as a good starting point
1. to analyse women and men (power)relationship within society
2. to analyse society and social situation from the point of reproductive needs
to raise responsibility of unions for gender issues and link family life with working
environment
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Educational Work of the Korean Women's Trade Union (KWTU)
By Park Namhee
O. Song for warming up
Instruction: You know how a water melon (papaya, banana stem) looks like?
All participants and instructor stand up in a circle and show the shape with their hands. For
the last part, demonstrating the fruit salad, the participants have to move the hips and stir with
both hands in front of their body the imaginary fruit salad.
Melody: according to the song Frère Jaques.
Contents of the song:
"Water melon, water melon,
Papaya, papaya
Bana-nana-nana, bana-nana-nana
Fruit salad, fruit salad
The song can be repeated several times with faster speed.
1. "River of Life"
Method: Every participant gets an A4 sheet of white paper and is asked to think about his
past for about 10 minutes. Then the participants are asked to mark as many points they like
which they remember from the past and link them to a line. The graph consists of an x-axis as
the time frame and y-axis of good and bad experiences. Then the participants who are willing
to tell their life stories are asked to explain their drawings.
Modification: Instead of telling every story to the whole group you can also put the drawings
at the wall and ask the participants to have a look at them. The participants are allowed to ask
the individuals for clarification, but must also accept if somebody is hesitant to explain more
on the details.
Aim:
- sharing of personal life stories even of sensitive ones in order to get to know better and
create a sense of familiarity and bonding in the group
Instructions:
- play this game only with smaller groups with a maximum of 10 -15 people, divide bigger
groups otherwise
- don't force people to tell their stories, it is depending on their mood
- be patient, you need some time to create atmosphere and make people listen to one
another
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Life Experiences
good
8
6
1998
1997
2000
2002
bad
2
0
2003
1999
4
1996
2001
-2
2. Visualise your life through symbols
Method: The participants have to fold an A4 sheet of white paper into three parts. On one
part they are asked to draw a symbol which represents the image of themselves (a flower, a
picture, a thing, any symbol), the second part of the paper should symbolise the strength and
the third part the weakness which you like to overcome.
The participants are again asked to explain the symbols to the audience.
Aim: to encourage self esteem and self confidence
Instructions:
- do not comment on the explanations of the participants
- you can ask for further explanations
never intimidate people
- listen carefully and be patient
Self images from the participants as examples:
1. life symbol: stairs (hard struggle in her life); strength: education and teaching; weakness:
not enough time
2. life symbol: mountain (tough climbing is a double burden as a mother and in the
workplace at the same time; strength: strong character, strong physics; weakness: do not
care for herself, should relax more
3. life symbol: candle (light in the darkness); strength: responsible person; weakness: anger,
loss of control
3. Practising solidarity
Method: The participants of the game played the game forming a circle and holding onto the
shoulder of the person on front and with one leg folded at the knee being held by the person
behind. The whole group moved according to the music played (a song of solidarity or an
encouraging folk song) in one direction without loosing contact to the neighbours.
Aim: - to create trust and support of the neighbours
- to experience solidarity, working together for a common aim
- to show that each individual is very important for the whole group
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Educational Work with Informal Sector Workers
By Pratibha D. Pandya, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA),
India
SEWA provides need based, demand driven programmes according to the priorities of
women and at the pace they are able to absorb through these women’s participation.
Training and education are effective tools for capacity building to enhance the self esteem
and self respect. This empowers the women to utilise their new skills and knowledge for
development of their families, communities and society as a whole.
Various types of training
1. Vocational-technical training: skills upgrading, diversification, marketing,
accounting etc.
2. capacity building training
(i)
basic leadership training
(ii)
advanced leadership training
(iii)
trainers’ training
3. workers’ education classes: awareness about status and rights as workers
4. members’ education programme
(i)
globalisation
(ii)
SEWA as whole
(iii)
Women’s power
(iv)
Values
5. Literacy classes
6. activity related training e.g. formation co-ops, savings groups, insurance, health,
housing etc.
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Methods of training
1. Start of the day with all religion prayer and Gandhiji’s 11 virtues on
which SEWA’s ideology is based
2. Self introduction in details and co-workers introduction as self; ability to
memorise and articulate is tested through drawings and narration
3. use of posters and charts
4. use of games for – organising; - communication; - evaluation
5. use of songs, folk songs and slogans with messages
6. video documentary replays as a tool. Different uses e.g. organising new
groups, technical information; discussion before and after replays
through members’ participation (analytical observations).
7. Use of satellite communication to reach more members simultaneously
e.g. 1 studio reaches 10 centres with 35 women each saves time and energy
8. Exposure dialogue programme to experience women workers
situation ourselves: gives new insight, sensitivity and perception
9. role plays on real life situations of women workers
- struggles and actions for law enforcement, change in law/ policy
- insurance, HIV – Aids
- communal harmony
Impact of trainings’ education
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
Increase in self esteem and self confidence
Awareness and eagerness to acquire information and knowledge
Increase in ability to articulate the issues and problems
Becoming leaders in their communities
Ability to confront the exploiters e.g. merchants, contractors, money
lenders, police and officials, locals
Important points
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
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Design the curriculum according to the needs and demands of the
women
Speed and pace of the sessions according the ability of women to
absorb
Sessions should be participatory and interactive
Time and schedule according women’s convenience e.g. festival
days, earning – season, marriage seasons have to be avoided
Decision-Making in a Group - The Electric Maze
By Irene Xavier, Electronics Women Workers Association, Malaysia
Objectives
1. To evaluate the dynamics of the team
2. To assess communication mode and leadership within the group
3. To evaluate how collective decisions are made
Directions
1. Make a grid of 6 boxes by 9 boxes using string or masking tape. Each box should be
big enough for one footstep.
2. Facilitator sits on one side of the grid with the design of the maze. Keep this out of
the sight of the participants.
3. Tell the participants that they walk through the maze without getting electrocuted.
Every time they step on forbidden boxes a sound will be made by the facilitator.
4. Tell the participants the rules.
5. The team will be awarded a total of 20.000 marks at the beginning. Marks will be
deducted according to the discretion of the facilitator.
6. Before the game begins the team is given 3 minutes to discuss their strategy. The
team will be given another 2 minutes whenever they requested during the game.
7. The team is given 20 minutes to achieve the objectives.
8. Discuss the experiences of the team.
Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
No talking during the game.
You can only move one step to any neighbouring box around you in any direction.
Whenever the facilitator makes the electrocution sound you have to leave the group.
The team members will only be allowed to step on the forbidden boxes once.
Marks will be deducted for any mistake. The decision of the facilitator is final.
You cannot point directly to any box.
You cannot use writing materials.
8. The team must take turns in the same order in each round.
To be used for educational work with workers/ unions
-
shows the employer-employee-relationship through sanctions and deduction of pay
make adults struggle for a common decision within a given frame of strict rules and
limitations
Reflections and possible problems of the group
-
emotional instability within the group
cultural differences
anger and discouragement inside the group
37
Arrangement to be marked on the floor:
Facilitator sits here
Exit
Start here
38
Raising Awareness on Safe Sex
By Elaine and Luk Yan, Ziteng,
Ziteng, a Hong Kong based sex workers' organisation about the work
"The selling of sexual services, one of the longest surviving professions in the world, has
long been dismissed and discriminated against. Sex workers, with women the majority; have
been deprived on their basic and rightful rights that other workers in other professions are
entitled to. They are facing the exploitation of the pimps, the violence of the customers, not
to mention the risk of all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. They have been denied by
society at large, living a life with no human rights and dignity" (source: flyer of Ziteng).
Ziteng has a staff of three people. They make street work and sometimes even bang the doors
of the women, workshops are not so well attended. First of all Ziteng has to establish trust.
They have to speak the language of the target audience otherwise they lose interest.
Sometimes they even speak about pets, families i.e. for having a contact point. Ziteng tries to
open a dialogue on the behaviour of customers but also on working conditions of the sex
workers like their health situation.
What is the situation of sex workers in Hong Kong?
Sex workers are in a vulnerable situation, even police takes their money, and they are not
protected by them at all. In some areas women are even arrested by police if they carry
condoms. They are discriminated by society and need more legal protection. Sex workers are
also victimised by their customers although it is not seen as rape according to law.
The aim of the work is,
- to protect sex workers from violence
- to protect them of unsafe sex practices i.e. oral sex without condoms
- to teach them their legal rights
Sex workers have to pleasure both sides and make also the customer happy about their
practice. That is one of the reasons why Ziteng has to teach methods how to use condoms in a
more joyful way, so the customers are more willing to use condoms. Sex workers have to
inform the customer beforehand, but if he is drunk, the sex worker has to make him at least
feel happy. They are mostly not concerned about health but Ziteng has to pay attention for
the health of the women workers.
Why is this topic a question of workers' education?
In fact they are (sex) workers like in Macau but they don't have the same rights, because
sex/prostitution is a taboo to speak about.
I.
Play a game of dialogue: audience and facilitator
Aim: to break a taboo and learn to talk about sexuality
Method: the audience is divided into two groups who compete with one another. The
facilitator chose in advance a number of words and drawings which are related to sexuality
and writes them on the board. Within five seconds the groups have to react and tell other
associated terms in their language. The group with the most associated terms will win a price.
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Examples of chosen words and associated terms of the participants:
1. Make love - sex intercourse, go to bed, sleeping, lose virginity
2. Vagina - private part, triangle area, flower, woman's organ
3. Oral sex - trumpet or flute blowing; cigar smoking; sucking, blowing, licking
4. Penis - bird, little brother, hammer
5. Premature ejaculation - you can't do it, misfire, sending out newspaper, early blossom,
half mast
The price for the participants: a banana and a condom for each participant, which is used in
the following demonstration
II. Demonstration of the facilitators: How to use a condom
One male participant was asked to show the usage of a condom with the banana
Facilitator gives certain instructions:
- open the condom gently
- pay attention: the condom has two sides; where is the bottom and where is the top?
- role it slowly down the banana, do it gently
Now the whole audience has to practice it.
Second demonstration from the facilitator: She blows the condom with her mouth, in order to
show how a condom can be used for oral sex.
Reason: We know that a lot of men don’t like to use the condom because it is no satisfaction
for them. That is why we introduced this method especially for oral sex but also as a second
choice to put it on.
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Educational Programmes on Occupational Health and Safety
By Juliana So Lai Wa, Women Worker OSH Education Centre,
Guangzhou
The concern of the work
is to help workers who have occupational health and safety problems (OHS) to find a
strategy, to plan action, to find a lawyer in order to get their compensation. The centre
formed a group of concerned workers to take up their issues
Background
According to Chinese law labourers are allowed to go to hospital because of occupational
health diseases, but a diagnosis as a case of OHS is hard to get. As patients in the hospital in
Guangzhou are men and women (50:50) the centre works also with male patients.
Although most victims are very young in the beginning of their twenties or even younger
they suffer from chemical hazards (poisoning), ear problems (noisy surrounding) or other
problems. Most of them worked in shoe, plastic or electronic factories before.
I. Workshop
A Song for introduction and warming-up
“Left shoulder – shake
Right shoulder - shake
Shake, shake, shake
No more pain”
2nd verse about “hands”
3rd verse about “body”
Songs are used for educational work in order communicate to with patients and to raise
their consciousness. For example one very sad song was written by a patient about the
life of a migrant worker coming for seasonal work to Guangzhou. The lyric starts from
spring the departure time to Guangzhou and covers the whole year.
Role plays are used in the OHS-hospital for workers’ education
- to raise awareness among workers as actors and the audience (here patients of the
hospital): how to prevent dangerous situations and poisoning in the future
- to discuss problems related to working conditions in the factories in order to find
possible solutions even for desperate situations (like common cases of self suicide)
- to become more self-confident and solve the problems properly
An example of one role play on the problem of self suicide:
One of the patients plays the role of a worker who tries to get his money back from the
boss in threatening him with self suicide because the worker didn’t get his wages for
months. Other patients take different roles: a journalist, who likes to spread the exciting
news; a policeman who tries to arrest the worker whereas others stand in a crowd and
comment on the event.
41
Role plays like this are used to explain the situation of migrant workers who got the
hardest job without but no payment. It shows the unprotected and vulnerable situation of
workers like him: “I have no influence, no knowledge, that is why I want to threaten the
boss, but I don’t want to die.”
The audience discuss about his situation and possible solutions:
- It is his own problem, just let him do. There are so many cases like him.
- He will create problems for the business
- Where shall he go? Whom he can approach?
In the end the worker made up and changed his mind finally: “I don’t want to make a
show for you. I’ll try to find another way to solve the problem.”
Advantages of role play
-
a role play is a better way than a lecture to reach and involve the audience
a role play is useful in order to talk about one’s own problems
a role play is useful as a training method like for gender issues and
domestic violence cases
Group game: blind man’s buff
Patients walk in small groups with blind eyes in a row behind one group leader in the
garden of the hospital and have to overcome certain obstacles.
Aim of the game
a.
b.
c.
d.
To share common experiences
To build trust among the group
To take responsibility for the group members
To raise consciousness that they successfully can act together in a team
But it is difficult to evaluate the concrete output of the training as games are more long-term
oriented.
II. OHS -Trainings for shoemaking companies Adidas, Nike and Reebok
1. Investigation for OHS-training on risks of workplace/ assembly line inside the
factories with the support and permission of the company management. The money
for the training comes form the concerned companies and from a US-foundation
- together with 4 Hong Kong based NGOs
- training with workers on body consciousness to raise awareness of workers to
pay more attention to their working environment
2. Organising a committee on OHS
3. after 4 months education centre goes back to the factory to evaluate if the situation
improves
Q&A: Questions of the workshop participants
1. How do you reach the workers?
We do mostly training of the trainers for example 20 people of one factory are trained on
OHS and they should present their experiences to their colleagues
2. How to spread the news and how to raise consciousness inside the factory?
You need the support of the management to spread the news and information; they
advertise the OHS programmes and recommend to us the workers who should take part.
3. You went to the big factories, but how about the smaller ones?
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We also do training in Industrial Zones and communities but with different effects.
4. The close cooperation to the management is it really worthwhile for workers’
training?
I don’t see that as the best way because it has also many traps.
5. Isn’t it the duty of the government to protect the workers’ health?
We promote the labour law but in fact the government cannot cover such a big / huge
area. They mostly raise/propagate only slogans.
Working Condition Arrangements and Labour Occupational
Health and Safety
By Liu, Wan-Ling, Ching-Jen Labour Health & Safety Service Center,
Taiwan
Starting from official classification of statistics for occupational diseases by
Taiwan authority.
- Types of accidents: falling, hitting, nipping, exposing to contamination, electrical shocks,
explosion and inappropriate operation.
- Equipment: power machine, loading and unloading machine, equipments of pressure vessel,
chemical or electric and other mechanisms, building under construction, equipments for
construction materials, environment.
- Different types of injury on the body: head, face, neck, shoulder
These classifications only show the physical or chemical factors but do not highlight any
social factors. The issue of occupational health and safety arises from the relationship
between employees and employers. Therefore, the issue of occupational health and safety has
to be dealt taking into account the relationship between Labour and capital, or the
arrangements of other working conditions.
Why is it necessary to discuss the arrangements of working condition?
- What is Labour: Labour means people who use their capacity of work (working ability) to
earn a wage for living without any capital or means of production
- Working ability is a buyable commodity but it can’t be separated from a worker’s physical
ability to work. Therefore capitalists are under obligation to ensure the health and safety of
workers in addition to the payment for their labour. Working ability should not be treated as
disposable stuff or a cheap commodity that can be thrown away when its use is exhausted.
That is why there are pension, dismissal wage (redundancy pay) and compensation designed
in the statute of the legislature.
- For capitalists, because the money should be paid under the market price for materials, land
and factories, the easiest way to reduce the cost is to lower the salary or demand more
products under the same pay. Therefore, the arrangements of working conditions are set
differently to lower costs and problems of health and safety of workers occurring
accordingly.
The relation between arrangement of working condition and occupational health
& safety
Wage 1. Piece-work: The premise that more work will increase the salary of the worker is
not true. In fact, piece work causes more competition among workers, and strengthens the
43
intensity of hard work. Sometimes the normal working procedures are not followed due to
the competition to get the job done and the ratio of accidents therefore increases.
The increased production of products causes the decrease in unit price, so the real wage
remains in a relative level. Paying by the job is in fact paying by time
2. Profit allotting: Money earned is directly proportional to jobs - no job, no money. The
products are sold under the price, the money earned from the sale is then allotted in
proportion for both parties of labour and capital. The way to calculate wage is the same as the
way to calculate work. Workers are affected directly from the price war in the market for
products. The capitalists pay only for the cost of labour and they don’t like to secure the
reproduction of labour force (workers themselves physically).
3. Low base pay plus efficiency bonus plus over-time pay: according to the ten year statistics
from 1989 to 1998, the average normal working hours in Taiwan manufactures have been
decreased from 190.2 to 182.6 per month, however over-time working hours have been
increased from 13.4 to 15.5 per month. The statistics show how serious the situation had been
for workers to be called back to work, which added heavier burden to workers and increased
the rate of accidents in workplace.
Piece-work bonus and overtime: all those ploys are designed to induce workers to work
more, which causes competition for bonus among workers. The tricks also undermine the
solidarity of workers and deprive their consciousness.
Working hours
1. Flexible working hours and flexible holidays.
Flexible working hours are allowed in the Labour law in Taiwan. The normal working hour is
at least one day off every week, and 8 working hours per day. Now it can be changed in two
weeks, even two months as long as the total working hours does not overrun the limit by
regulation. However, under such a changeable time schedule, there are days where there will
be more than 8 hours of work per day without over-time pay and the holidays are varied. It is
in favour of those representing capital for a flexible adjustment to output; it saves money for
them and gives the flexibility to their production plan.
2. Fixed night shift: the natural biological timing and family/social life have to be adjusted in
accordance with the night shift.
3. Shift work: If work has to be in shifts namely (day to night, night to day in turn ), the
human body needs one or two weeks to get adjusted, so the time for turning one shift to
another should not be too short, otherwise it will be hard for workers to adapt.
4. Jobs at night open to female workers. It weakens the protection to female workers since
they also take traditionally the responsibility for domestic work and care for kids. If jobs at
night open to female workers, they will face the conflicts as they are burning the candle from
both sides.
The flexibility of working hour demands workers to adapt accordingly. It causes trouble to
their routine, both in their family and community; It adds burden to workers’ shoulders
biologically and psychologically.
The arrangements in the process of production and workplace
1. Tailor-made assembly line: De-technology (it is easy to be replaced by cheap labour
force); repeating motions (liability to occupational disease); boring task (lack of value and
achievements).
44
2. Density of production lines and machinery: in a limited working space, if the density of
production lines and machine is high, it worsens the working environment with noise,
radiation, dust and the high concentration of chemical solvent.
3. Protecting measures: For capitalists, it cannot make profits for taking protecting steps in
terms of workers’ interests, so they prefer to ignore these measures.
The capitalists make arrangements for work and work place based on the consideration of
cutting down the pay down and making more profit. Pay for job and low basic salary are
reasons that cause accidents and improper movements of workers in the work place.
Relationship between employers and employees
1. Informal contractual workers: no job security, compensation for occupational disasters is
not secured, no place to voice their complaints about occupational diseases.
2. Small-and-medium sized enterprises, general contractors and sub-contractors: Working
conditions are very bad. Lack of security for Labour rights plus intensity of hard work,
working overtime is inevitable, high risks of occupational disasters, false consciousness
as independent contractors
Accidents have happened frequently because of the lack of equipment and technology, (e.g.)
many accidents caused by sub-contractors in the Chinese Petroleum Company.
New technology
New technology = progress? → automation - unemployment!
1. Workers should share the achievements of new technology in the society if this new
advancement of technology represents human progress.
2. The issue of Occupational health and safety should be included into new technology,
because there might be some potential elements for new occupational disasters, such as
unknown occupational disease caused by new chemicals.
Two examples from western countries
- Technology Bill of Rights by International Association of Machinists (see appendix). The
provision on use of new technology should be part of the CBA (collective bargaining
agreement) between employers and workers, through their trade unions and bargaining units.
Trade unions and workers have the right after a pilot project to vote down the change in the
process of production.
- VOLVO Uddevalla in Sweden from 1989 to 1992: Humanizing the manufacturing process.
When the workers lacked of values and switched around in high ratio, alongside with the
pressure by Labour movement and support from left wing social democracy party in the
government to improve the situation, VOLVO Uddevalla changed process of production and
improved it as a more humane one. The Taylorist assembly line had been changed into group
work, technology as an substitute means for production: the way of playing a supporting role,
cooperating with workers. It was called ergonomics. A detailed account, see Christian
Berggren , Alternatives to Lean Production -- Work Organisation in the Swedish Auto
Industry, 1992, Ithaca: ILR Press
Conclusion
Labour health and safety is not only the issue in terms of physical chemistry technology. To
discuss occupational health and safety has to do with other working conditions of labour, so
that the connection between employees and employers can be seen clearly.
45
Appendix:
The International Association of Machinists’ Technology Bill of Rights
On April 30, and May 1, 1981, William Winpisinger, then president of the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), AFL-CIO, hosted the IAM Scientists and Engineers
Conference in New York City. It was chaired by Seymour Melman, Professor of Engineering and
Operations Research at Columbia University. The purpose of the event was to bring social scientists
from major universities and engineers from large manufacturing corporations into direct dialogue with
each other and with top IAM officials and rank and file members, an attendance of about forty people
in all. Their assignment was to examine what was happening to the nature of work and employment as
the mechanized forms of automation get replaced by those involving computers and robots.
The Technology Bill of Rights was produced as a direct result of the conference. Beyond
circulation given the bill directly by the IAM staff, it was also published in the quarterly journal
democracy (Sheldon Wolin, Ed.) New York, Spring 1983, pp. 25-27.
International Association of Machinists Congress hereby amends the National Labour
Relations Act, Railway Act, and other appropriate Acts to declare a national Labour policy through a
New Technology Bill of Rights:
1 Technology shall be used in a way that creates jobs and promotes community-wide and national full
employment.
2 Unit Labour cost savings and Labour productivity gains resulting from the use of new technology
shall be shared with workers at the local enterprise level and shall not be permitted to accrue
excessively or exclusively for the gain of capital, management, and shareholders.
Reduced work hours and increased leisure time made possible by new technology shall result in no
loss of real income or decline in living standards for workers affected at the local level.
3 Local communities, the states, and the nation have a right to require employers to pay a replacement
tax on all machinery, equipment, robots, and production systems that displace workers and cause
unemployment, thereby decreasing local, state, and federal revenues.
4 New technology shall improve the conditions of work and shall enhance and expand the
opportunities for knowledge, skills and compensation of workers. Displaced workers shall be entitled
to training, retraining, and subsequent job placement or re-employment.
5 New technology shall be used to develop and strengthen the U.S. industrial base, consistent with full
employment goals and national security requirements, before it is licensed or otherwise exported
abroad.
6 New technology shall be evaluated in terms of workers safety and health and shall not be destructive
of the workplace environment, nor shall it be used at the expense of the community’s natural
environment.
7 Workers, through their trade unions and bargaining units, shall have an absolute right to participate
in all phases of management deliberations and decisions that lead or could lead to the introduction of
new technology or the changing of the workplace system design, work process, and procedures for
doing work, including the shutdown or transfer of work, capital, plants, and equipment.
8 Workers shall have the right to monitor control room centres and control stations, and the new
technology shall not be used to monitor, measure or otherwise control the work practices and work
standards of individual workers at the point of work.
9 Storage of an individual worker’s personal data and information file by the employer shall be tightly
controlled, and the collection and/or release and dissemination of information with respect to race,
religion, or political activities and beliefs, records of physical and mental health disorders and
treatment, records of arrests and felony charges or convictions, information concerning internal and
private family matters, and information regarding an individual’s financial condition or credit
worthiness, shall not be permitted, except in rare circumstances related to health, and then only after
consultation with a family or union-appointed physician, psychiatrist, or member of the clergy. The
right of an individual worker to inspect his or her personal file shall at all times be absolute and open.
10 When the new technology is employed in the production of military goods and services, workers,
through their trade unions and bargaining agents, have a right to bargain with management over the
establishment of Alternative Production Committees, which shall design ways to adapt that technology
to socially useful production in the civilian sector of the economy.
David F. Noble, Progress without People --In Defense of Luddism, 1993:127-129, Chicago: Charles H. Kerr
Publishing Company.
46
Asia Pacific Workers’ Education Practitioners
Exchange Programme
--Workers' Education in the 21st Century: Challenges & Opportunities-21 – 23 September 2003
20 Sept. 2003 (Sun) - Arrival and Welcome Dinner
21 Sept. 2003
1:30 – 2:00 Welcome Address by Organisers and Co-organisers
• Mr. Apo Leong, Executive Director, Asia Monitor Resource Centre
• Ms. Mabel Au, Co-ordinator, Committee for Asian Women
• Mr. Chan Wai Chi, Executive Director, Macao Association of for the Rights of
Labourers
2:00 – 3:30
Introduction (Annie Luk)
• By participants
• Leveling of expectations
• Overview of programme (why, what, how)
• Housekeeping and logistics
3:30 – 4:30
Workers Education: A View from a Popular Educator (Rita Kwok, Social Work Dept.,
Baptist College, Hong Kong)
4:30 – 4:45: BREAK
4:45 – 5:45
Demonstrating/Sharing of Experiences on Methods of Workers Education
• Case study/discussion (Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Thai Labour Service and Training
Centre)
• Using literacy as an entry-point for labour rights education (So Sheung, Labour
Education and Service Network, HK)
5:45 – 6:30
Workers Education in China: Challenges and Experiences
Women Development and Rights Study Center, Xian
Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, Guangzhou
Qingdao Workers Hotline Service
7.00: DINNER
22 Sept. 2003 (Mon)
9:00 – 9:45 Introduction (Chan Lean Heng, University Science Malaysia)
• Group profiling
• Overview of Day’s programme
• Comments and insight from first day
• Housekeeping and announcements
9:45 – 10:45
Educational work with informal sector workers
(Pratibha D. Pandya, Self Employed Women’s Association, India)
47
10:45 – 11:45
Gender Sensitization of Women Workers
(Parat Nanakhorn, Thai Labour Organiser and Mabel Au, Committee for Asia Women )
11:45 – 12:00 BREAK
12:00 – 1:00
Raising Awareness on Safe Sex (Elaine and Yuk Lan, Ziteng, HK)
1:00 – 2:30 LUNCH
2:30 – 2.45 ENERGISERS
2:45 – 3:45
Educational Work of Korean Women Union (Park Namhee, Korean Women’s Trade
Union)
3:45 – 4.45
Reaching out to Women Workers in Malaysia
(Irene Xavier, Electronics Women Workers Association, Malaysia)
4:45 – 5:00 BREAK
5:00 – 7:00
Storytelling DIY as a Method (Yuen Che Hung, No Hurry Story Workshop, HK)
7:30 DINNER
9:00 – 10.30
Video and discussion on “DUST and DOLLS”
23 Sept. 2003 (Tue)
9:00 – 9:45 Introduction (Chan Lean Heng, University Science of Malaysia)
• Music and movements
• Overview of Day’s programme
• Comments and insight from first day
• Housekeeping and announcements
9.45 – 10.45
Demonstrating/Sharing Educational Programmes on Occupational Health and Safety
• From Taiwan (Liu Wan Ling, Ching-Jen Labour Health & Safety Service Centre,
Taiwan)
• From South China (Juliana So, Women Worker OSH Education Centre, Guangzhou)
10:45 – 11:00 BREAK
11:00 – 12:00
Small Group Discussion on Issues, Challenges and Opportunities in Workers Education
12:00 – 1:00
Report Back
1:00 – 2.30 LUNCH
2:30 – 2:45 ENERGISERS
2:45 – 3:45
Evaluating Workers Education Programmes (Annie Luk)
3.45 – 4.45
Synthesis and Input (Chan Lean Heng, University Science of Malaysia)
5:00 – 6:30 Evaluation (of this workshop) and Closure
48
Expectations and Evaluation
By Annie Luk
Expectations of English speaking participants
To learn from other experiences
- about workers' educational material and programmes (techniques and content from each
country),
- how to organise and educate workers
- to learn demonstration of labour education games
- to learn new forms of interaction
To share experiences with each other
- of organising women workers in various countries
To explore
- chances for co-operation and further interactions with participating persons and other
NGOs
Expectations of Chinese speaking participants
To learn
- about different conditions, experiences and challenges of labour education in the Asian
Pacific Region
- how to design teaching materials for labour education
- how to do training for women workers
- training skills in labour education, learn about different methods
- new training methods in education
- more games and activities, learn better – eat better – play better
49
To share
- experiences in labour education with other organisations
- and exchange in wider range of topics, learn from friends their working experiences,
- the results of the conference and find solutions to the problems
To become
- more lively in future labour education in China
To establish
- a network for labour education to enhance our own standard in training and join efforts in
labour education
General expectations
- help workers to gain more rights
- hope young workers will concern more about the work and life situation and problems
- hope the SAR government will take serious the problem of „black market labour“ (illegal
workers) and of unemployment hope employers will no longer deprive workers of their
rights and benefits
- promote labour rights together, to awake the consciousness of the government and top
investors
Evaluation as a Method
A real evaluation process at the end of an event can:
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
help people consolidate their learning
strengthen a sense of solidarity
put closure to a group experience
provide helpful suggestion for improving a course
suggest appropriate follow-up to the course
be instructive to the leadership about their memberships’ needs, desires, views and
awareness.
The purpose will shape the kind of evaluation you use at the end of the programme.
We would like participants to take this collective experience and apply it in their work.
That’s why, we try, whenever possible, to bring closure to an educational process and to
follow up as much as the organisation and our own time allow. Our concern with evaluation
and follow-up isn’t technical. It is an evaluation by impact.
Written evaluation
A written evaluation is important for detail, for follow-up ideas, and for building up support
for education in the union.
50
Evaluation by impact
New understanding, feelings
New knowledge gained from the workshop
New skills we can use in our work
Ask participants to draw their head, heart, feet on
a paper, using markers. Ask them to record new
ideas they learned on the head, new feelings on
the heart, and new action ideas or skills they can
use on the feet.
Use words or visuals to describe their learning.
Source: Adapted from Marsha Sfeir, a Toronto educator
Evaluation of the Workshop
Written Evaluation
Summary
For the programme, 11 participants rated the programme
over average (rated above 6). The programme was rated in
terms of able to participate, learning from others and
taking away new ideas.
Regarding the logistics, majority of our participants
found the accommodation, venue and meals satisfactory
for 10 participants rated above 7. However, some
expressed better logistics would save time.
Definitely, there are rooms for improvement.
Most participants found the workshop was helpful in
terms of skills and new ideas. Participatory learning
methods, discussions and sharing experiences are found
as best learning format. Some participants felt the
workshop should be more focussed and the workshop would
be better if more information was given. Need
assessment was suggested as a significant process
before the training would be conducted.
51
Suggestions for a follow-up were the following
- to publish a detailed report of this workshop
- next training on certain topic, method and content i.e. workshop on module writing
- to follow-up the implementation, activities conducted by participants
- to develop a series of activities related to the focus of the workshop (action plan)
- to run an exchange/study programme between organisations to deepen the experience
- to enquire on educational materials of each organisation
Evaluation by impact
English speaking audience:
New knowledge (see head!)
- informations about East Asian groups’ activities and spirits is impressive
- educator = learner
- education is more than mere talking: take action with care and be true to your own
humanity
- story telling as a method
- popular education method
- know how friends from China work
- necessity of clear instruction for trainings
New feeling (see heart!)
-
togetherness
mixed feeling = tiredness
relaxed
warm feeling
impressed by the intellectual level of the participants
more solidarity with China
diversity of people who participated
New skills (see feet!)
-
52
reflection of your work as an organiser and a union leader is needed
better communication skills acquired
new techniques for training and workers' education
story telling
new co-operative games and activities to make participants open minded
Chinese speaking audience
New knowledge (see head!)
- sharing of experiences of India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong
Kong on labour education
- knowledge about other organisations’ situation and development
- deeper understanding of the difficulties, challenges and opportunities of labour education
- interactive learning methods
- labour education meaningful for learning, empowerment and change
New feeling (see heart!)
-
though lots of difficulties and challenges, but also lots of opportunities
commitment on worker’s education
more and more support in doing worker’s education
learn how to communicate, how to build up a team, how to start activities
respect every individual, because these individuals make our existence become
meaningful
respect heart to heart communication
communication by story telling: being equal, interactive and having respect
games can help to create an atmosphere of learning
feel and think the same as workers (by story telling method)
53
New skills (see feet!)
-
various kinds of training methods and forms of expressions, teamwork
visualising as a method: outline of a body for gender training and OHS; river of life, to
look at turning points of someone’s life
all forms of games as a tool for education: games to warm up, co-operative games to
make participants open minded
storytelling as a method opening workers’ mind and soul
using media as a tool for communication education
Resources:
Useful Links
Asia Monitor Resource Centre
See Webpage: www.amrc.org.hk
Korean Women’s Trade Union (KWTU)
See Webpage: http://kwunion.jinbo.net
The Centre for Labour Information Service and Training (CLIST)
See Webpage: www.workers-voice.org
Committee for Asian Women (CAW)
See Webpage: http://caw.jinbo.net
Self employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
See Webpage: www.sewa.org
Ziteng - Sex Workers Organisation
See Webpage: http://ziteng.org.hk
Ching-Jen Labour Health & Safety Service Center Taiwan
See Webpage: www.catholic.org.tw/ cicm/cicm_works/Chingjen
54
Available Media
I Always Dream of Tomorrow
Korean Women Workers Associations United and the Korean Women’s Trade
Union
Production: 2001; VHS; 38 min; Korean with English dubs and subtitles
This short film is unusual in that workers’ voices predominate. It addresses the problem of
the latest and growing investment wheeze to transfer workers’ status from formal to informal
– this saves money big time, as the film goes on to show.
The film begins by telling us that informal workers suffer severe discrimination, which
bosses get away with because irregular workers are always in fear of dismissal.
It tells us that half of South Korea’s workers are now informally employed, and that 70
percent of these are women of all ages.
Informal workers interviewed include golf caddies, private academy instructors, dispatched
clerical workers, contracted cleaners, ‘script writers’, and cooks. Such a variety of jobs
working informally shows that irregular working can now be forced on almost any kind of
workforce.
The interviews immediately show the problems that all these workers have in common – job
insecurity, easy dismissal procedure, no insurances for unemployment or health, no pensions,
no severance pay, long hours, minimum wages, erratic and irregular employment on an asand-when basis, and more.
The film has many interesting insights; it shows that those employed informally as script
writers are actually doing many other jobs, including that of producer. Flexibility is being
forced on many groups of workers, but with irregulars, managers can get away with it by
threatening to hire other workers if anybody complains.
A particularly dramatic part of the film shows workers at 88 Country Club, a golf club,
demonstrating for reinstatement after caddies who joined a union were all sacked. We see
managers (all men) shoving, prodding, and yelling at the caddies (all women), clearly
upsetting the workers who however remain defiant in tears, and complain loudly about the
Ministry of Labour failing to enforce its Labour Standards Act. And finally we hear that
88CC management backs down, reinstates the women, and promises to bargain collectively
with the union.
This film is definitely worth watching. Review from Ed Shepherd, AMRC
55
Committee for Asian Women (CAW):
Video
Dolls and Dust
A Video Documentary on the Impact of Economic Restructuring on Asian Women Workers
Dolls and Dusts provides a forum for women workers in three sub regions of Asia (i.e. Sri
Lanka, Thailand and South Korea) to communicate in their own voices and in their own
languages about the impact of industrial restructuring, globalisation and 'mal(e)-development'
on their lives, communities and the environment. Videographed by Wayang, 1998, 45
Minutes, English PAL version The following 14 Asian language versions of the video (with
sub titles and / or narration) are also available: Thai (Thailand & Laos), Singhala (Sri Lanka),
Japanese, Korean, Cantonese (Hong Kong & Macau), Mandarin (Taiwan & Singapore),
Putonghua Chinese ( China), Hindi ( India), Bengali(Bangladesh), Urdu ( Pakistan), Nepali (
Nepal), Bahasa (Indonesia, Brunei & Malaysia), Tagalog ( Philippines) and Khmer (
Cambodia).
Dolls and Dusts Manual
The manual not only examines the impact of industrial restructuring on women workers, but
also includes analyses and perspectives of certain Asian thinkers and activists besides women
workers about "globalisation," about "globalisation and gender division of labour" as well as
"strategies to wage for change". December 2000, 240pp.
56
Other sources
Health and Safety Workshop,
Edited by: Labour Occupational Health Programme (LOHP) and Maquiladora
Health and Safety Support Network,
China 2001 (in English and Chinese); 500 pages
Contents of the teaching module:
- What is Occupational Health?
- Chemical Hazards
- Occupational Exposure Limits
- Controlling Chemical Hazards
- Noise
- Stress
- Ergonomics
- Other Safety Hazards
- Occupational Safety & Health Laws /China
- Effective Communication
- Health & Safety Committees
- Inspection Checklists
- Training Others: Lesson Plan
For copies in English:
LOHP , University of California, Berkeley
2223 Fulton Street, 4th Floor
Berkeley, California 94720-5120,
United States
Tel: (510) 643-3271
Or (510) 642-5507
www.lohp.org
For copies in Chinese:
Chinese Working Women Network (CWWN)
Tel: (825) – 2781 – 2444 (Hong Kong)
For further Information look at:
Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network
www.igc.org/mhss
57
Helping Health Workers Learn
David Werner and Bill Bower
Publisher: The Hesperian Foundation, 1982; 12th reprint 2001
(ISBN 0-942364-10-4)
This book is a collection of methods, aids, and ideas to stimulate the imagination,
written in clear basic English, for use by village instructors, including those with a
limited formal education. It contains hundreds of drawings and photographs to
illustrate and emphasise key points.
Ideas in the book are based on 16 years of experience with a village run health
programme in Mexico.
One section is aimed at helping health workers learn how to use the health care
handbook Where There Is No Doctor by David Werner.
The focus of the book is educational rather than medical, and has been written
especially for instructors and health workers who identify with the working people
and who feel that their first responsibility is to the poor.
Rather than trying to change people’s attitudes and behaviour, this community-based
approach tries to help people analyse and change the situation that surrounds them.
Enquiries: Hesperian Foundation, 1919 Addison Street, Suite 304, Berkeley,
California 94704, USA; P.O. Box 11577, Berkeley , California 94712-2577 USA,
Tel: (510)845-4507
FAX (510) 845-0539
e-mail: [email protected]
www.hesperian.org
Education for Changing Unions
Bev Burke, Jojo Geronimo, D’Arcy Martin, Barb Thomas, Carol Wall
Publisher: Between The Lines, Toronto 2002
(ISBN 1-896357-67-X)
This book is written by five labour educators with diverse experiences but whose
common ground is that popular education is about transformation. Their aim for this
book is to engage in a learning experience that can enlighten new union recruits as
well as veteran union educators.
One third labour education tool kit, one third autobiography, and one third reflective
conversation on the craft of union education, the book engages readers in an
exploration of designing and delivering education for transformation. The authors are
honest about discussing some of the more difficult educational situations that they
have encountered, including mistakes they have made, and what they have learned
from all this.
This book is a collective writing project that develops Educating for a Change,
published in 1991, whose five authors included three of the authors here.
58
Education for Changing Unions intentionally plays with the word ‘changing’, and
celebrates the unions that use education as a strategy for change and offers tools and
strategies to further their work.
The book is divided into three parts, the first of which looks at education as a job
within the union context. Part 2 looks at union education as a craft and how to design
courses, programmes, and their key elements, including activities that experienced
educators will turn to first for new ideas and activities. Part 3 discusses how
education can develop democracy and participation in unions.
Enquiries: Between the Lines, 720 Bathurst Street, Suite 404, Toronto, Ontario M5S
2R4, Canada; www.btlbooks.com
59

Workers` Education in the 21st Century

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