A trade union is a voluntary organization formed by workers in an industry to promote and protect their interests at work. Trade unions draw their members from the industrial organizations. Differentials in industrial occupations are, therefore, likely to influence gender balances at the trade unions‟ structures. Annual reports by the Registrar of Trade Union‟s (2007) and the Ministry of Planning and National Development (2007), show that the disparities at the industrial level tend to correspond proportionally to the disparities within the trade unions structures. For instance, as already observed, there are big gender disparities in the manufacturing sectors. Likewise the corresponding trade unions in these sectors tend to reflect similar levels of disparities.
Likewise, vertical disparities are as visible at the trade union‟s structures as they are at the industrial level where women are poorly represented at the leadership levels. According to the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU-Kenya), women represent less than 5 per cent of the trade union‟s governing bodies in Kenya. According to the Registrar of Trade Unions, women form less than one per cent of members registered in the employers‟ associations in Kenya. The inclusion of gender
perspectives in all trade unions‟ policies is yet to be achieved. For example, out of the total membership of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) of 156 million in some 148 countries, women account for about 61 million. Although this is a 39 per cent of the confederation‟s membership, women only comprise less than one percent of the decision-making bodies of the unions‟ worldwide, (ICFTU, 2005). This statistics reflect the reality in many parts of the world.
The literature on unionization has long found that women have traditionally been less likely than men to be organized into trade unions, (Brown & Pechman, 1987). In America, according to Foner 1972, the first permanent trade unions were formed in the early 1790s. Even at this early stage, women participation in the movements was minimal. Most unions did not permit women members because women were poorly paid and allowing them into the unions would encourage employers to reduce the salaries for other members. By 1872, only 2 of the over 30 national trade unions admitted women as union members. By 1956, for example, just 15 per cent of female workers were union members, compared with 31 per cent of male workers (Brown & Pechman, 1987). Despite union policies designed to reduce wage differentials across plants and personal differentials within plants, which should produce a greater union premium for women than for men, estimates of union wage effects by sex have found no clear pattern of differentials between men and women.
While the formation of early trade unions in the developed countries was mainly a response to the workers mistreatments due to the industrial revolution, in Africa,
trade unions were formed mainly to respond to the forced labour that came with colonization. Women participation in trade union activities was minimal and when they took part, the participation took in-overt forms and only aimed at supporting the male workers. For instance, as already noted, women in South Africa organized themselves into a Brigade to support the Johannesburg Transway workers in their 1911 strike. In Zambia, copper miners‟ wives supported their husbands by protesting alongside them and even sleeping in the football fields with them.
In Kenya, the imposition of oppressive and exploitative economic structures in Kenya during the colonial period stirred up the emergence of trade unions movement as early as 1920s. In the absence of alternative forums, „trade unions‟ gradually gained political expression to the colonized people and became part of the liberation struggle (Lubembe, 1993). By 1943 ten trade unions had been registered. By 1948, the Union was rife in demand for equal pay for equal work for all the races. By that time the levels of unemployment were raising especially from the army (2nd World War) retirees. Both the trade unions and the national movement parties were becoming strong and militant. By December 1950, over 15,000 workers were registered in trade unions, (Malkhan Sigh, 1969). Since their inception in Kenya as elsewhere in Africa, trade unions have been male dominated. Over the years, this condition has not changed. Men continue to dominate the higher leadership positions of trade unions. The early trade unions in Kenya were preoccupied with factors such as forced labour, national politics and discrimination on bases of race. Much effort was laid on the
liberalization of the Africans from the oppressive systems both at work and otherwise. Putting these factors into consideration, gender equality was not perceived as a priority.
After independence, efforts shifted to the reconstruction of the newly formed nation. Unemployment was high and so were the levels of illiteracy. All efforts were, therefore, focused towards improving the education systems and reduction of unemployment. Gender equality was seen from the point of the boys and girls enrolling into the schools. Currently Kenya has just as many girls as boys in the education system (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 2005). Other areas have also achieved tremendous success. For instance, according the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (2005), of the 225,000 teachers in primary and secondary schools in Kenya, 95,000 are women. Of the 1,763,661 people in wage employment in Kenya today, 521,261 are women (Central Bureau of Statistics & the Ministry of Planning, 2006). Statistics from the University of Nairobi and Moi University indicate that Kenya has achieved an almost equal number of men to women undergraduate medical students in the universities today. However the same equality does not reflect in the trade union movements. The current efforts of improving the economic growth require that all players both male and female be involved at all levels of economic activities. This as of yet remains a major challenge for Kenyan trade unions today.