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Women & Work: The
Case of Y.P.F. v. Astra
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P art II: Inequalities in Women's Work
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Even after
their incorporation into the paid workforce in 1919, women usually
remained within jobs that can be classified as an extension of their
domestic duties. This is because they were working under historical
and structural limitations, in a time when society and industry
were completely defended by and organized around the production
of oil.
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In Astra, women worked as spousal helpers, complementing
the paid work of their husbands with their domestic work: they took
care of children, cooked, cleaned, grew vegetables and tended livestock
(where the male would be the only wage-earning member of the family,
even though the women did all of the housework); and as compensated
servants, maids, or cooks of the company or its administrators.
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W hile most women worked
in the personal houses of the company high-ups, in the employee
social hall (Casino), or the company farm/ranch (Estancia La Corona),
the male employees among their ranks were usually had more occupational
mobility, circulating through the various buildings of company town
or working in the Main Kitchen or in the Gamela de Obreros (mess
hall). In all of these positions, they received substantially lower
compensation for their work than men, even if their duties were
the same. For example, men and women working in Astra as maids,
cooks, or servers earned the following differential rates in the
the years below.
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1923
1930
Men
110 pesos
Men (Cooks)
130-200 pesos
Women
50-90 pesos
Women(Cooks)
80-150 pesos
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From 1920 onward, significant changes
began to take place, with new employment opportunities opening for
women in both Y.P.F. and Astra. Thanks to changing work regulations,
women started entering the formal economy in various capacities, including
clerical work, nursing and teaching.
These
changes occurred at different times in each of the two companies.
In 1920, for example, women were admitted into the teaching
profession in Y.P.F., while this did not happen until 1930
for Astra. Teaching and nursing were especially important
occupations for women, since they allowed them to exercise
relative financial, social and professional independence from
their husbands' work.
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María del
Carmen Sánchez was one of the women who took advantage
of the new opportunities to teach. After serving as a
postal clerk for some time, she was employed by Y.P.F. as a
teacher, but had to travel to "no man's land" every day to head
her classes. Hers is representative of the struggles and
stories of many working women in the company town, and also
of the growing opportunities available to the Argentine born
generation.
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Later in 1930 oil workers' daughters
were employed as typists and office employees in Y.P.F., but not until
1946 was this true for Astra. In fact, the '40s opened many doors that
were previously shut to women, and they took advantage of positions
as nurses, saleswomen, telephone operators, and clerical/office employees.
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María
Cortés de Simón worked for Y.P.F. as a vendedora
before having children, and narrates her experiences and difficulties
climbing the economic ladder as a woman.
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Interestingly, over
time these occupations, which were once exclusively male, were converted
into "women's work" within a few decades of women's inlcusion into the
salaried workforce. One woman recalls her secretarial days at Astra, and
shows how powerful these changing gender ideologies became:
"Tres mujeres trabajaban acá [en
Astra] en la oficina central...tenía que tener cuidado
cuando llegó un mensaje... No olvidarse nada..Si me fue
muy bien...Y se conoce mucha gente...me parece un trabajo especial
para la mujer. Recepcionista."
Augusta Miehler, Astra, 1-9-03
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"Three women worked here [in Astra] in the central
office..you had to be very careful when taking down a message...you
couldn't forget anything...I really enjoyed it...and I met a lot
of people...To me, it seems to be a job especially for women.
Receptionist."
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In addition to working
for their own empowerment and subsistence later on, many women in
Y.P.F., like Ivanka Petkova de Stancheff, got jobs to supplement the
income of their male relatives.
"I learned how to sew, then I got married. I worked as a
groundskeeper because my husband didn't earn a lot...Then they [Y.P.F.]
gave us housing and I finished, received my certificate for being
a seamstress. I helped a little to my husband." 1-17-01
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the 1940s, then, women living in Y.P.F. and Astra had many more work
opportunities open to them. They also had the education necessary
to pursue them. Elsa B. grew up in Astra during the 1940s and
50s, and was able to attend high school, where her mother was not
able to receive this level of education just a few decades earlier.
She also had the ability to work outside the home as a maid
for the company: |
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"Yo trabajo, empecé a los
treinta años a trabajar acá, limpiando las oficinas
de Astra...el casino de empleados, de la gente que venía jerárquicos
que tenían su casa...Trabajo limpiando las oficinas de acá,
y bueno, hasta ahora este es mi vida."
Elsa Babir, Astra, 1-9-03
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"I started working here
when I was thirty years old, cleaning the offices in Astra, the employee
social hall, and the houses of Astra's administrators. I
clean the offices here, and until now that's been my life."
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For widows, the opportunities
to work were vital. A primary concern for the company due to
the high rate of worker accidents, widows were allowed to work cleaning
public bathrooms after 1922 in Y.P.F. These jobs solved problems
on two fronts: it provided an excuse for the women to remain
in company housing, which was only available to company employees;
and also granted an important domestic service to the company.
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H
owever, their inclusion in such autonomous jobs was followed by much gender
discrimination, and women workers were given far less authority than their
male counterparts. In the case of nursing, for instance, when the
profession was all-male, nurses were allowed to replace the doctor in
his absence, while after 1946, the (mostly all-female) nurses could only
accompany him. In this and many other respects, for the women living
and laboring within these companies, the struggle to have their work valued
equally continued long after they were incorporated into the paid workforce.
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