“I’ll get that Sir”. Women railway workers’ agencies in rail workshops San Cristóbal, Santa Fe, Argentina

Abstract

In this article we will make reflections upon the existence of female railway workers’ world in San Cristóbal Santa Fe, Argentina, in the second half of the 20th century. The presence of railway reparation workshops in San Cristobal city transformed this place into a strong socioeconomic structure within the regional railway development until its closure in the 90s. In this sense, we will question the relationship among the railway labour and masculinity with the presence of female workers in the administration of workshops. Basing ourselves in the study of their employee files and in the analysis of oral testimonies, we will discuss, from a gender perspective, the configurations of railway employment, the ways in which railway activities were selected depending on the sexes, and the roles assigned to women workers both in the workplace and in domestic spaces. Our awareness of women railway workers in San Cristóbal allowed us, from a social-historical point of view, to problematize the working conditions in male-dominated spaces in this field and to consider the accepted models for men and women within the railway community and how they are legitimized in this city.