BY JENNIE WALSH
ANGE NEVER M ABOVE
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already having an impact on parliament’s green benches.
“Unite is actively helping and supporting women members to stand as councillors, MPs and for other positions in public life,” Siobhan explains.
“Through the programme we’ve seen the election of Marsha de Cordova, Kate Osamor and Laura Pidcock – all former members of Unite’s equalities committees – to Parliament, so our work in encouraging women members to engage politically is already seeing progress. Power comes through who you take with you, which is why women’s leadership is key to Unite’s work.”
To this end, the annual Unite Women’s National Week includes a leadership course for women who want to build on their union involvement.
Unite has also put its equality agenda centre stage politically through the Labour party. All Unite’s equality policies were in Labour’s radical 2017 manifesto, including a commitment to give statutory rights for union equality reps, meaning they will finally have the time to protect workers.
Workers such as the predominantly women members in the hospitality sector, who Unite surveyed as part of the #notonthemenu campaign.
Some 93 per cent of respondents said they had experienced harassment first hand. This campaign links directly to Unite’s work with a number of international trade union federations, including the IUF
25 uniteWORKS Spring 2018
which brings together food, farm and hotel workers worldwide, and is making a real difference to women workers across the globe.
Unite is also working with the International Transport Workers Federation in developing a common negotiating position with employers on violence against women transport workers, and with European transport workers on a training package for the workplace with women from unions in Bulgaria, France and the Netherlands. And internationally, with the global TUC, Unite is campaigning for a strong new international ILO (International Labour Organisation) standard on violence and harassment in the world of work.
And staying on the international stage, Siobhan raises the Brexit process.
“Where are working women’s voices on Brexit? What will be the impact of Brexit on women’s jobs? What sort of trade deals do we want? Will they involve equality impact assessments?”
“These are difficult, divisive and dangerous times across our world. Now is the time to celebrate the achievements of Unite women and all trade union women,” believes Diana Holland.
“From the early Ascott Martyrs who won the right to picket and the women chainmakers who achieved the first minimum wage, to the Ford machinists and speech therapists who transformed our equal pay rights, and the migrant domestic workers who won rights in place of slavery - nothing handed to us on a plate, all won through struggle.
“International Women’s Day (March 8) is our day to celebrate and to join with women hotel workers and others campaigning against sexual harassment. In the words of women 100 years ago, we must
‘right these
wrongs’ and in the words of today we must continue the struggle ‘for the many not the few.’”
Mark Thomas
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