Women making the changes
Better workplaces for women can happen – but we have to get them involved
Unite’s food, drink and agriculture (FDA) sector is embarking on a brand-new campaign to get more women members involved in their union.
In many FDA workplaces women make up a strong majority – in some cases as much as 70 per cent of the workforce. But women reps in Unite’s sector committees are considerably underrepresented – and Unite is looking to change that.
Beginning with a pilot in the North West region, Unite will host a one- day women’s FDA conference in Liverpool in September and is calling on all FDA women members in the region to take part.
Unite national officer Bev Clarkson explained why the campaign was first conceived. “We have an awful lot of women who work in the sector, but when we look at our national and regional industrial sector committees, they’re very male- dominated,” Bev noted. “There are also specifically designated women’s
seats in our committees, and many of them remain unfilled.”
Bev said it isn’t yet clear why women members aren’t coming forward – but through the campaign she hopes to discover what is holding them back so the union can do all it can to accommodate and encourage them.
“I think a big reason that we don’t have more women on our committees is because women simply aren’t aware of the
opportunities available to them,” Bev said. “Many may also feel that the union’s structures aren’t relevant to them.”
Bev is working with Unite national
women’s officer Alison Spencer- Scragg to really ramp up women’s participation so that they feel heard in the union’s membership structures specifically and in workplaces more generally.
Alison highlighted that this mirrors work across other Unite sectors and why having women involved in Unite
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can make such a major difference to their working conditions.
She gave the example of one workplace where uniforms were changed from jumpers to cardigans after a Unite woman rep represented the workforce on the firm’s uniform committee.
“She told the committee that menopausal women often face big swings in body temperature,” Alison said. “Having to take on and off a jumper throughout the day is inconvenient.
“Sometimes it’s little things like this that can make a huge difference. But unless women are involved, you can’t make representations to companies to change.”
Bev added, “Above all, our campaign is a listening exercise. We want to hear our lay women members’ views. We want them to tell us what they want – we’re listening, but the only way we can listen is if they join us and take part.”
Mark Thomas
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