Post on 05-Jan-2016
Women and Decision making in Trade Unions
David Joyce
Congress Equality Officer
Tipping the balance..?
• Total membership: 812,848
• Of whom 414,719 are female
• i.e. 51%
Equality Audit
• first equality audit with a major focus on gender.
• Out of a total of 52 unions, 18 unions responded to the survey.
• 82% of the total trade union membership on the island
• 12 public sector unions, • 3 private sector unions• 5 unions that cover both the public and
private sectors.
Equality Audit 1
Union Employment
0102030405060708090
GS AGS Officials Admin
Level
Per
cen
tag
e
male
female
Equality Audit 2
Union Activity
0102030405060708090
Presid
ent
VP
NE Offic
er
NE Mem
berRC O
fficer
RC Mem
ber
BC Offic
er
BC Mem
ber SS HS
Other
Total
Male
Female
Equality Audit 3
Union Policies
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Equality Policy Positive Action DisabilityPolicy
FlexibleWorking
Yes
No
ETUC
• ETUC represents more than 60 million workers across Europe, just over 40% of whom are women.
• Actions to promote gender equality and gender mainstreaming • Since 1993 a series of detailed, in-depth studies on the position
and representativeness of women in trade union structures, in order to:– have an overview of the situation across its membership; – appreciate the specificities that exist within the various trade union
structures and across different countries; – understand the many obstacles that are in place and prevent
women accessing their rightful place in trade unions. – Most importantly, these studies have helped ETUC to identify
strategies and solutions to improve the situation.
ETUC Survey Results
• 22 confederations that reported a rise in their female membership, half of them experienced a general reduction in their respective trade union membership levels since 2008
• of the 14 confederations that reported a fall in their trade union membership since 2008 only 3 of them also reported a decrease in their female membership. (attracting more women to their ranks is playing a crucial role in maintaining trade union growth).
• Trade union leadership, still considerably low in most of the trade union high level positions surveyed (presidency, vice-presidency, secretary general, deputy secretary general) and very little progress
ETUC Survey 2
• trend of an increasing number of female workers joining the trade union ranks, reiterates the importance for unions to put in place specific measures to address women’s underrepresentation at decision-making levels.
• point to the need for a continued focus on gender equality within the movement and the importance of building upon the past achievements.
From membership to leadership: advancing women in trade unions
• project throughout 2010 has made a strong case for a renewed and strategic approach to achieving gender balance in decision-making and leadership structures, as a basis for union democracy and for realising gender equality at societal, economic and political levels.
• resource guide published to spread good practice cases and to support affiliates’ efforts to achieve gender balance (see: http://www.etuc.org/r/1368 )
ETUC 10 point plan
• 1. Make the argument for gender balance as a core union priority.
• 2. Actively promote gender equality at all levels of the organisation through gender mainstreaming.
• 3. Introduce statutory rule changes on gender balance.
• 4. Prepare women for decision-making and leadership roles.
• 5. Engage men to build a consensus for balanced gender representation.
ETUC 10 point plan
• 6. Address the image and culture of unions.
• 7. Build union organisation so that women’s activism, involvement decision-making roles exists at all levels of the union.
• 8. Ensure that trade union organisations promote gender diversity through their own internal human resources.
• 9. Provide gender disaggregated data.
• 10. Take a strategic approach and develop concrete actions plans to improve gender balance, including
Upcoming Events
• March 4/5th National Women’s Seminar
• March 8th – International Women’s Day link up with Palestinian Women