Deputy General Secretary Fiona Steele represented Aegis the Union at the Women’s Council of the Isles following last year’s collective bid to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace.
The annual event is attended by the Women’s Committees (WC) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Scottish TUC (STUC), Welsh TUC (WTUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the ICTU of Northern Ireland. This year it was hosted in Llandudno by our Welsh union colleagues and attended by over 60 women.
Fiona was the first presenter to take to the stage, giving an overview of the work the STUC Women’s Committee has been doing in the past 12 months.
She said: “Our primary focus over the past year has been to treat sexual harassment as a health and safety issue, to build allies, particularly among men, and provide education about the issue in the workplace.
“Preventing and tackling sexual harassment must be on all our agendas. We chose this theme because together we can make the real difference required for women in our workplaces and in our movement too.
“The world of work and our streets are still not safe for women. We should not stop until they are. Let’s work together to build upon our work, knowledge and determination to tackle sexual harassment wherever and whenever it occurs.”
Earlier this year, the Wales TUC launched a toolkit on tackling sexual harassment in the workplace. You can download it here
The second area covered at the event was care, which is a huge topic in each of nations.
Some of the statistics around unpaid care in the UK are staggering, the majority of which is provided by women.
There are around 1 ½ million women who are out of the labour market due to caring responsibilities and they provide 23.7 billion hours of free care in the UK, yet a carers’ allowance is only £76.55 a week.
As a group we looked at why women as carers is a trade union and workplace issue and considered what a campaign around this subject might look like.
The day’s proceedings culminated on the topic of Women and Leadership, discussing how we can empower women and better support them into leadership roles.
The second day of the event started with an introduction to participants of the first Wales TUC Black Activist Development Programme, designed for people interested in supporting others in the workplace who experience racial harassment and discrimination, as well as those that want to progress in their unions.
Members of the programme shared their experiences of racial harassment and spoke about the difference that the programme has made to their lives.
Attendees then broke into small groups to discuss actions to be taken away from the event.
Fiona added: “It is so important for us to participate at events like this, so that we can work together countrywide to tackle important workplace issues and strive for better experiences for all.”
