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18 December, 2007
ICEM Women’s World Conference Decides on 7-Point Programme
The ICEM Women’s World Conference was held on 17 and 18 November 2007 in Bangkok. Some 150 women from all continents listened to presentations and worked on their priorities in working groups. Women from Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal, Palestine, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe presented their work in crisis situations and the fight for peace. All presentations are available in the original languages from ICEM.
One special highlight was the presence of Hashemiyya Muhsin Hussein, President of the Electricity Workers’ Union for the Basra region, Iraq. In an interview conducted by ITUC she said among other things that, “There is a great deal of women working in this sector. During the war between Iran and Iraq, the men left for the front and so women replaced them on a wide scale, which is why there are so many of them now…
People write slogans on the walls of the markets and other public places against women, against women who work and against women who do not wear the veil. The simple fact of working is dangerous for a woman. But many women have no alternative, because of their financial difficulties. Yes, the fact that I am a woman has made things very difficult as well, but I didn’t want to give up and so I fought for this position, even though I received death threats against myself and even against my son.” Hashemiyya was elected to the ICEM Executive and women’s committee.
One other focus for the conference was work-life balance. The topic was introduced by women representing ICEM affiliates in Japan. Maternity protection was one of the priorities decided on for continuing work.
One example of work in connection with hazardous substances and the dangers they represent for maternity as well as babyproofing the workplace was presented by Margreet Pasman from the Netherlands. FNV Bondgenoten has made folders available on these themes, and they can be accessed from ICEM or Margreet. Gender perspectives on women’s health were presented by Edeltraud Glänzer from Germany, and work on bullying, violence, HIV/AIDS and abortion was explained by sisters from Brazil.
A publication on maternity protection with different case studies from all continents is available in English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish from ICEM.
A session was held and facilitated by Ramona Parra from FITEQA-CCOO, Spain, to have an exchange with women from Europe. The conclusion was that more work has to be done in cooperation between EMCEF and ICEM.
The conclusions from the conference work fed into the 7 points that were decided for ICEM’s future work. The points are as follows:
1. Do research and exchange information on best practices of maternity protection. Information on paternity leave is particularly interesting.
2. Provide information and guides on how to bargain for paternity leave and work-life balance.
3. General work must continue on maternity protection and work-life balance.
4. Strengthen ICEM’s work on informal workers, migrant workers and contract and agency workers, especially since a majority of these tend to be women.
5. Build alliances with NGO’s and civil society in order to change mentalities and expand gender equality.
6. Expand women’s leadership training and broaden women’s leadership.
7. Work will continue on Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Nepal, Palestine, Zimbabwe and all others where fights are on-going for human and trade union rights.
The women’s conference confirmed Evgenia Esenina as chair of the women’s committee and vice-president of ICEM and elected Angeline Chitambo from ZEEWU, Zimbabwe, as vice-chair and ICEM vice-president.
ICEM Congress was held from 22 to 24 November. A record number of women attended the Congress, although some delegations from developed countries were notable in their absence of women delegates. Some examples were very encouraging, however, such as Spain, Sweden, South Africa and Brazil among others. Japan must be lauded for including more women in their Congress delegation each time. Congress passed a motion on women’s participation. The ICEM women’s committee will be monitoring its implementation.
On the last day of Congress Elena Gutiérrez, Sitrapequia Costa Rica, called for a minute of silence in memory of the many thousands of women worldwide who have died as a result of violence. This commemoration took place on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, explained below.
PLEASE FORWARD TO ICEM ANY INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT WITH A HIGH LEVEL OF WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT THAT YOU FEEL SHOULD BE HIGHLIGHTED BY ICEM ON THE OCCASION OF 8 MACH 2008, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY.
ICEM Colombia Committee Organises Gender Workshop
On 18 July the ICEM Colombia Committee organised a workshop on gender in Bogotá with 70 men and women participants. The group worked on the construction of patriarchy and the different attributions associated with women and men as well as maternity and paternity. The participants analysed the theory of gender and discussed socialization, abortion and quotas in government in groups.
There were some prejudices such as the idea that gender only refers to women or that gender divides trade unions or that gender is a distraction from the class struggle. There are differences in concepts between gender, feminism and women’s movements, and it is important to understand these differences.
Some of the men participants felt threatened in their power position. Since the seminar was mixed, men and women together, the women participated less than the men. ICEM Colombia considers this work to be fundamental and women and men must be involved at all levels of debate.
ITUC Seminar on Diversity, Racism and Xenophobia
The ITUC held a seminar on diversity, racism and xenophobia from 4 to 7 December in Geneva. This is a topic that has very strong gender perspectives. Migrant women are generally over-represented in low-skilled employment.
The World Bank reports that women make up about 50% of the migrant population worldwide. The UN calculated in 2006 that about 190 million people live outside their country of origin.
The meeting deplored the fact that racism seems to be on the rise worldwide and that racist policies can be used for electoral gain. ITUC will be developing activities to lead up to the conference in 2009 to follow up the 2001 Conference on racism held in Durban, South Africa.
Resources
Good Practice Guide for Non-Sexist Language in Collective Bargaining (in Spanish)
For an explanation of equality plans in Spain
United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality
For a look at the urban informal economy in UN Habitat
For a publication on Women in the South
Men and equality and work-life balance