This International Women's Day, let's celebrate women striving to transform their unions

Each year International Women's Day causes us to reflect on what has changed for working women since the previous year.  Have their pay and conditions improved?  Are they better represented in unions?  Have things really improved?  And each year it is difficult to appreciate progress as we see that women are still disadvantaged at work and are yet to be adequately represented by trade unions.

That is why it is important to focus on the advances that have been made, although they may be small and not necessarily visible from year to year.  Over the last five years, IMF and its affiliates in Latin America have made particular efforts towards improving women's position in their trade unions.  Some of the people who have been involved in these IMF activities have now been asked whether or not they believe that there has been any resulting change in the culture of their trade unions, whether the focus on improving the representation of women has influenced the way the unions operate and attitudes within the structures.

Why should it be important to consider whether there has been a cultural (or organisational) change?  Because without such a change, progress in recruiting women members and electing them into leadership positions can be extremely fragile.  All it takes is for one elected women leader to leave her position, or a factory employing a majority of women union members to close down, for the status of women within a union to take a backward step.  But where there is genuine cultural change, and unions have adapted their structures and practices to be relevant to women and their needs, then progress towards a better representation of women is sustainable.

Certainly these are subjective questions, which may elicit different responses depending on personal experiences.  Yet it is important to take a step back and consider over a longer timeframe whether progress has been made and if we are on the right track.  When dealing with cultural change, perceptions can be just as important an indicator as information on membership numbers and statistics on the percentage of women in leadership positions.

Responses from those who contributed to the analysis were mixed.  In cases where efforts made at the regional level built on work that had already been done in the unions to increase the number of women in leadership positions, for example, results were generally better. 

Progress was also reported in unions that have recognised the need to appeal to women workers in order to increase union organisation in industries where many women work, for example the export processing zones.  In these cases, women inside the union have been influential in changing attitudes to organising and the need for equality in leadership positions.

However in unions where women have yet to find their voice, there has been little perceivable change in the way the unions operate.  It is clear that women play a vital role in pushing for cultural change within their unions, and if they are not given the chance to make themselves heard, there is very little chance that such unions will become more representative of, or relevant to, women workers.

So this International Women's Day, let's celebrate those women who are striving to transform their unions and helping ensure that future generations of women workers will have the chance to join organisations that recognise gender equality and are capable of responding to their needs.