Union leaders from Latin America discuss how to stop gender-based violence
Armelle Seby, Gender Director of IndustriALL Global Union, spoke about IndustriALL’s campaign to end gender-based violence, explaining that the campaign recognizes that no other union goal – such as decent work, secure jobs and equal pay – can be achieved without first an end to gender-based violence.
She added that ensuring the commitment and support of male union leaders is an essential part of the campaign:
“We need the support of both male and female leaders if we are to end gender-based violence. ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment came about in large part because of the remarkable leadership and vision of women trade union leaders around the world.
“But men also have a key role to play as agents of change. They can help change patriarchal systems and ensure relevant union policies and strategies are adopted. With our campaign, we must continue to build on the inspiring examples of women and men working to end gender-based violence.”
Laura Carter, IndustriALL Deputy Regional Secretary and Regional Gender Equality Officer, said IndustriALL also ran a series of regional workshops on gender-based violence as part of the campaign.
“The goal is for workshop participants to become vectors of change in their organizations and workplaces, and for them to help develop strategies to end gender-based violence in their unions. So far we have trained 90 workers, including 20 men, in the region,”
Carter said.
Union leaders shared their experiences of successful union initiatives and discussed strategies to end gender-based violence at work and within the union movement.
For example, they heard from Jayson Little, USW Canada, who attended a union training program called “Be more than a bystander,” which taught men what to do if they witnessed gender-based violence.
Marta Zaldaña, who works in the textile sector in El Salvador, shared her experience of harassment and how she reported it to her union. She said unions used to not know what to do in such cases, but now they have updated their regulations, developed policies and started providing training on how to respond to stop violence and harassment within unions.
Igor Díaz from the Colombian mining sector spoke about various cases of harassment in his company. In these cases the union had intervened; it had also reformed its regulations and now had a women’s department to deal with these issues.
Christine Olivier, Deputy General Secretary of IndustriALL said:
“Fighting inequality and gender-based violence is a fundamental part of our work and as a global union, IndustriALL has a responsibility to take action.
“We must do more than simply condemn such violence — we must use every means at our disposal. In our workplaces, communities and unions, we all need to protect women’s rights, take action and be part of the fight. In 2017 we made a commitment to fight gender-based violence – now we must implement the action plan to achieve this.”