News

UNI Equal Opportunities presence at the 57^th UN Commission on the Status of Women (57 session) which was held in New York from 4 -15 March 2013, was a great success.

More than 150 volunteers from the USA affiliates (APWU, CWA, NALC and UFCW), helped UNI by attending parallel events, asking questions, intervening in meetings, interviewing other attendees, blogging or tweeting. They helped UNI have a stronger voice inside and outside most of the events that took place during the two weeks the conferences took place.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Furthermore as a way to mark International Women’s Day union women led, without being deterred by the snow and the cold, an International Women’s Day march from the UN, with CWA sisters leading the chanting and hundreds of women wearing the red UNI vests kindly donated by the APWU.

A SUCCESS



Although there have been persistent attempts by some States to derail the democratic process of consensus-building and to use words that stepped back from previous conventions, the effort of hundreds of women union workers made it possible for the UNCSW to adopt a paragraph that gives unions legitimate stakeholder rights in addressing discrimination, exploitation and violence in the workplace.



· Take measures to ensure that all workplaces are free from discrimination and exploitation, violence, and sexual harassment and bullying, and that they address discrimination and violence against women, and girls as appropriate, through measures such as regulatory and oversight frameworks and reforms, collective agreements, codes of conduct, including appropriate disciplinary measures, protocols and procedures, referral of cases of violence to health services for treatment and police for investigation; as well as through awareness-raising and capacity-building, in collaboration with employers, unions and workers, including workplace services and flexibility for victims and survivors.

FUTURE WORK

Getting this agreement was a real team effort – and now we must work together to make the agreement into a reality in all our workplaces.

Furthermore, it was agreed that the ITUC and the Global Unions will run a month of action leading up to 25th November, the International Day for the elimination of violence against women, in which different activities will be carried out to raise awareness on this issue.