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The course was inaugurated by Christy Hoffman, Deputy General Secretary of UNI, who shared her personal story on what motivated her to fight for working people. Hoffman said that the right to organize without fear is central to women’s equality, and that a union voice is essential in the fight against women discrimination, in countless ways, big and small.



As the negative image of trade unions is slowly being phased out by the success of UNI Apro’s industrial partnership approach, Christopher Ng, UNI Apro Regional Secretary is confident that the positive partnership approach will help remove fear of joining unions, and increase women’s participation.



UNI Global Union is very active in advocating our Equality campaigns to strengthen women’s voices worldwide. It also sets out to achieve at least 40% women representation at all levels.



“We live in a globalized, inter-connected, and dependent era. What happens in India will inevitably affect people in other countries. That is why the Global Union movement is important, now more than ever,” said Yoko Ogawa, Director for UNI Apro Women’s Activities.



Participants readily identified reasons for having fewer women leaders in unions, and brainstormed solutions to motivate women to take up leadership positions. There was also an interesting session on “Changing Attitude” and “Secret of Success”by Sonal Khanolkar, Media Consultant.



As someone who was personally empowered by UNI Apro, Anjali Bedekar, one of the resource person for the course, thanked UNI Apro for hosting the platform for women from various sectors to come together to share their concerns, learn from their good practices, foster a sense of unity among working women, and help each other regardless of their sectors. Anjali is one of the top leaders in her union and was the first ever President of UNI Apro Women Committee elected from South Asia.



Sharada Bangera, a member of UNI Apro Women Committee and an organizer of this course, encouraged participants to approach their General Secretaries for support to initiate small women’s meetings during lunch breaks back at work so that they can pass on what they learnt to other women colleagues.



It is important to maintain the women’s network in India. UNI Apro welcomes all women workers to join the network, to communication often - through e-mail or other means – and sometimes to have small meetings to keep this group alive.



Everyone agreed that it was important to motivate and stir interest through regular contacts and networking. This will foster greater trust and unity among women workers represented in trade unions.



UNI’s message is clear - “All women from UNI family are behind your struggle in India. You are not alone!”







Christy Hoffman shares her experiences and motivations





Women participants expressing their unity





Breaking into groups to discuss and find solutions to problems that women face



For more pictures, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/uniglobalunion/sets/72157631420506606/