International Women’s Day

We stand on the shouldersof our grandmothers – andnever more so than whenlooking back on our achievements as womenand organised workers.

Celebrating our achievements Highlighting our struggles

Voicing our demands

March 8th

Unite’s Charter forWomen was adoptedin 2012 and pointsout that

Unite women in the Ireland Region also participate in the Congress events heldaround IWD, enablingus to celebrate this important day with our sisters in the other unions. Members also get involved in events organised by other civil society groups in their local areas.

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CChhaarrtteerr ffoorr WWoommeenn

AAtt wwoorrkk

FFoorr uuss tthhee pprriiccee ooff pprrooggrreessss iiss eetteerrnnaall vviiggiillaannccee ––

wwee mmuusstt eennssuurree tthhaatt wwoommeenn’’ss ddeemmaannddss

aarree hheeaarrdd aanndd aacctteedd oonn..

IInn tthhee llaabboouurr mmoovveemmeenntt

• Highlight the feminisation of po

verty and campaign to

reverse cuts in welfare state an

d public services.

• Expose the ideologies tha

t are used to perpetuate

women’s inequality (for example, the notio

n of ‘family

values’ and the ‘family wage’).

• Draw attention to the role of the

media and other cul-

tural agencies in shaping gen

der identities that reinforce

the unequal relationships b

etween men and women.

• Campaign for greater support fo

r lone mothers, carers

and women subjected to domestic and othe

r violence.

• End the oppression of Les

bian, Bisexual and Trans

women.

• Improve access and rights to a

bortion.

• Ensure that women and girls a

re entitled to the full

range of free and high qual

ity educational provision

(from nursery to university) and s

ubject choice.

• End women pensioner poverty by pa

ying men and

women equal State Pensions and

restoring the link to

average earnings or prices,

whichever is the higher.

• Tackle the under-represen

tation of women in the

labour and trade union movement structures

by

proportionality and other m

easures.

• Ensure the accountability o

f women’s structures to

women.

• Maintain and extend women’s committees, women’s

courses and other measures to ens

ure that women’s

issues/concerns are collective

ly articulated and actioned.

• Campaign to raise the profile of

the TUC, STUC and

Welsh TUC’s women’s conferences as the ‘parl

iaments

of working women’.

• Campaign to end institutional a

nd other forms of

racism and ensure that the status a

nd pay of black

women workers is a bargaining priorit

y.

• Campaign to reduce the gender

pay gap and

highlight its causes.

• End job segregation by im

proving training and

opportunities for women.

• Ensure that unions fight m

ore equal value claims.

• Campaign to change equal pay

law to permit

‘class action’ (group claims) and remove employer

‘get out’ clauses.

• Campaign to raise the level of n

ational minimum

wage to at least half, and risi

ng to at least two-thirds

of male median earnings.

• Demand statutory pay audits.

• Equalise opportunities and

improve conditions for

women workers.

• Demand full-time right for part time workers.

• Root out bullying and sex

ual harassment.

• End casualisation and esp

ecially zero hours contracts.

• Reduce job segregation b

y providing training

opportunities for women in non-trad

itional areas.

• Campaign for affordable child ca

re including

pre-, after-school and holida

y provision.

• Campaign for a shorter working week for all.

• Improve maternity leave and pay, inclu

ding paid

paternity leave.

• Campaign for a change in the qu

alification criteria in

the Industrial Injuries/Disabi

lity Benefit scheme, to end

discrimination against women and in part

icular to

extend the list of disorders i

n the prescribed disease

schedules.

ES/3266/10-10

IInn ssoocciieettyy

This Charter is supported by Unite,

TUC Women’s Conference and individual unions men

Unite Charter for Women at the Workplace, in the wider community, in the union

Unite4Women Pay up! Link up! Speak up!

the price of progress is eternal vigilance – we must ensure that women’s demands are heard and acted upon.

“ ”

UNITEing on International Women’s Day

In 2014, thousands of women from the island ofIreland again had to travel to England in order toavail of abortion services not available in eitherthe Republic or Northern Ireland. Unite continuesto campaign for abortion rights, and in theRepublic we are part of the Trade Union Campaignto Repeal the Eighth Amendment.

On March 8th 1908,women in New Yorkheld a mass meetingto demand the voteand an 8-hour working day.

Their recognition – that economic rightsand political rights are inextricably linked – continues to be reflected in the struggles waged bytrade unionists andfeminists.

March 8th was declared InternationalWomen’s Day by the United Nations in1975, but the idea of an internationalday of women’s solidarity goes back to 1910, when women from fourteencountries meeting in Copenhagen hearda proposal from German socialist and

feminist Clara Zetkinthat an annual InternationalWomen’s Day be heldin each country, allowing women tovoice local as well as general demands.

By the 1980s, March 8th – International Women’s Day – had become a fixture in the Irish trade unioncalendar and has been used to highlightissues of particular concern to women.These range from the gender pay gap tothe lack of accessible and affordablechildcare, as well as many other issuesaffecting women in the 21st century.

Clara Zetkin in the 1920s

To coincide with InternationalWomen’s Day 2014, Unite issueda short document – Poverty is aFeminist Issue – looking at deprivationand poverty levels among women North and South.

For the second year running, in 2014 Unite took the 16 Day Campaign forthe Elimination of Violence Against Women into workplaces and branchesthroughout the island of Ireland. The Irish Executive Committee is picturedin front of the Region’s ‘White Ribbon’ banner.