Blog: When UNISON wins, women win – today, and every day

Today is International Women’s Day, when across the world we celebrate the achievements of women and call for greater equality. As not only the UK’s biggest union for women, but the largest organisation for women in the UK, it’s a big day for UNISON and our members. Everything that happens in our union begins with our membership – and as I told UNISON Women’s Conference only a few weeks ago, that means it’s the priorities of UNISON women that drive our agenda. I’m so proud of that – because achieving that was a battle that we fought and won together. 25 years ago, when UNISON was formed, we wrote a new rule book which enshrined the role of women in UNISON – leading in UNISON. A majority in our democratic structures at every level are women. The majority of our NEC are women. Four out of five of our Assistant General Secretaries are women. The majority of our Presidential team are women. With a million women in UNISON, we are a union run by women for women – something we all can and should be proud of. On this International Women’s Day, that’s cause for celebration – but it’s also a time to stop, reflect and chart a course to the victories that can and must be won for gender equality. That means taking on sexual harassment – both in society and in the workplace. A recent TUC study showed that more than half of all women – and two thirds of women aged between 18 and 24 – have experienced sexual harassment at work. Of those who experienced sexu...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog News international women's day Source Type: news