Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary Elect said: “Women have been involved in defending and promoting working class interests throughout the history of our movement. Organising and campaigning for workers interests has been tough enough over the last 150 years, but as if that wasn’t enough, women trade unionists have had to struggle within our movement to have their voices heard and to have their issues taken seriously.
“Women and the struggles of women workers need to be at the centre of our movement. Trade unions need women members just as much as women workers need unions. Historically women workers have kept the movement on its toes, they have kept the movement real, they have challenged the union movement when we have got things wrong and they have held the movement to account when they have been told nothing can be changed.
“Over the years I have heard many women in Usdaw talk about how being active in the union has changed them and changed their lives for the better. Many women active in Usdaw have described how union activism has made them more confident, more assertive, better informed and more knowledgeable.
“So, I am determined that our union will continue to be a welcoming and open space for its women members, just as it needs to be for all groups of under-represented members, be they Black and Asian members, young workers, LGBT members, disabled workers.
“To reach out to women workers we have to take up the issues that matter to women, we have to give women space to organise in the Union, to come together to identify the issues that matter and we have to ensure that women’s issues are seen as trade union issues.
“As General Secretary, I will be committed to the Union continuing to champion issues affecting women members. Our Union is attempting to take up the issues that matter to women like never before. Issues such as: Sexual harassment; the menopause, juggling work and family life; issues facing older women ; violence against women, and safe journeys to work. By doing this we want to prove to women members that the Union understands the reality of their daily lives.
“There is still work to do. Barriers remain to women’s greater participation in unions, to name but a few: Branch meetings in the evenings; jargon and the way meetings are run; women’s issues being treated as personal problems rather than trade union issues; hostility to women getting together in unions; sexism and remarks that put women down when they speak up in unions. Women need to see other women visible throughout the Union because this sends a clear signal that the Union is open and welcoming to women at all levels.
“I am proud of the work that Usdaw is doing to reach out to women. I look around the Union and I see the way that women have transformed the union. Issues like mental health and juggling work with caring responsibilities are now part of our DNA. Our reps, men as well as women, are switched on to the issues that matter to women members.
“As a union one of our great strengths is that we are rooted in the reality of our members’ lives. Women members within Usdaw have made sure that the issues that matter to them in their daily lives are at the heart of what we do as a union. I am determined and committed to ensure this continues when I take up the role as General Secretary.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion