From membership to
leadership: advancing
women in trade unions
Dr Jane Pillinger
ETUC workshop, Berlin
28 October 2010
Purpose of the report
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To raise awareness of the value of women in
leadership
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To provide practice tools and guidance,
including examples of different union
approaches
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To assist ETUC, EIF and national confederations
in developing pro-active strategies
Background of the report
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The report draws on:
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8th of March 2010 Survey findings
Discussions and recommendations from ETUC
Conference held in Luxembourg 11-12 March 2010
Previous ETUC work in the field of gender equality
and gender balance
Concrete good practice examples provided by trade
unions and sets this in the wider EU policy context
Policy context: women in
decision-making a priority
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ETUC policies and objectives
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EU social partners’ policies and objectives
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Equality Action Plans, 1999 and 2003
Mid Term Review, 2007
Charter on Gender Mainstreaming, 2007
Framework of Actions on Gender Equality, 2005
EU policies and objectives
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Gender Equality Roadmap (2006-2010)
Strategy for Gender Equality (2010-2015)
Why gender balanced decision
making?
The benefits for trade unions:
 Modern image, in touch with membership
 Representative of the diversity of membership
 Fulfilling economic, social and political objectives
 Gender equality in the wider economy/society
Gender balance enhances:
 Union democracy and union’s external image;
 Enables unions to be dynamic and transformational;
 More holistic approach to decision-making;
 Ensures that the needs of all members are met;
 Changes union culture;
 Provide role models for women;
 Positive impact on recruitment and organising.
Economic and financial crisis: how
women can turn the crisis into an
opportunity
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Worrying trend towards lack of priority for the gender
analysis of policies and downgrading of gender equality
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And yet…gender equality is critical for economic growth
and recovery
 Opinion of European Economic and Social Committee
 Swedish Presidency of the EU: conference conclusions
 European Commission report 2010
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Gender perspective needed in response to the economic
and financial crisis and for how we emerge from the
financial crisis
 Ensure that women are not disproportionally affected by the crisis
 Ensure women are part of the solution
 Make better use of women’s talents and skills for the future
Under-representation of women in
leadership and decision-making
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Politics and economy
 Democratic deficit in politics(1 in 4 of national parliaments; 1 in 3
of European parliament). See EWL 50/50 campaign
 Company boards and in the economy (1 in 3 of managers, 3% of
directors of top quoted company boards; 1 in 10 of company
boards)
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Trade unions
 Women’s membership has sustained trade union membership
levels – in 2010 women were 43.6% of ETUC members
 Persistent low level of women in leadership positions (only a few
female dominated unions have achieved gender balance)
 In ETUC women are 17% of Executive and 13% of Steering
Committee
What are the barriers?
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Union culture values the participation of men and discourages women’s
participation
“Men have their own social networks and unofficial issues are decided before
the start of meetings and decision-making procedures”
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Negative stereotypes work against women’s participation
“We need to have solidarity amongst women. There is an old boys network, and
I hope that we are building one now for women and men that is based on
equality and social justice”
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Negative impact of the economic crisis
“…we need to be cautious as women’s issues are slipping down the agenda”
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Women hold themselves back / confidence
“We have to believe in ourselves as women, this is hard as the prevailing view is
that trade union leaders should be men”
What are the barriers?
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Women hit the glass ceiling
“The glass ceiling is there all the time, its only when we hit it that we really notice
it is there..it is really important that we tackle these problems before we hit the
ceiling”
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Time constraints
“Time is a cultural issue for women”
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Lack of knowledge about union decision-making structures
“Knowledge is the most important thing”
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Young women and men not attracted to union decision-making roles
“We have to promote leadership as a model and sustain it. We need to open
minds for young people in leadership”
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Union structures replicate women’s disadvantaged labour market situation
“We need a paradigm shift about what people can do, what skills are
transferable”
Bringing gender balance to the
centre of trade unions
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Union strategies: perspectives of trade union
leaders
“It is important not to juxtapose
women against men and visaversa. A key issue is how we can
share power in trade unions. To do
this we need Constitutional support
mechanisms in our national and
European structures”
(Carola Fischbach-Pyttle, EPSU
General Secretary
Lessons from the business
community
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Preparing women for leadership
“Women have a love hate
relationship with power, they often
think about abuse of power,
intimidation and excesses of
power…power is the tool to create
the things you want… way to
enable others and power should be
embraced by women” (Mirella
Visser)
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Value of mentoring, developing leadership skills, being
part of networks, voicing ambitions, becoming
invaluable, supporting other women in leadership roles
“Women need to promote themselves
and start acting as leaders before they
get into a leadership position” (Mirella
Visser)
Ten things trade unions can do to
promote gender balance
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Make the arguments for gender balance as a core union priority.
Actively promote gender equality at all levels of the organisation
through gender mainstreaming.
Introduce statutory rule changes on gender balance.
Prepare women from decision-making and leadership roles.
Engage men to build a consensus for gender balance.
Address the image and culture of unions.
Build union organisation so that women’s activism, involvement
decision-making roles exists at all levels of the union.
Ensure that trade union organisations promote gender diversity
through their own internal human resources.
Provide gender disaggregated data.
Take a strategic approach and develop concrete actions plans
to improve gender balance.
Actively promote gender equality /
gender mainstreaming
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Gender mainstreaming policies are central to
addressing the structural barriers to gender
balance
 FGTB Charter on Gender Mainstreaming
 CGIL Social Budget / Gender Budget
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In collective bargaining
 MSZOSZ, Hungary guidelines on gender equality
 LO-Norway guidelines and checklist on gender
mainstreaming in collective bargaining
 OGB Austria gender mainstreaming of collective
bargaining / monitoring of bargaining contracts
 LBAS Latvia guide to gender equality in collective
bargaining
Statutory role changes on gender
balance
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Commitment to gender equality in union Constitutions
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CGT France, statute sets out principle gender equality
ACLVB-CGSL, Belgium, statute “Integrates the principle of gender equality
in its functioning, its internal organisation as well as its awareness raising
activities”
Quotas
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ICTU Ireland, 8 seats for women on Executive
DGB reserved seats for women and equal voting rights
OGB, Austria, quota based on percentage of women at each level of union
UGT, Spain, quota for proportional representation
FGTB/ABVV, Belgium, objective of one-third women or representation that is
proportional to membership
LO-Norway, quota of minimum 40% representation of women
EPSU, gender parity (50-50) in statutory decision-making bodies
EFFAT, ‘gender alternate’ of President / Vice President
GFDT, France ‘double candidature’ system
Prepare women for leadership
roles
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Education and training for women – confidence
building, knowledge of union structures etc.
Mentoring schemes
Networking of women in unions
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Some examples
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ICTU, Ireland: LIFT Programme
UGT, Spain: Women Leaders School
Fenanet Network, Eurocadres
Many thanks!