Taking advantage of the participation of a number of affiliates in the 5th UNI Global Congress in Liverpool, the UNI MEI Global Women Group held an informal meeting on Tuesday 29 June.
With representatives from across the world (Argentina, Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philipinnes, Nigeria, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, etc.) the meeting gave us the opportunity to hear about the latest developments affecting the situation of women professionals in our sectors: from urgent concerns in some countries (reawekening of conservative forces, resistance to change, and alarming high levels of gender violence) to important achievements in others (the conditioning of public funding to procedures aimed at guaranteeing safe workplaces, rising equality in representation and salary scales).
All participants agreed that the afterwards of the #metoo movement was a key moment for the future of equality in the work place and in society in general, and that it had to be seized if real progress had to be made in the coming years. Following up on the conclusions and path for actions established during its last meeting in Madrid in March, the UNI MEI Global Women Group will continue its work and looks forward to presenting its actions and recommendations during the forthcoming UNI MEI Executive Committee in Toronto. Members of the Group also warmly welcomed the appointment of Christy Hoffman as the new UNI Global General Secretary and of Alke Boessiger as her Deputy; an inspirational example of strong women unions’ leadership!
