"RECRUITING for Women's Equality" is the theme of the 68th TUC Women's Conference (Scarborough, 11-13 March).
The many important issues on the agenda include employment and trade rights, the right to strike, provision and quality of childcare and the pay of childcare workers, women and poverty, lone parents, maternity benefits, and black and Asian women.
Women are less likely to have permanent, full time jobs, or to work in workplaces with union recognition. They are more likely to work in small workplaces. This makes it harder to secure individual rights or to benefit from collective bargaining.
It is especially important for women that the Labour Party is not allowed to break its election mandare on union recognition, and that we oppose exemptions to employment rights and union recognition legislation which effectively discriminate against women.
A key resolution calls on the TUC Women's Committee to campaign for employment rights and union recognition for all workers from day one, whatever their hours, length of service or form of contract, or size of workplace. Small workplaces should also not be exempted from the Disability Discrimination Act.
The Critchley Labels dispute (covered elsewhere in this paper) illustrates many of these issues, as well as demonstrating the importance of the right to strike.
A resolution to Conference reaffirms that the freedom to take industrial action is a fundamental civil liberty and calls on the TUC Women's Committee and the General Council to actively oppose any attempt to outlaw or restrict strike action in any sector of the economy.
In the context of current debates Wirral and Liverpool Trades Union Councils invite you to celebrate International Women's Day 1998 on Saturday March 7. MARCH through Birkenhead (meet main gates, Birkenhead Park 12 noon)
Conference 2pm -4.30pm at Wallasey Town Hall, Brighton St, Wallasey. The event is organised to remember both the begining of women's struggles for equality and a more just society and to celebrate achievements and successes gained by millions of women throughout the world. in government circles as to what constitutes a majority of the workforce in relation to union recognition and strike action, we need to insist that this is a majority of those who vote.
The whole question of childcare is a major concern for working women. This was one of the main demands raised by the second wave of the feminist movement in the late 60s and early 70s; indeed, we raised the demand of free 24 hour nurseries.
We should argue for free child care, which is available 24 hours, with the flexibility and variety to give women the choice they need.
This is an area where the government is likely to make changes, but will women get what they need from New Labour?
The range of issues involved is shown by the number of amendments to the childcare resolution moved by the British Orthoptic Society. This welcomes the government's commitment to expanding after schools clubs and calls for the encouragement of other affordable types of childcare to cater for parents with flexible working patterns, such as NHS employees.
One set of amendments calls for 'the development of a national childcare strategy and and for employers to be involved, noting with concern their current lack of support and assistance.
The Community and Youth Workers' Union expresses concern that after school clubs will be staffed as cheaply as possible and by youngsters, particularly young women, on the New Deal, who may be coerced into this option.
Their amendment calls on the TUC to campaign for adequate vetting, training and qualifications, together with appropriate salaries, for childcare workers.
The Musicians Union calls for childcare costs to be a tax deductiWomen's Day in Wirral dispute. TUC on 0151 512 1868. ble expense.
A Fire Brigades Union resolution asserts that women continue to be the section of our society most likely to live their lives in poverty. They are paid less than men, their pensions provision are poorer than those of men.
"Many women face poverty as a result of benefit cuts. Conference therefore calls on the TUC Women's Committee and the General Council to support campaigns which aim to highlight and redress the poverty which persists as a daily reality for millions of women, young and old."
An amendment from the Communication Workers Unioncalls on the TUC to campaign for the reinstatement of lone parent benefits.
Another motion on lone parents, from the TGWU, highlights the consistent opposition of women trade unionists to the scapegoating of lone parents by the Tory government, and the need for the government to support all families in the UK.
But it makes the mistake of welcoming the new government's recognition of lone parents, and also praises the New Deal commitment to help lone parents find work.
This ignores the compulsion, albeit indirect compulsion, involved. Nor do we see this government opposing the continued ideological offensive against lone parents in the media.
In light of the discussion on disability and maternity benefits, and the implication in government statements that it plans to abandon the principle of universal benefits, we must call on the TUC Women's Committee and the General CounBASSA cil to campaign for benefits to remain universal, not means tested.
An USDAW resolution calls on the Women's Committee to continue to lobby the government for a simplified, strengthened and improved system of maternity rights, with a consolidation of all existing law (currently spread over some 22 pieces of legislation). A central demand is that of Statutory Maternity Pay for all women, without minimum pay or service thresholds.
Harriet Harman's absurd comments about there being women who are entitled under present rules to £20,000 a week SMP should not be allowed to obscure the reality of government plans. Most women don't even earn £20,000 ayear, and very few indeed would receive this amount in benefit. To achieve cuts in benefits and keep public spending down as it wishes, the government would need to attack a far wider layer of women. Harman's rhetoric should be exposed for what it is: but we must also fight very hard to keep our rights as working women, as these are clearly under threat.
The First Division Association resolution welcomes the public commitment of the government and the Prime Minister personally to equal treatment for and greater representation of black and Asian people in all areas of government and public sector employment. (Let's hope this pledge survives all those public spending cuts and job. losses).
However, the FDA also notes the * concentration of black and Asian women civil servants in the lowest two grades, and that they still too often face race and sex discriminaTUC must take up a radical, campaigning line, supporting women in struggle ASS BACKTO BASSA tion in recruitment and promotion at all levels.
It calls for the TUC and affiliated unions to press the government for top level commitment and resources to speedily implement government policy to secure real equality for these women.
In keeping with the theme of Recruiting for Equality, each delegate and observer to TUC Women's Conference has been asked to take part in a survey by giving a questionnaire to five women who are not currently union members, in order establish why not - what would the unions have to do to recruit them?
•Completed questionnaires will be discussed in a workshop session one afternoon.
The use of workshops to increase women's involvement and participation in the conference is not a bad idea in principle.
This should not be done, though, at the expense of unions submitting motions and debating policy.
In the last few years the women's conference has lost half a day's discussion of motions and replaced by a "free debate", where delegates could put forward their own ideas, not bound by their union's policy on an issue.
This form did not work: no more people were brought into the discusSON. However if we are going to move away from motion based, policy making conferences, for part of the time, this should be done by adding half a day to the conference, not by taking time away from being able to set policy.
If the Women's Committee is going to make a reality of recruiting for equality, then the whole organisation and organisations are going to have to change and become democratic and fighting organisations that are prepared to stand and commit themselves to struggle to improve the lives of working people.