Women rail workers meet to tackle outsourcing
Twenty delegates from rail unions in 13 countries met at a seminar at the ITF in London, UK, this week to examine the effects of outsourcing on women railway workers and to recommend strategies for organising.
The seminar, the first of its kind, allowed unions to share their experiences of outsourcing and develop new ways of responding to it. It
was held after the ITF's first worldwide women railway workers' meeting, held two years ago, identified how outsourcing, especially in roles such as catering and cleaning, could adversely affect women's recruitment into the industry and their participation in rail unions.
The seminar offered a global overview of changes in rail and reported on how women were being affected by outsourcing. Among the presentations was a joint report by representatives from the All India Railwaymen's Federation and the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) on organising contract workers in the Indian railways and a report from the UK-based National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers on its rail cleaners' campaign.
Delegates recommended tactics such as networking and education, pinpointed options for organising outsourced workers and identified the
need to raise the profile of migrant workers' issues. They also agreed that it was important to take action on precarious employment and for unions to campaign and lobby against outsourcing. In addition they stated that it was vital to work towards amending labour laws to provide outsourced workers with protection and to continue to demand the return of workers to direct employment.
Reporting back from the seminar group work, Monica Hrapkowicz of the Canadian Auto Workers' union, said: "These two days have allowed us to
share experiences and get inspiration from the other participants."
SM Koteeswari of the NFIR, added: "Strong unions need women. Women together can create reality."
http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/5368
Source ITF News Online- 18 November 2010
