Articles

Women shout out for safer workplaces

ILO is working with women trade unionists to boost awareness of occupational safety issues in the garment industry

Feature | 25 October 2016
“How many safety problems are there in your factory?” calls out the trainer.

“We have 14,” shouts out one group of women, “We have 25,” yells out another.

“Who can help solve them?”

“The union!” booms back the reply.

“The union alone?”

“No. The employers and government need to help too.”


The participants of the training
Women make up the majority of the Bangladesh RMG sector workforce. Yet they often face challenges relating to safety issues while lacking a voice to speak out about them.

Trade unions can play a vital supporting role in this regard. A recent training session held by the ILO’s Improving Working Conditions in the RMG sector programme funded by Canada, the Netherlands and United Kingdom set out to train women trade union members in how to identify and deal with safety issues.

The four-day event brought together 30 women organizers and officials from the National Coordination Council for Worker Education (NCCWE) and IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC).

During the workshop participants discussed and identified issues specific to women’s working conditions and rights protection at the workplace. In addition to Occupational Safety and Health, these covered labour law, labour inspections, gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

The group also sought to develop strategies and work plans for women’s participation and leadership in ensuring safer workplaces for women workers in the RMG sector.

“The most important thing I learned is how to convince workers to join a union as well as the need to develop good relations between workers and employers,” said Nilufa Yesmen Nelu of the Garment Workers Unity League.

“We see many issues in the workplace that affect women. There is a lack of toilets and drinking water, no separate rest rooms for pregnant women and problems with maternity leave or being paid the same as the men.”

“I have learned many things here. This knowledge will help me develop my skills and now I can help others to learn these skills too.”

The training was held in cooperation with the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) and its International Training Centre in Turin.

It formed part of ILO’s activities to create a culture of occupational safety in health in the RMG sector as well as its worker education programme that sets out to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of trade unions.

Mr Tauvik Muhamad, ILO’s Worker Education Expert said, “The majority of workers in the RMG sector are women so it is vital that their voices are heard. These women trade unionists understand the issues women face and can easily interact with their sisters on the factory floor. They can also help to open a dialogue and negotiate collectively with employers to address them. By doing so they will make a major contribution to boosting safety and rights in the workplace.”