Strong CWU sisters take our fighting spirit to the TUC
Equalities March 4 2020
“With our own members balloting for action and other unions already striking, it’s great to be here with our trade union sisters right across our great movement,” said CWU head of equality, education & development Kate Hudson outside Congress House in central London this morning.
TUC Women’s Conference 2020 opened today and, as always, our CWU women are there in strength, adding our union’s loud and proud voice to this great annual event.
“We’ve already been speaking with our comrades from the UCU, who are on strike in many of our universities, and there’s talk of a collective visit to their nearest picket line tomorrow,” reported Kate.
In terms of the conference business, there are two – and potentially three – CWU motions on the agenda pad.
“We’re moving a proposal on the New Deal for Women Workers, as well as another one calling for workplace audits of companies’ MEM (menopause, endometriosis and menstruation) policies,” our equality, education & development officer said.
The MEM motion calls for improvements to MEM rights where needed and a demand for fair procedures to be introduced where they don’t yet exist, she explained.
“And our New Deal proposition is of course inspired by our union’s longstanding campaign – but this motion has a distinctly female perspective and we’re hoping for the whole movement will get behind it.”
Our NEC women’s representative Jean Sharrocks is moving the New Deal for Women Workers motion, and she also explained the details of our potential third CWU-sponsored motion, an emergency motion relating to the shocking treatment of a young English rape complainant in Cyprus.
The 19-year-old Derbyshire woman was given a suspended sentence in January by a Cypriot court, after being outrageously accused of ‘mischief-making‘ with her rape allegation, but her legal team are appealing the conviction.
In a case which has provoked fury both here and in Cyprus, local campaigners joined her family, friends and British supporters in protests outside the hearing.
“This was an absolutely disgraceful action by the police and prosecutors over there and we need to keep up the pressure for this appalling judgement to be overturned,” said Jean, adding that the CWU delegation “sincerely hopes” that our emergency motion on the issue is given conference time.
“It’s great to be here, meeting with, discussing and organising with our trade union sisters and comrades,” our NEC women’s representative continued.
“With our UCU and RMT colleagues in dispute, our own Royal Mail members balloting for action, and the bad situation for our members in BT Enterprise, now more than ever we need the maximum unity of all workers.”
- TUC Women’s Conference 2020 opened today and concludes on Friday afternoon