November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and a good time to remind everyone to take the pledge committing our union to doing its part to helping our sisters at work.
Sexual violence and harassment at work constitutes a serious human rights violation, and women represent the vast majority of the victims. It affects all jobs and sectors.
IndustriALL has been running its campaign to address violence against women in IndustriALL sectors for almost one year, and the USW is among the world's union's that has signed the pledge. We are calling on all our members and others to join us.
The pledge states we are committing to:
- To take a public stand against all forms of violence and harassment against women and to condemn all attitudes and actions that perpetuate sexism and violence
- To take up the issue as a priority in our union and to allocate the necessary resources for activities aimed at preventing and combatting this violation of women’s rights
- To foster a culture of respect for women within our union by raising the awareness of our members, staff and officials and providing education on the importance of eradicating violence and harassment in the workplace and in our union
- To encourage our members to actively take a stand against violence and harassment against women, especially in their own workplaces
- To organize campaigns aimed at preventing and combating violence against women
- To demand that governments enact and enforce laws to protect women from violenceď‚· to demand that employers develop policies against all forms of violence and harassment at work, and promote awareness among their employees on the devastating impacts of violence against women and the importance of eradicating it
- To demand that employers develop concrete policies and procedures to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women in their premises and supply chains, and establish safe mechanisms for women to turn to if they are assaulted or attacked at work
- To include demands for the eradication of violence and harassment against women and all workers in our collective bargaining claims*
*Please contact your USW staff representative who will work with the USW Human and Civil Rights Department to provide sample contract language for your collective bargaining agreement.