(Pittsburgh) – The following statement was released today by United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard in recognition of International Women’s Day:
“Violence and harassment have no place in our society, and certainly not at work.
“On this International Women’s Day and every day, we must demand an environment free from abusive behavior and gender-based discrimination.
“As the #MeToo movement has shown, we will not be able to achieve true gender equality until we are able to talk openly about our pervasive and destructive culture of harassment and violence.
“My union has been standing up for equality and fairness for generations. Recently, we reaffirmed our commitment to eradicating gender-based violence and harassment, passing a resolution committing us to the global labor union IndustriAll’s ‘Say No to Violence and Harassment Against Women’ pledge.
“This means we will encourage all our members to actively take a stand when they witness harassment. We will demand that government and employers enact and enforce rules protecting workers, and we will continue to push for safeguards against harassment and workplace violence to be included in our collective bargaining agreements.
“We are now encouraging all our members to take a similar pledge.
“We’re all responsible for fostering safe, open environments and a culture of mutual respect in our workplaces, and we all have a role to play in ending violence and harassment.”
The USW is the largest private sector union in North America, representing workers in a wide range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, plus office, technical and service workers in health care, security, hotels and municipal governments and agencies.