WOMEN’S

ISSUES

PapiRNG Re”

PHOTO COURTESY CHERYL COX - LOCAL 1-207

= At the opening ceremony head table were I. to r. Angie Schira of the B.C. Fed, IWA president Dave Haggard,
the OFL’s Ethel Birkett-Lavalley, Local 500’s Mary Lou Scott, Local 2171’s Brenda Wagg, Local 2995’s Louise
Dionne and Local 1000’s Martha Ulch. Sisters Scott, Wagg and Ulch are on the national women’s committee.

A high level of interest

IWA National Women’s Conference works
to assist Sisters in making progressive change

IWA CANADA WOMEN from across
the country assembled in North Bay,
Ontario between June 19 - 22 to take
part in the third annual National
Women’s Educational Conference.
Fifty-six women from seventeen
IWA locals met to participate in work-
shops, discussions, a plenary session

and social events. The delegates also
elected a new IWA National Women’s

Committee for a two-year term.

“Tt was a very good conference,”
says Brenda Wagg, who was re-elected
as the committee chairperson. “We
saw women motivated to make
change within our organization and
society and heard from some motiva-
tional speakers to help us get there.”

National IWA president Dave
Haggard opened with remarks wel-
coming the delegates, and congratu-
lated women on the actions and
progress they have been taking in the
union before and since the National
Women’s Committee was founded by
convention action in 2000. He said
the union was proud of IWA women
and the progress they have made at
the local union level and on the
national scene.

Other opening speakers included
Sister Ethel Birkett-Lavallet, a vice-
president of the OFL and First
Nations representative on the
Canadian Labour Congress’ Executive
Council and Sister Angela Schira, sec-
retary-treasurer of the B.C. Federation
of Labour.

The Sisters related their personal
experiences as they became active in
their own unions and federations.

On the first full day of activities,
three workshops were held: Effective
Speaking, co-instructed by Local 500’s
Mary Lou Scott and Local 2693's
Diane Vienneau; Assertiveness
Training, co-instructed by Local
2995's Louise Dionne and Local 1-
424’s Bonnie Armstrong and
Motivating the Members, instructed
by Sister Wagg.

On the second full-day of work-
shops, there were repeats of the
Assertiveness Training Courses and
Effective Speaking, and the addition
of a session on Harassment and
Discrimination, instructed by
Winnie Ng, Education Director from
the CLC’s Ontario office.

“The workshops were enthusiasti-
cally attended,” says Sister Wagg.
“There was a high level of participa-
tion and more women become more
relaxed to share and discuss impor-
tant issues as the conference pro-
gressed.” About one-third of the del-
egates were first-time registrants.

Since the annual conferences
began in 2001, more and more
women are stepping forward into
leadership roles at their workplaces,
at the local union level and in their
communities. “We’ve seen women
build confidence and turn ideas into
action,” says Wagg, who notes that
this year’s conference theme Taking
Responsibility, is front and centre on
people minds.

“Women, and for that matter the
men in our union are tired of being
victims in the workplace and in soci-
ety,” says Sister Wagg. “We all com-
plain about the changes that are nec-
essary but more and more of us are
stepping forward to take responsibil-
ity to affect change — whether it be
fighting for our fellow workers’
rights on the job, trying to save the
Medicare system, struggling for Day
Care, opposing the increasing use of
child labour, talking to our friends
and neighbours about social and eco-
nomic justice issues and so forth.”

To step forward and take action,
women workers in the IWA are
building upon their repertoire of
skills, awareness and confidence
builders. Learning public speaking
skills and how to effectively commu-
nicate and motivate can help workers
spur other workers into action.

One of the highlights of the con-

ference for the national women’s
committee was a meeting with
women liaison members from local
unions.

“Communication is vital and the
liaisons are going to be able to help us
clean-up and pick-up in the area of
communication. We were able to
hammer a lot of outstanding issues
out among ourselves,” comments
Sister Wagg. “In fact, before next
year’s women’s conference it was
suggested that we circulate, to the
liaisons ahead of time, information
packages on the conference with
descriptions of workshops and on the
location that we will be meeting in.”

On the final day’s plenary session,
the participants broke into groups to
discuss barriers to participation for
women. Issues were discussed and
recommendations were made to be
taken to the Women’s Committee
over the next year, to IWA national
officers, to the national executive
board and for local unions, to be pos-
sibly put into resolution form.

“Our women are developing com-
mon visions for how we can over-
come barriers to participation — some
of us face barriers in our personal
lives, others at their sub-local and
local union levels, and others face
societal barriers that can be broken
down over time. Getting past barriers
serves our participants well and our
union well.”

Hosted by the national union, the
conference was generously assisted
by Local 1000 which coordinated
much of the work in securing the
Best Western Hotel, and providing
many of the door prizes. Thanks to
Local 2995 assisting financially and
donating gifts and breakfast on the
Sunday. Special thanks goes to Local
1000 president Mike McCarter and
his local union and national vp Joe da
Costa who re-designed the IWA
women’s logo and all locals who
donated door prizes.

PHOTO COURTESY DOROTHY

= L. tor. are Sisters Wagg, Ulch,
Terry, Williams, Armstrong, Scott.

Women’s committee elected

to two-year term of activities

At this year’s National Women’s
Education Conference in North Bay,
Ontario (see story left) delegates
elected a new National Women’s
committee for the next two years.
Those filling the positions are as fol-
lows: Local 2171's Brenda Wagg,
chairperson; Local 500’s Mary Lou
Scott, first vice chair; Local 1000's
Martha Ulch, second vice; Local 1-
424's Bonnie Armstrong, third vice;
Local 1-3567’s Cheryl Williams,
fourth vice and Local 1-423’s Lenette
Terry, committee secretary. The
committee is recognized in the |WA
Canada national constitution.

PHOTO COURTESY DOROTHY BRODERICK - LOCAL 2693

= CLC’s Winnie Ng (I.) conducted
discrimination workshop.

One in ten working women

have disabilities in Canada
Statistics in Canada show that about
one in ten working-age women have
a disability and about 3 per cent of
women in the same category have
experienced severe or very severe
activity limitations, according to the
Canadian Labour Congress. It is also
estimated that more than 1 in 6
women workers between age 45 and
64 have some form of disability,
partly due to age related health
risks. High levels of long-term dis-
ease and mental illness among older
workers are caused by the increas-
ing levels of workplace stress and
workloads. According to the CLC,
more than 50 per cent of of those
who have disabilities experience the
disabilty long-term. More than that
have temporary disabilities related
to workplace injuries or conditions.
Women with disabilities, according
to 1998 statistics, were paid about
$2.80 per hour less in the age group
of between 35 and 49 years. And
they brought home less than their
male counterparts in the same cate-
gory. The CLC says that probably
because public and social service
sectors are more likely to hire
women with disabilities, the percent-
age of those finding full-time work
under unionized conditions is the
same as the the general workforce.
But inadequate income support pro-
grams and low earnings make
women with extreme disabilities
more likely to undergo a high risk of
poverty in the country.

AUGUST 2003 THE ALLIED WORKER ] 13