WOMEN'S CHARTER:EQUALITY FOR women has been shown to be an economically superior way of running society, Siptu president Jack O'Connor said yesterday when he committed the State's largest trade union to achieving greater equality for women within its own structures.
Speaking at the publication of a “Charter for Women’s Equality” yesterday, Mr O’Connor said the trade union movement has fought for gender equality in the workplace and must also strive for such equality within its own organisation.
“Equality is not just morally superior but it is increasingly evident that it is economically and socially superior too. All of us who aspire to the elimination of inequality must insist on the empirical evidence, which is becoming increasingly abundant, to show the economic as well as the moral superiority of equality.”
He said the charter, devised by the National Women’s Council of Ireland, presented his union with challenges too.
“For us to meet some of the aspirations would require us to significantly change our organisation, to reallocate some resources. It would be hypocritical not to highlight the extent of the challenge it presents.”
He said one change already made was in 2008, when it was decided that the officers board of the union must include both men and women. Until 2008 it had only male members. The first national officer to sit on the board was Patricia King.
“It was a difficult thing to achieve and there was resistance to it, from women and men, as it was thought to be patronising to women. But unless we do these things we won’t do other things that need to be changed.”
The charter calls on organisations to sign a declaration that: “Equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice and is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace.”
It calls on the organisations to commit themselves to making women’s equality a reality and to recognising that women still face widespread discrimination and violence.
The charter has been signed by a number of county councils and chambers of commerce. The women’s council will be holding seminars on the charter around the State over the next few months and hope as many organisations as possible will sign it.
