Empowering Women in Union.

Gender discrimination and sexual harassment continue to mar our workplaces, homes, and communities. TEUs National Women’s Committee (NWC) exists to be an active voice for women in TEU, the tertiary education sector, and in society more broadly.

Beginning in 2017, the NWC have been in conversation with women’s representatives around the country in between national meetings. A big issue for branch members has involved efforts to influence policy creation around sexual harassment prevention in our institutions. These efforts are supported by work that the NWC has been doing over the last three years in the sexual harassment prevention audit, and the remit to go to the 2019 Council of Trade Unions’ (CTU) biennial conference to develop a gold standard sexual harassment prevention policy for themselves, and to encourage their member organisations to use it.

The NWC and other members of the TEU women’s network are involved in progressing this sexual harassment prevention policy development with the Women’s Council of the CTU and within our own organisation.

Gender equality is a fundamental human right. Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women is integral to our union, and our union’s vision.

Over 18-19 August 2020, the National Women’s Committee and union staff will be coming together for the Empowering Women in Union hui in Wellington, with a political panel on the Tuesday night that will focus on gender equity.

According to TEU women’s vice-president Sarah Proctor-Thomson, “the hui provides time to reflect on the issues facing women in the tertiary education sector and in workplaces across Aotearoa, and to connect with each other, to learn, and to plan the actions needed to advance and grow our capabilities collectively as union activists, delegates, and representatives”.

Registrations for the hui close on 10 July. Contact your branch presidents for more information and register your interest in the hui (places are limited).