Equal Opportunities
- there has been an increase in the number of females in multiple positions;
- three National Vice President positions are filled by females (50% of positions);
- a steady increase in the number of female members and delegates as women move into more non traditional areas of work;
- an increase in the number of women represented on the Branch Committee of Management across the states;
- the successful adoption and implementation of a national sexual harassment policy and training for all employees;
- the commitment to family friendly work practices such as the introduction of paid maternity leave for union support staff and a review of informal personnel policies and practices; and
- implementation of family friendly work practices in comprehensive agreements at relevant NUW sites.
To date the NUW has achieved a number of milestones in the area of affirmative action and equal opportunity:
The General Secretary of the NUW has the responsibility of overseeing the development, implementation and evaluation of the affirmative action strategies and policy. The Affirmation Action Committee liases with staff and assists in developing the action plans and goals, reports directly to the General Secretary on issues relating to affirmative action. The Committee is made up of women in senior management positions, female organisers, officials and operational staff.
The Union has had an official affirmative action policy in place since 1993, which has been reaffirmed as recently as 1999. This policy has both short and long term implications. It outlines a set of targets that will have the effect of placing women in 30 per cent of all multiple positions within the Union, including the Vice Presidential positions on the National Committee of Management. This reflects a long-term strategy designed to reflect upward development to ensure there will be a sufficient pool of women to feed into management positions both in the membership and from the union officials and organisers.
This program is being further developed, broadening the goals of the Union's affirmative action program to cover other employees in the Union and the Union membership. It includes a range of activities to increase and support the number of active female members and delegates such as the issuing of equal opportunity badges, and introducing a sexual harassment policy in workplaces where there is no framework to reduce work place harassment.
The NUW also has an Affirmative Action Program which is based on the results of ongoing affirmative action surveys and some informal focus groups involving a cross section of female employees. For a copy of the Affirmative Action Program please contact the NUW National Office.
Last modified 2004-10-13 07:05 PM
