Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to all those who have assisted in the preparation of this guide by providing comments and materials, in particular Amrita Sietaram and Clara Foucault Mohammed of the Bureau for Workers' Activities; Linda Wirth, Marie-Claire Seguret and Vittorio Di Martino of the Conditions of Work and Welfare Facilities Branch; Ellen Rosskam and Valentina Forastieri of the Occupational Safety and Health Branch; Jean-Victor Gruat of the Planning, Development and Standards Branch; Corrine Vargha, Maria Luz Vega Ruiz, Zafar Shaheed and Alfred Pankert of the Labour Law and Labour Relations Branch; Jane Zhang, the Special Adviser on Women Workers' Questions; and Christine Elstob of the Equality and Human Rights Coordination Branch. We would also like to acknowledge the generous financial contribution from the Project on Integrating Women's interests in Technical Cooperation Activities, coordinated by the Bureau for the Promotion of Active Partnership and Technical Cooperation. Finally we are indebted to May Ballerio-Hofman of the Publications Bureau for her guidance and assistance regarding the layout and printing.

Preface

This guide is comprised of six booklets. Booklets 2 to 6 deal with different categories of bargaining issues. There are a number of areas of overlap and the same issue may feature in more than one booklet.

I. Gender equality bargaining: An overview

2. Working conditions

3. Maternity and family responsibilities

4. Defending rights of non-permanent and vulnerable workers

5. Dignity at the workplace

6. Giving women a voice

This guide is not intended to be used in any one particular way. It is hoped that the information contained in this guide will be of interest to employers, employers' organizations, individual workers and workers' organizations, and that it will be used in a variety of ways to achieve a range of goals.

The examples and ideas contained in this guide are not intended to determine definitively what should be achieved through collective bar gaining, nor do they necessarily represent best practices. In some cases the examples used in this guide are watershed agreements or provide starting-points for negotiation, and as such they are intended as food for thought or to provoke debate. The context in which collective bargaining takes place will vary dramatically from situation to situation, affecting the types of issues that need to be addressed and the means of addressing them. There is much room for creativity in designing and implementing bargaining strategies. It should be remembered that collective agreements generally evolve from one set of negotiations to another rather than starting anew each time.

This guide may be used for:

• negotiation

• discussion

• motivation

• awareness raising

• training

• education

• interaction between employers and workers

• creating alliances with other interested agencies/networks

This guide is the result of a collaborative effort between the Bureau for workers' Activities and the Labour Law and Labour Relations Branch of the International Labour Office, with the assistance of an outside expert, and is the work of Shaunaolney (Labour Law and Labour Relations Branch), Elizabeth Goodson (Bureau for workers' Activities), Kathini Maloba-Caines (Regional Secretary for Africa, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations) and Faith O'Neill (Labour Law and Labour Relations Branch).

Collective Bargaining

Collective bargaining is the term used to describe the process of negotiation between workers and employers and their representatives concerning any issue related to terms and conditions of employment or any other matter of mutual interest to the workers and employer. A definition of what subjects are to be dealt with in collective bargaining may exist in national legislation. Even where a narrow definition is set out in legislation, this does not normally limit the ability of the parties to agree to bar gain on a wider range of issues.

The Convention concerning the Promotion of Collective Bargaining, 1981 (No. 154) defines collective bargaining as follows:

Article 2

For the purpose of this Convention the term "collective bargaining" extends to all negotiations which take place between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers' organizations, on the one hand, and one or more workers' organizations, on the other, for:
(a) determining working conditions and terms of employment; and/or
(b) regulating relations between employers and workers; and/or
(c) regulating relations between employers or their organizations and a worker's organization or workers' organizations.

Collective bargaining in many countries is a key means of determining terms and conditions of employment. However, the concerns and interests of women, with perhaps the exception of maternity leave, have in the past often been overlooked in the process of collective bargaining. And since collective agreements tend to be based on past agreements, the situation has been perpetuated. Traditional bargaining agenda items have been approached without the input of women and issues of particular concern to women have not been addressed. But now that women are making up a greater share of the paid workforce and are an important and often untapped source of potential union membership, women, unions, women's groups and employers are acknowledging the need to deal in collective bargaining with issues of concern to women.

Women's issues are union issues and union issues are women's issues.

Aims

This guide has been prepared with trade unions in mind, in particular:

• negotiating committees and negotiators

• women's committees/departments

• educators

• union officials and organizers

The primary aims are to:

• ensure the systematic integration of gender issues and concerns in collective bargaining

• promote gender equality in the workplace and in the union

• equip unions with some tools to negotiate effectively on behalf of women

• ensure existing legislation or policies relevant to women are effectively implemented and monitored

Trade unions exist to represent the needs and interests of all their members; they bargain for improved terms and conditions of employment and a safe and healthy working environment for both men and women. As a result there is a need for specific consideration of gender issues in collective bargaining; certain issues may be of more concern to women because of their reproductive role, due to their ascribed role in regard to family and household care, or to the results of past discrimination. At the same time these issues are not limited to women in that men also need certain types of protection in regard to their reproductive function, and measures are needed to provide men with opportunities to share more in family responsibilities, such as paternity and parental leave, flexible working hours and greater access to part-time work.

Collective bargaining is proving to be an important means of promoting equality for women in employment, but to be truly effective the concerns of women must be understood and given credence. This guide raises some of the issues that may be appropriate for collective bargaining and provides some examples. Though the focus is on how these issues primarily affect women, many of these also of course have a positive impact on men's working conditions. The overriding objective of the ILO's work is to encourage the improvement of the employment of all workers.

Gender equality bargaining is important because

• women's issues are union issues

• women's contributions at work have been undervalued

• women are making up an increasing proportion of the paid workforce it is important in changing attitudes towards women in employment

• it can address many of the persisting deep-seated misconceptions about the role of women in employment

• women's concerns have traditionally been overlooked in collective bargaining
  legislative coverage may be inadequate

• where there is legislation, it must be implemented in a practical manner

• it addresses some non-pay issues that may be easier to bargain in difficult economic times

• it is a means of attracting women to the union - it shows the union is committed to women

• collective bargaining can make a difference.

• ... because WOMEN COUNT!

The list of suggested issues for bargaining is not set out in any particular order. Each union will find its own entry point into equality bargaining. This will depend on the social and legal context, and most importantly, on what the women themselves choose as priorities.

Remember:
Any issue can be a subject for bargaining.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• equal pay

• overtime

• bonus systems
• job classification
• pension schemes
• housing benefits
• transport benefits
• medical benefits

Leave

• annual leave
• compassionate leave
• maternity/paternity/parental leave
• medical/sick leave
• paid educational/training leave
• other personal leave (marriage, etc.)

Hours of work

• basic hours and overtime
• part-time work
• flexible working time
• job sharing
• night work
• expectant and nursing mothers
• time off for family responsibilities

Health and environment

• health and environmental hazards
• ergonomics
• visual display units
• control measures and personal protective equipment
• welfare facilities and services
• disabled workers
• HIV and AIDS information
• reproductive health
• health and safety committees and safety representatives

MATERNITY AND FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES

• maternity leave and cash benefits
• miscarriage and. stillbirth

• adoption

• reproductive health care
• rights of pregnant and nursing mothers
• job security

Family responsibilities

• paternity leave
• parental leave
• family leave

• child care

• care of the elderly
• reproductive health services
• protection against discrimination or victimization

DEFENDING RIGHTS OF NON-PERMANENT AND VULNERABLE WORKERS

• categories - casual, temporary, task workers, seasonal, contract, part-time, rural, home-workers, domestic, migrant, indigenous and tribal
• extend general conditions
• avoid child labour
• avoid non-permanent status for permanent work

DIGNITY AT THE WORKPLACE COMBATING DISCRIMINATION AND VICTIMIZATION

• trade union activities
• sex discrimination
• sexual harassment
• violence at the workplace
• creating an enabling environment

GIVING WOMEN A VOICE

At the workplace

• negotiating table
• occupational health, safety and environment committees
• grievance handling
• shop stewards and works committees
• company boards
• training and retraining
• representation at all levels of the establishment

In the union

• women's committees
• women's department
• women representatives at all levels: local, regional, national, Congress
• education and training committees
• union organization
• negotiation committees/tables
• health, safety and environment committees
• building solidarity

Preparing for Bargaining

The guide sets out a series of issues that should at least be considered in the context of collective bargaining. How to approach them and what level of priority they should be given should be determined by the women themselves Taking into account that many of these issues will also affect men, joint strategies and action will often be needed.

• Women's committees or equal opportunities committees should play a key role in formulating demands and examining proposed clauses for discrimination.

• Try to determine the views of women who are absent or silent at meetings - perhaps through questionnaires or women shop stewards or representatives who work side by side with the women workers.

• Gather any statistics available regarding women in the workplace and the sector (for example, how many women are in different job categories, what is the differential in pay between men and women).

• Existing rights - determine what your rights are under existing collective agreements, legislation, government policies, work rules.

• Determine how collective bargaining can be used to extend or secure existing rights - for example, if there is legislative coverage, the collective agreement could repeat the terms of the legislation, but provide for more effective and accessible enforcement. In a number of areas, legislation may provide particular rights, but these may not be applied or enforced in practice so duplicating or extending them through the collective agreement can be an important additional safeguard.

• Identify and prioritize needs of workers - this will usually require determining the cost of a particular benefit. If an employer can be shown that a particular benefit will not cost anything (or not much), or that it can bring tangible benefits in terms of reduced absenteeism and higher productivity, the employer is more likely to agree. In difficult economic times, rather than pay raises, the union might have more success with negotiating for non- pay, low-cost equality benefits, such as flexible working arrangements or paternity leave which affect a small percentage of workers while exhibiting a progressive attitude on the part of both the management and the union. Benefits to employers should be explained, and not merely in monetary terms, but also with regard to such things as staff recruitment, less staff turnover, less absenteeism, etc.

Promoting gender equality in employment does not end once the collective agreement is signed. Following up the collective bargaining process is essential, otherwise the rights may exist on paper only.

• Make sure the negotiated policies, rights and benefits are communicated to all workers on a regular basis (including those with non-permanent status) - the information should be posted at the workplace, but can also be made available in lay language through newsletters, guides to good practice, seminars, role-play or lunch-time meetings.

• Regular gathering of statistics - keep a close eye on the number of women and men hired, promoted and dismissed as well as the numbers in all job categories, salary levels and training programmes.

• Regularly monitor the implementation and effectiveness of collective by bargained policies, rights and benefits - always think forward to what can be achieved during the next round of collective bargaining.

• Deal with equality issues in educational and training programmes.

• Publicize the work done by the union on behalf of women - as an organizing strategy, it is important for unions to publicize their new bargaining objectives and the strategies they have used or intend to use to achieve them.