{"id":15566,"date":"2018-07-04T14:18:59","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T13:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15566"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:39","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:39","slug":"diana-sexual-harassment-policy-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15566","title":{"rendered":"‘Unity is strength’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite assistant general secretary for equalities Diana Holland spoke in support of a composite at Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Policy conference\u00c2\u00a0 on Wednesday (July 4) as she called for an end to sexual harassment once and for all.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese are deeply divisive, dangerous and difficult times for our world, and the reality of sexual harassment, violence and abuse against women and girls because they are women and girls, has been shockingly exposed worldwide over the past two years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is about power, abuse of power, and at this policy conference we want to make it 100 per cent crystal clear \u00e2\u20ac\u201d our union opposes all forms of sexual harassment, violence and abuse of women, hand in hand with our opposition to harassment of all forms, including against black, Asian and ethnic minority, disabled, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans, and migrant workers, as well as young and older members and religious harassment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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She called on conference to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcome together here and now in unity as the trade union family we are\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe must ensure no worker suffering sexual or other harassment, domestic violence or abuse suffers alone,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey must be able to turn to our union for trusted, strong, effective support, solidarity and representation.”<\/p>\n

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Diana highlighted the substantial progress made over the last few years over sexual harassment.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe transformed workplace after workplace, sector after sector,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe held employers and governments to account and we changed our unions for the better.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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But she added that she was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdismayed and so angry\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 that in 2018 \u00e2\u20ac\u015bit seems we need to do this all over again”.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLike many of you, I carry with me the sadness and pain of our members whose lives have been changed forever because of sexual harassment,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLike health and safety, we need prevention first and foremost.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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She called for \u00e2\u20ac\u0098three points of action\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 including\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban audit of all workplace policies, to check they are fit for purpose in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world, backed up by union education; two, a campaign for paid release to bargain on equality , and statutory rights for union equality reps, already in Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 20 point plan; and three, a campaign for a new duty on employers to provide workplaces free from violence and harassment, including third parties. We also need a strong ILO convention to protect workers globally, too.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe can all make a difference,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Diana went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not sure if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sexual or any form of harassment, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it. If you witness someone being harassed, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand by. If you face harassment, the union is with you.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd remember the message to today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trade unionists from the Ford women machinists whose strike was 50 years ago this year \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Always stick together, stand up for what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right, and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give up\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnity is strength,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she concluded to applause.<\/p>\n

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The composite was carried.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite assistant general secretary for equalities Diana Holland spoke in support of a composite at Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Policy conference\u00c2\u00a0 on Wednesday (July 4) as she called for an end to sexual harassment once and for all.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese are deeply divisive, dangerous and difficult times for our world, and the reality of sexual harassment, violence and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[379,1001,957],"wps_subtitle":"Unite AGS Diana Holland on tackling sexual harassment","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15566"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26089,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15566\/revisions\/26089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}