leadership initiative: females in trade unions Project led by ICTU ETUI ESF Seminar Brussels, March 2014 Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

The LIFT Development Partnership (DP) Institute of Public Administration Irish Congress of Trade Unions National Centre for Partnership and Performance LIFT Transnational Partners CONFIO (Spain) UGT Estremedura FIC (Denmark) LO Copenhagen € 1.4M Fund Funded by the EQUAL Community Initiative : “combating all forms of exclusion, discrimination and inequalities in the labour market” Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions LIFT dealt with deficit of women in leadership roles in trade unions. The overarching objective of LIFT was to increase the participation and involvement of women at every level of union organisations with emphasis on the identification, development and support of future women leaders. Ultimately… Increased representation of women will ensure union focus on issues which disproportionately affect women such as care, low pay, career progression, work-life balance, the pay gap etc

Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions KEY ACTIONS Through LIFT we sought to: o Better understand barriers to participation and engagement in unions and why women are not progressing to the top (Research) o Look at how we can make joining a union more attractive for women and test different methods of recruitment (Research and Market Testing) o Develop an awareness programme based on findings to enable unions to improve women’s involvement - including advice on changing structures and ways of working (Research, Networking and Trialling)

Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions Actions continued: o Provide leadership development training for potential women TU leaders and leadership mentoring skills for current leadership (Personal Skills Development) o Establish networking opportunities for women involved in unions to foster action learning, generate innovation, develop knowledge and give SUPPORT (Networking and Personal Development) o Improve awareness and understanding of equality issues, enhance equality training and refocus advocacy and policy activity (Awareness, Training and Policy)

Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions Objectives of the LIFT research o Establishing a clear picture of the different factors that influence the participation and engagement of men and women in union organisations. o Identify and understand progression barriers and issues affecting participation to better understand the motivation for and barriers against women joining, participating in and progressing through unions. o Involved former and current women leaders, staff activists and general secretaries.

Current reality facing women in accessing and participating fully in the labour market: Lack of affordable childcare / elder care Gender pay gap / pensions gap Career advancement – vertical and horizontal segregation Reconciliation of work / life balance Lack of participation in decision-making structures Lack of recognition of ‘care labour’ – unpaid contribution The impact upon women of multiple discrimination Access to further education and training Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Key Experiences for Women in Irish Trade Unions 25% of Union Officials 26% of Elected Officers 4% of General Secretaries 98% of Administrative Staff ‘Male, pale and stale’ culture dominates… Hierarchical model prevails Reliance on ‘long-hours’ ‘Male’ constructs of leadership Lack of ‘HRD’ in succession-planning Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Informal Networks “You have to lead a very bureaucratic organisation governed by an old rule book, so you get tied up in endless meetings”. TU General Secretary Recruitment and Promotions ‘Male’ Gendered Culture “I didn’t have an MBA or degree or anything at the time and I just held back despite my experience.” Senior TU Female “Men tend to judge an issue in terms of the politics … women in terms of fairness.” TU General Secretary “Every woman involved in their trade union needs a wife at home!” Senior TU Female Factors contributing to vertical segregation Accepted ‘constructs’ of leadership Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

LIFT – Programme of Strategic Change Interventions Research – Understand experiences of women in trade unions Analyse current leadership approaches Examine motivation, validity, relevance of joining Assess how to engage a wider audience Leadership Development Programmes Strand I – General Secretary level Strand II – Women Leaders Strand III – Women’s Network Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

LIFT – Programme of Strategic Change Interventions Women’s Networks – Provide top-down / bottom-up support Act as internal change agents supported by leadership Inform diverse approaches to recruitment and promotion Engage a wider audience of women Training Resources Assessment of leadership styles informed by coaching Leadership development supported through mentoring Training resourced through specially devised toolkits for women, i.e. ‘Handbook for Women Activists’ Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Strand I General Secretaries Strand II Senior Level Women Informing cultural change Strategising, succession planning Supportive networks Leading change, promoting new growth Mainstreaming approaches to meet future challenges Strand III Women Officials and Activists

This series of ‘conversations’ was prompted by briefings which focussed on the challenges facing trade union leaders related to the sustainability and development of the movement. The briefings were designed to promote debate and discussion on these challenges. These conversations furthered the goals of the LIFT project by strengthening and supporting the current leadership by aiding the development of a leadership training programme and by effecting change in the trade union movement. Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions Objective of Strategic ‘Breakfast Conversations’

LIFT – Impact and Outcomes The top-down / bottom-up approach led to sustained profiling of the issue The Strategic Conversations created the realisation of the need to change which resulted in the Commission on the Trade Unions The leadership development programme has been mainstreamed and now forms the core of our general leadership programme The BDAL (Business Driven Action Learning) process resulted in the creation of a Women at Work network which has received sustained funding to support the particular training needs of women Significant increase to a majority of women shop stewards Majority of VPs in NECs are now women Frank Vaughan Irish Congress of Trade Unions