The Women’s Programme has clear goals for this year: To act as the voice for the hopes, aspirations and challenges faced by women in the workforce, and ensure better integration of women at all levels of leadership.
These aims will remain a core focus of the programme, said Madam Halimah Yacob, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and also the Secretary to the NTUC Women’s Programme Committee.
To help strengthen leadership capabilities among women, the Women’s Committee will provide opportunities for them to contribute to the labour movement, as well as acquire a wider range of knowledge and experiences.
Plans for dialogues with policy makers, professionals and veteran women unionists are already on the cards, as are leadership skills upgrading courses for women.
Madam Halimah and members of the Women’s Committee will also lead learning journeys to various companies or industries, so that participants can better understand the working conditions and issues faced by workers.
Such activities, said Ms Suseela A Singaram, Assistant General Secretary of the Union of Power and Gas Employees (UPAGE) and long-time Women’s Committee member, will allow them to get to know what women in different industries face.
“They also provide interaction sessions among the women trade unionists to foster bonding and provide support and confidence,” she added.
Indeed, these spin-off benefits also meet another key objective of the Women’s Programme, which is to strengthen the links between women in the labour movement and to raise their visibility.
Likewise, dialogues and chat sessions with women activists and women’s committees of affiliated unions were organised throughout last year, as part of efforts to provide channels of communication between the NTUC Women’s Programme committee, various women committees and working women. They will continue this year, said Madam Halimah.
These sessions are not only a form of communication, but education as well.
Past dialogue sessions, noted Ms Suseela, had revealed that many women lack the knowledge of many issues, or were simply not aware of policies or what help they could get from NTUC.
She said this could be because women may be hesitant to speak up, or play more submissive roles at branch meetings.
“We hope to change that,” declared Ms Suseela. “And it is through our dialogues and meeting them, can we open their eyes more, and encourage them to be more pro-active.”
To widen women’s participation in the labour movement, collaborations with other women’s organisations on projects and core issues are being planned. The Women’s Committee has also helped non-affiliated women’s groups or unions where needed.
To see how working women in other parts of the world fare, the committee is also planning a trip to Vietnam, which will include dialogues and visits to unions and factories.
Madam Halimah is also looking into another role for the NTUC Women’s Programme Committee: To act as a resource centre for gender issues in the labour movement. She aims to disseminate the latest information and news to keep women unionists abreast of the latest trends worldwide.
