Women still make up just 22% percent of the transport workforce, and are more likely to find themselves in precarious or unstable positions. Female transport workers also face shocking violence and harassment from colleagues, managers and customers.
Trade unions are committed to improving the situation of women in the transport sector, and one way to do this is through high-quality workplace training. That’s why the ETF Women’s Committee has been running the project Women in Transport – Education for Valuable Employment (EVE), led and coordinated by the Federation of Transport Trade Unions of Bulgaria (FTTUB) with the partnership of Unite the Union, FNV and CFDT-FGTE. This project has led to the creation of a new training module, and a comprehensive training kit which unions and workers can use to improve gender equality.
Combined with the materials from the earlier TRANSUNION project, the ETF now has four training modules on gender equality. These offer a comprehensive package about ways to combat the challenges facing women in the transport sector (click here to access materials):
As the EVE project enters its final months, FTTUB is hosting the conference Improving Gender Equality in the Transport Sector, taking place in Sofia on 6-7 March 2018. The conference will present Module 4 and the comprehensive package, while also offering delegate the chance to reflect on progress and think about how to make best use of these materials in the fight for gender equality.
The ETF General Secretary Eduardo Chagas will address the conference with a video message. Ekaterina Yordanova, President of FTTUB and vice president of ETF, Brigitta Paas, President of the ETF Women’s Committee, Valérie Latron, Vice-President of the ETF Women’s Committee, and Inga-Lena Heinisch, ETF Political Assistant for Gender Equality, will be among the participants. They will be joined by representatives of ETUC, ITUC, the European Commission’s DG Move, CITUB, the Bulgarian government, Bulgarian transport companies, and researchers working in cooperation with the trade unions.