STUC Women's Conference 2022: Usdaw seeks action for women in the cost of living crisis and to tackle sexual harassment

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “In recent years the scale and extent of sexual harassment has been thrown into sharp focus. The STUC’s own research published earlier this year exposed just how widespread sexual harassment is in the workplace with almost half of the women that responded indicating they have experienced sexual harassment at work and the overwhelming majority reporting that their experience was not taken seriously or dealt with appropriately. This echoes the findings of Usdaw’s own research, which reveals similarly high levels of harassment and low levels of reporting. Unions are crucial to defending women’s rights and voices and enabling women to organise, assert their workplace rights and ensure their voice at work is heard and concerns acted upon. Trade Union reps have a vital role to play encouraging women to report harassment; ensuring appropriate action is taken when women do speak out; calling it out and campaigning on the issue in the workplace.

“Women in Scotland are facing a major cost-of-living crisis. Although some of this is because of energy price rises and the unequal impact of the pandemic, this is also a crisis of incomes. Over a decade of austerity policies, low wage rises and cuts to social security have left many women in Scotland in poverty. The richest households saved money during the pandemic, our members fell further into debt, with no cushion to cope with rising prices now. Wages have stagnated. Women’s wages have increased at a slower rate than men’s. Women will bear the brunt of rising food prices; as the ‘shock absorbers of poverty’. This is a gendered crisis, with low-paid, Black and minority ethnic women and disabled women at the sharp end. Our members did not cause the cost-of-living crisis and must not be made to pay for it.”