UK-based Trade Union Congress (TUC) Aid will be supporting the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) in Bangladesh to run a further set of training to develop female leaders in garment unions, according to an article on its website. This follows the success of the first stage of training courses run by NGWF and supported by TUC Aid last year in a programme to support women trade unionists in Bangladesh. Over 500 women received training in employment rights and organising skills under the programme. An evaluation of this training by Danish federation 3F found that participants of the training were now more confident to take an active role in their union and tackle gender discrimination through collective bargaining. Twenty women who took part in the training have since been elected to the leadership of local unions, TUC said. By spring this year, the second stage of this training programme will be launched. It will consist of more advanced training for women unionists to develop their negotiating skills on areas such as physical harassment, low pay and poor health and safety, as well as their knowledge of new labour regulations which have been issued in Bangladesh. The training is designed to develop women’s confidence to bargain with the management. It will also provide women with conflict resolution skills so that problems in the workplace do not escalate and lead to physical harassment of workers by management, as women workers frequently face harassment by their supervisors in garment factories.
