Like most workers in the industry, women are seeing globalisation,  de-regulation and privatisation squeeze their jobs, their wages  and their conditions. Yet women have been facing unequal wages and rights, closed  doors, poor parenting and maternity provision, discrimination  and harassment.

An international survey amongst hundreds of women transport  workers across the globe revealed that one in five women transport  workers had faced gender inequality in pay. One in three respondents  said women did not have the same access to promotion as men.  Women are often favoured for relatively junior jobs like secretarial  and administrative roles. Men are favoured as pilots, managers  and drivers.

Only one in three respondents said their company definitely  had an equal opportunities policy. Only one in four said their  company had a policy on sexual harassment.

The ITF Women's Committee and Department campaign and respond  to these issues of discrimination and lack of opportunity for  women in the industry. Central to the ITF's campaigning is the  aim to organise women into trade union activities, empowering  women to secure better working conditions, more rights and equality  with their male colleagues.

Working for women has benefits for men, too. Better pay for  women means better income for all the family. A workplace without  harassment and bullying is a happier workplace for all. Childcare for both men and women means more time with the family for all.  Women in union leadership and in organising jobs means more women  members - and stronger unions!

Securing basic rights

Transport jobs are highly segregated by gender. Due to this,  women transport workers continue to suffer from discrimination  because of reduced job prospects and lack of opportunities for promotion.

Access to family rights (including maternity rights), to good  health and safety conditions, and freedom from violence and harassment,  are key issues for them.

The ITF believes strongly in basic rights for all workers.  The ITF Women's Committee works to develop ITF-wide tools and  policies and to provide materials, information and support for  women transport workers to campaign successfully for these rights.

Strong trade unions need strong women

Of the five million members in ITF unions worldwide, over  half a million are women (about 12 per cent).

In transport, the biggest employment growth is taking place  in areas of clerical or customer services work, where young female  employment is high. In call centres, for example, female employment  can reach 70 per cent.

Although more and more transport unions are adapting themselves  to these changes, unionisation can remain a challenge. Trade  unions with few women members and poor representation of women  at senior levels are less likely to be able to meet that challenge.

The ITF believes that strong transport unions need a strong  and active female membership. Its Women's Committee promotes  increased participation of women in trade union activities through campaigning and via mainstream ITF education activities. The  ITF supports the creation of women's structures and believes  more women need to take up leadership positions in transport trade unions.

Family Rights

In transport, women have found that discrimination often raises  its head after women have acquired caring responsibilities -  perhaps with reduced opportunities on returning to work after having a baby.

Working shifts, which is common in transport, makes childcare  very difficult.

In some parts of the world's transport industry, very basic  maternity rights are still not recognised, with women suffering  dismissal on becoming pregnant.

The ITF campaigns for family rights in transport - including  reproductive and maternity rights, paternity rights, childcare  rights and rights for those with other caring responsibilities.

The right to a safe workplace

Women and men working in the transport industry are often  exposed to safety risks. Some of these risks have gender aspects.  Working alongside dangerous chemicals, in a port area for example,  can endanger an unborn child. Health risks such as stress are  suffered by those working face-to-face with the public - who  are often women. Violence at work is an issue for women transport  workers, as is sexual harassment.

The ITF Women's Committee is committed to developing materials,  policies and model procedures to address these matters.

Global action day

The ITF Women's Committee marks March 8th, International Women's  Day, with a global call to action among women transport workers  worldwide.

The 2002 campaign, 'Women Transporting the World', called  on affiliate unions to do more to organise women workers into  trade unions, and to take active steps to secure women's basic rights at work.

Hundreds of thousands of women, across nearly 100 unions in  more than 40 countries took part. Tens of thousands of postcards,  posters and leaflets were produced, in six languages, to help get the message across. Women all over the world organised marches,  education days, leafleting and solidarity messages to call for  basic rights and to highlight that unions need women, and women  need unions.

Women's network

An ITF Women Transport Workers' Network, an informal linking  of active women trade unionists working in the transport industry,  has been established so that women can exchange materials, information  and experiences in solidarity with one another.

Unions are also asked to nominate a main contact-person for  the network, whose details are available from the ITF Secretariat.  In some regions, countrywide network representatives have been  nominated. The ITF is promoting an informal online discussion group for the network, accessible from the ITF website here.

Education programme

The ITF organises many education activities focusing on women's  issues, including a very successful programme that ran in Southern  Africa, East Africa and Francophone West Africa, which aimed  to build the ITF Women's Network and increase union activities  for women. Similar projects are running in Latin America and  the Caribbean and in the Asia-Pacific region.

The ITF's programmes train women in transport union issues  and in effective campaigning. They also develop women's skills  and self-confidence, build regional solidarity and provide an international perspective. Other benefits are improved communication  between unions whose women attend the programmes and a better  relationship among ITF unions.

What YOU can do

The Women's Committee and Department do much of their work  through the network of contacts in affiliated unions in countries  all over the world, who are specifically responsible for grass  roots organising of women workers, and supporting women's issues  in trade unions. Has your union nominated a contact person? Contact the ITF to find out.

You could get trade unions discussed in the workplace, by  taking up issues that matter to women workers, or by carrying  out a survey at work, or holding a discussion, to find out what issues are important. Consider how your union's women members  are benefiting from their membership. Does your union have a  women's committee or wing? This could help to identify members'  priorities. Once an issue is identified, the Women's Department  can support your unions' campaigning to address it.

In your union, think about how nominations and election procedures  might be changed so women are given better opportunities in leadership  and positions of authority.

The ITF supports women transport workers in more than 600  transport unions, across 137 countries. Through networking, resource  sharing, campaigning and co-ordination, the Women's Department  and Committee are working with transport unions worldwide to  improve the working lives of women and to increase their trade  union membership and participation in unions.

More information is available on the ITF website at http://www.itf.org.uk/women and you can reach us directly via email at women@itf.org.uk