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| THE 2ND PHASE ACTION PLAN TO PROMOTE EQUAL PARTICIPATION BY WOMEN AND MEN (GIST) |
(Adopted by the 33rd Central Executive Committee Meeting, October 4, 2000)
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| Why This Action Plan? |
The number of working women is increasing year by year, and encouraging these women to participate in trade union organizations has become a major task for unions in their efforts to raise the organization rate. In order to get these growing numbers of working women to join unions, we must make affirmative efforts to improve employment and working conditions for women, make union activities easy to understand and easy to participate in, and transform the organizations into ones which can break out of the image that "unions = men" and make it possible for men and women to work together.
The reality is that even when women become union members, they almost never participate at the executive level. Improving this situation and promotion the participation of women will be a key not only to realizing the demand of women union members, but also to making progress in RENGO's goal of transforming society from one with a sexual division of labor into one where men and women participate as equals.
In addition, as economic and livelihood gaps are expanding, and a feeling of social inequality growing, RENGO, from the perspective of improving overall life, must forward its policy- and institution-related demands, and with its 8million members must take the lead in promoting social reform and cope adequately with these changes. The participation and contribution of women to various trade union activities, beginning with their involvement in decision-making bodies, will provide a powerful motive force for realizing "comfort and affluence," "the happiness of families," "social fairness," and "contributions to international society."
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| Goals of Women’s Participation in the Decision-Making Bodies of Trade Unions |
We have set a target for the proportion of women in various organs in trade unions, such as executive committee members and delegates at regular conventions, to be the same as the ratio of women members of the trade union concerned. Therefore, the target figure for RENGO headquarters is 27% (as of 1999), and those for each affiliate, Local RENGO and unit union are the portion of their women membership. The target figure for women’s participation in government’s councils is set at “30% by 2005.”
In terms of how to reach the goal, we will take phased steps toward the targets, taking into account the actual situation, and will work to achieve the following during the period of the Action Plan.
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| 1. |
Targets for Women’s Participation in Central Executive Committees
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| (1) |
Organizations without women in their Central Executive Committee shall urgently elect one, and create the conditions to be able to elect more than one.
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| (2) |
Organizations that have one woman Central Executive Committee member shall urgently elect more than one, and create the conditions to elect a number equivalent to half the ratio of women in the organization.
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| (3) |
Organizations who have a number of women Central Executive Committee members equivalent to half the ratio of women in the organization shall work to increase the number to close to the actual ratio.
Organizations for which it is difficult to elect women immediately shall set up a special transitional measure, with a limited time frame, to have special women executive committee members (preferably plural). They will also endeavor to elect women to the triumvirate.
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| 2. |
Targets for Women’s Participation in Conventions and Other Decision-Making Bodies
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| (1) |
With regard to Convention delegates, efforts will be made to set target figures for the ratio of regular women delegates and to work toward them. From the perspective of familiarizing them with the atmosphere of Conventions and fostering them, efforts shall be made to increase women observers.
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| (2) |
In cases where there are multiple women delegates, efforts will be made to elect women to be Convention chairpersons or officials.
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| (3) |
Efforts based on the same standards for Convention delegates and officials will be made regarding interim decision-making bodies such as Central Committees.
Furthermore, organizations for which it is difficult to elect regular women Convention delegates shall endeavor to set up a special transitional measure, with a limited time frame, to have special women Convention delegates (preferably plural) or a system for observers.
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| 3. |
Promoting Participation in Government Councils
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| (1) |
RENGO will continue with the goal confirmed in the Action Guidelines, Part 4, to achieve a target of 30% by 2005 of women members recommended by RENGO to sit on government councils.
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| (2) |
RENGO headquarters and the Local RENGOs shall endeavor to broaden the target of committee member requests from RENGO headquarters, Local RENGOs and affiliates to individual unions, through consultations with the respective affiliates.
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| (3) |
In order to ensure that the women committee members can play their roles fully, RENGO headquarters and the Local RENGOs will strengthen links with the departments in which women members are in charge. They will also make efforts to secure training opportunities for members and grasp the situation of activities.
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| (4) |
The affiliates and individual unions will make special efforts to create an environment, through labor-management consultations, where part-time women committee members are not hindered from fulfilling their responsibilities because of their jobs. (To members of councils and committees set up by law, Article 7 of the Labor Standards Law [guarantee of the exercise of civil rights] and [public duties] are applicable.)
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| 4. |
Promoting Participation in International Activities
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| (1) |
Efforts will be made to ensure that women make up half of the RENGO delegations to conventions of international labor organizations such as the ICFTU, as well as delegations to the ILO conventions. With regard to seminars and visiting delegations, all-male delegations will be eliminated, the participation of women will be actively promoted, and training opportunities will be created. When accepting delegations from abroad, it will be made clear that mixed-gender delegations are preferable.
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| (2) |
When RENGO makes requests for participation by foreign delegations, some part of the costs of women participants will be subsidized, from the perspective of ensuring equal opportunities in the organizations concerned and of making it easier for women to participate.
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Action Plan to Encourage Women's Integration in RENGO
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| 1. |
Establish an Expert Committee and formulate an action program with targets
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| 2. |
Establish organs for women's activities
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| 3. |
Educational activities
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| 4. |
Consider amending union constitutions to include the idea of "gender equal participation"
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| 5. |
Public relation activities
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| 6. |
Improve the operation of trade unions by, for example, establishing childcare facilities
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| 7. |
Provide budgetary measures for expert committees, etc.
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