TUC Aid supports second stage of NGWF leadership training for female garment workers in Bangladesh

TUC Aid will be supporting the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) to run a further set of training to develop female leaders in garment unions.

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 which saw over 500 women trained in employment rights and organising skills. 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. 20 women who took part in the training have since been elected to the leadership of local unions.

This spring will see the launch of the second stage of this training programme which 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.

As well as developing women’s confidence to bargain with management, the training will 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.

TUC Aid will be reporting on the progress of these courses so keep checking back here for regular updates.