SEMARANG, Indonesia (ILO News) - Twenty-one women officials from National Trade Union (SPN) and Trade Union Federation for Garment, Textile and Leather Industries of the Confederation of All Trade Union (Garteks KSBSI) gathered in Semarang, Central Java. They participated at the two-day ILO training programme on women leadership from 25-26 July.

Using a participatory method, the participants seated in a U-shape arrangement where they could openly share their plight, experiences and hopes among each other. They admitted that masculine structure of the union organization, lower social acceptance of women’s union activity and existing family responsibilities had made it difficult for them to fully participate in the union activities.

The training programme marked the final batch of the series women leadership trainings organized by the ILO’s Strengthening Industrial Relations in Indonesia project in collaboration with the Bureau for Workers 'Activities (ACTRAV) and Better Work Indonesia (BWI)—a joint programme of ILO and the International Finance Cooperation. Two previous trainings were conducted in Greater area of Jakarta and West Java, reaching out to a total of 66 participants.

Facilitated by the BWI trainers, the training programme utilized a BWI’s training manual especially developed to improve leadership capacity of women in garment industry. The training manual consists of five topics as follows: Leadership, self-confidence, communications for action, conversation management as well as group coaching.

Nurus S. Mufidah, ILO Project Coordinator for Strengthening Industrial Relations Project, stated that these series of trainings aim to promote inclusive representation and leadership in the trade union organization. “By empowering and strengthening the leadership skills of women committee members of the factory level trade union organization, they can be more engaged in the decision maker role and leadership position to support women’s needs, voices and accesses.”

To assist the participants strengthening their self-confidence and leadership roles, the training provided them with simulation sessions that were linked with their daily issues and activities. During these sessions they learnt how to have a better understanding about communication patterns at the workplace and within trade union organizations, how to manage meetings and how to make effective decision makings.

Mei Suryaning Safitri, 27 years old, who was also the trade union leader at the footwear company in Semarang, said that the two-day training had transformed her to believe in herself and to have strong confidence about her capability. “Women can be leaders and the training programme has taught me to be more assertive. Leadership skills are not based on gender, but based on capabilities,” she stated.

Meanwhile Ira R. Dewi, a 43-year-old garment worker with 17 years of experience, admit that the training programme had taught her to be an attentive listener. “One of the leadership qualities that I learnt is to be a good listener. This looks easy, but it is hard to do. I will use this quality to convince my female co-workers to have courage fighting for their labour rights,” she said.

Each training programme concluded with a reflection session where the participants gathered in circle, contemplating what they could do further. The majority of the participants stated that women were equal to men and were also deserved taking the leadership role.

These training programmes, Nurus wished, were expectantly able to empower women to actively engage within their trade unions and participate in negotiations to integrate women's concerns into the company's collective bargaining agreement. “The active participation of women would ensure the integration of various women’s concerns like breastfeeding rights, maternity leave, flexible working hours, workload adjustments for expectant mothers and an effective mechanism to address and prevent workplace sexual harassment."

Funded by the Government of Canada, the ILO’s Strengthening Industrial Relations in Indonesia project builds the capacity of garment sector workers and their representatives to effectively organize and represent all workers in Indonesia’s garment sector and participate more actively and inclusively in key national policy advocacy.