To be able to work safely and in dignity, free from violence and harassment of any kind, is a fundamental human right which no worker must be denied.<\/p>\n
ICTS workers are unfortunately affected by inequalities and discrimination in their own industry. Over the course of a two-day workshop, trade unionists and employers from across Europe\u2019s ICTS sector came together. They shared their experiences and learned about initiatives at the European and global levels aiming to put an end to workplace violence and harassment. They also\u00a0exchanged on anti-harassment and violence prevention policies in different countries and companies and to further discuss joint actions to eliminate negative practices by strengthening social dialogue and implementing appropriate preventive mechanisms.<\/p>\n
According to the workshop participants, violence is perceived as an external problem, with gender-related violence being the most frequent aggression. Third-party violence especially occurs in contact centers, retail shops and other customer-facing areas. In this context, it is positive that many companies in the ICTS sector already have an overall anti-discrimination policy on violence and harassment in place, some even a stand-alone policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to address this crucial topic and find solutions also in collective agreements, especially for the pressing issue of external violence\u201d\u00a0\u2013 said Daniel H\u00fcgli, UNI Europa ICTS President.<\/p>\n
It has been almost 3 years since the ILO adopted, in June 2019, its Convention 190 on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work and yet, to date, only 19 countries around the world have ratified it \u2013 and only 6 of these in Europe.<\/p>\n
The EU Cross-sectoral guidelines to eliminating violence and harassment at work for services sector should be based on an integrated, comprehensive and a gender-responsive approach strengthened by social dialogue. The ILO C190 ratification in all EU members states is imperative\u201d said Amel Selma Djemail, UNI Europa Equal Opportunities Director.<\/p>\n
The workshop ended with a brainstorming on what should be included in the cross-sector guidelines which will be developed throughout the course of the project and presented at its final conference next year. Key points that came out of the discussions were the importance of awareness raising and training for both managers and employees, as well as the need to identify threats early on. Social dialogue and collective bargaining are the tools to build workplace policies that should include a strong protection against discrimination, violence and harassment\u00a0and provide provisions on prevention, implementation and monitoring mechanisms. The participants will follow up on today\u2019s event and feed the discussion results into their work on a joint declaration on violence in the European sectoral social dialogue for telecom.<\/p>\n
\u201cICTS unions play an important role in the fight against violence and harassment. Collecting good practice examples, raising awareness about the many faces of violence and addressing this in collective bargaining, we can help create a safer and more inclusive workplace for all,\u201d underlined Birte Dedden, UNI Europa ICTS Director.<\/p>\n
Inequality between women and men persists in the world of work in many forms, from career prospects and development opportunities to various terms and conditions. The aim of this\u00a0UNI Europa Equal Opportunities cross-sector project is to\u00a0contribute to\u00a0ending\u00a0violence and harassment at work and tackle domestic violence, as \u2013 with rising remote work \u2013 the home has become the new workplace.<\/p>\n
Through this project, UNI Europa intends to:\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more information on the project and any presentations please contact:\u00a0Amel Selma Djemail<\/a> or Birte Dedden<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To be able to work safely and in dignity, free from violence and harassment of any kind, is a fundamental human right which no worker must be denied. ICTS workers are unfortunately affected by inequalities and discrimination in their own industry. Over the course of a two-day workshop, trade unionists and employers from across Europe\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"topics":[125],"sectors":[26],"projects":[],"cross-sector-groups":[108],"workers-rights":[],"global-issues":[],"regions":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n