Call for Applications: 6th Asia Pacific “Women Leading, Women Organising” Training

Why this training?

• Women’s labour conditions are degrading, which is correlated with the region’s failing democracy and civic rights. Most women in this region work in low-wage, low-value informal sectors like agriculture, domestic work, home-based work, or street vending, and are usually not recognised as workers/employees. Consequently, they are deprived of their rights at work, lack legal protection, and are left vulnerable to exploitation, including through long hours, wages below subsistence levels, and appalling working conditions.
• The workers may be subject to more inspection and regulation if they work in the formal sector, but the labour standards still need to be revised. The mandate of labour inspection should be the same for every worker and every workplace in every sector, whether private or public, in rural and urban areas, in the formal and informal economy, where labour inspectors enforce legal provisions relating to working conditions and worker protection. Where there is solid labour law, the fundamental issue is still the need for enforcement. Certain regulations, such as the minimum wage law, which is far from a living wage, do not reflect the dignity of the employees in the places where they are enforced.

What you will get from this training?

This participatory training will equip participants with

• Structural analysis of the (old and new) root causes of women’s labour rights violations in the context of globalisation and digitalisation;
• Knowledge of the current state of women workers, their rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of globalisation and digitalisation;
• Understanding of international labour and human rights standards;
• Tactics and strategies for organising workers at workplaces;
• Skills to develop a campaign or advocacy plan on the vital labour rights and decent work issues they are interested in; and
• Capacity for movement building and fostering feminist solidarity.

Expectations and Obligations of Participants

• Pre-training (APWLD will provide guidelines and materials):
  • Collate and submit national information and relevant laws, policies or case studies.
  • Accomplish reading materials, as provided, before participating in the training.
• During training:
  • Actively participate and share knowledge, expertise and experiences, including making presentations, group work, mobilising speeches, etc.
  • Develop a personal action plan at the end of the training.
• Post-training:
  • Maintain regular contact with APWLD and other training participants to exchange lessons, experiences, practices and impacts that result from the training.
  • Report to APWLD on applying an action plan during the follow-up by APWLD.

Cost of the Training and Sponsorship

• APWLD will cover the selected applicants’ full participation cost, including economy airfare, boarding and lodging during the training and applicable visa fees. Other additional travel-related expenses must be informed by the participant to APWLD beforehand for approval.

Criteria

• Women workers, including labour organisers, trade union leaders (both registered and unregistered, informal unions or associations are eligible to apply).
• Engagement in trade union/s for a minimum of one year.
• Able to fully attend the training from 7 – 11 October 2023 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
• Applications from unions/organisations that participated in previous WLWO training are also welcome (but must be different applicants).

For more information, visit APWLD.