Campaigning for Maternity Protection The Maternity Protection Coalition

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Campaigning for Maternity ProtectionThe
Maternity Protection Coalition ILO Convention
183

• Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC
• Chrismulfo_at_aol.com
• WABA Women Work Task Force

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Objectives

• After this presentation, participants will be
  able to
• Identify a framework for action on Maternity
  Protection.
• Describe seven key concepts of maternity
  protection.
• Explain why it is important for breastfeeding
  advocates to work in support of all seven
  concepts.
• Identify potential allies and strategies for a
  Maternity Protection Campaign.
• Discuss ratification of C-183 as a strategy to
  strengthen Maternity Protection.

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Defining workMens womens work

• 1995 UN Development Programme Report
• 23 trillionofficial estimate of global output
• 16 trillion more was not includedunpaid,
  invisible, undervalued work
• Most of this unpaid work is caring work. Most of
  it is done by women.

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The 1995 UNDP Report
Womens paid work
Mens paid work
3/4
1/3
Mens unpaid work
Womens unpaid work
1/4
2/3
Above the break 23 trillion marketplace
work Below the break 16 trillion unpaid
workinvisible, undervalued
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What the UNDP didnt show
Womens paid work
Mens paid work
3/4
1/3
Womens unpaid work
Mens unpaid work
1/4
2/3
Womens reproductive work
Menstrual cycle, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation
Mens reproductive work
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No society can progress half-liberated and
half-chained. Human development, if not
engendered, is fatally endangered.

• --- Mahbub ul Haq
• Principal Author and Coordinator
• 1995 UNDP Report

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• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR )
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and
  Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights (ICCPR)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

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Other International Documents

• Innocenti Declaration (1990)
• Beijing Platform for Action (1995)
• Both specifically mention protection for
  breastfeeding women at the workplace.

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ILO Conventions and Recommendations

• C3, 1919
• C103, 1952 (no longer open for ratification)
• R95, 1952
• C183, 2000
• R191, 2000
• Others (such as C184) that mention MP

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Regional Directives

• ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)
• CONOSUR
• EU (European Union)
• MERCOSUR
• NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
• OAU (Organisation of African Unity)
• SADC (Southern Africa Development Community)

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National or local laws

• Legislation may be drafted at various levels
• National or federal
• State, Province, Canton
• Local municipal, communal

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Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs)

• Agreements that affect an entire sector or
  profession
• Agreements between a specific union and an
  employer or a group of employers
• Agreements for a specific workplace

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Workplace Policies

• These policies can be
• Agreements for a specific workplace
• Agreements for a specific firm or corporation
• Policies of multinational corporations tend to
  differ from country to country, and in some cases
  from one plant to the other.

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Maternity protection is a precondition of
genuine equality of opportunity and treatment for
men and women.

• --- International Labour Organization,
• Maternity Protection at Work, p. 51, 1997

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Tools to aid women at work

• Innocenti Declaration
• WABAs Mother-Friendly Workplace
• Quezon City Declaration
• Maternity Protection Convention, C183
• Recommendation, R191
• ICFTU / PSI / EI Kit
• MP Coalition Action Kit
• GIMS

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Innocenti Target 4

• All governments should
• enact imaginative legislation protecting the
  breastfeeding rights of working women
• and establish means for its enforcement.

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Mother Friendly Workplace Initiative

• Time
• Biological rhythms, interactive time,
  institutional schedules and deadlines
• Space
• Mother and baby are a biological unit.
• Support
• Bf is valued. Women have many options.

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Quezon City Declaration

• Spread awareness of the importance of
  breastfeeding for optimal maternal and child
  health.
• Create and strengthen social security systems
  that recognize families reproductive and
  productive needs equally, in ways that do not
  lead to discrimination against women in the
  workplace.
• Act locally with women in the entire range of
  work situationsto empower them to realize their
  human rights as workers and mothers.

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The ILO

• International Labor Organization, a branch of the
  United Nations
• Goal social justice
• Tripartite structure governments, employers,
  workers
• Works to create a socially stable climate in
  which the wealth that is created by workers
  benefits the workers as well as their employers

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The ILO Maternity Protection

• MP a priority since 1919
• Protection for the health of mother baby
• Protection for the mothers job
• Two rationales
• special treatment (Women are different.)
• equal treatment and equal opportunity in
  employment (Women are the same.)

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Maternity Protection concepts

• Scopewho is covered?
• Leavematernityadditionalparental
• Benefitsmedicalcash
• Health protection
• Job protection
• Breastfeeding breaks
• Breastfeeding facilities

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ILOs C183 Maternity Protection Convention

• Adopted by ILO in 2000
• Sets international minimum standard
• 3 countries have ratified Slovakia, Italy,
  Bulgaria
• The Maternity Protection Coalition (IBFAN, WABA,
  ILCA, and Linkages) is advocating for
  ratification.

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ILOs C183 R191 Maternity Protection
Conventionand Recommendation, 2000

• Web address for ILO Conventions
• http//ilolex.ilo.ch1567/english/convdisp1.htm
• Web address for ILO Recommendations
• http//ilolex.ilo.ch1567/english/recdisp1.htm

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What we learned at ILO 1999-2000

• Some forces wanted to remove breastfeeding from
  the Convention entirely, or, if that failed, to
  weaken support for bf.
• The average person doesnt know much about
  breastfeeding.
• We had a lot to learn about the concerns of other
  sectors.

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Strategies from campaign at ILO conference,
1999-2000

• Place breastfeeding in a human rights context.
• Listen and learn.
• Focus on giving information.
• Provide real-life examples.
• Show economic value of breastfeeding
• to offset cost of bf protection

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Strategies from campaign at ILO conference,
1999-2000

• Use the opportunity to have input through
  advisory role with government delegations.
• Enlist the health sectorwe got strong support
  from WHO, UNICEF, ICN.
• Listen to the concerns of all partners educate
  ourselves about the wider issues.
• Link with TUs and womens NGOs.

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WABAs GIMSGlobal Initiative for Mother Support

• Calls for mother support
• in all parts of the world
• at all stages of the reproductive cycle
• Sectors that should give mother support
• Health care system
• Family
• Community
• Workplace

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ICFTU / PSI / EI Kit

• International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
  www.icftu.org
• Public Services International
• www.world-psi.org
• Education International www.ei-ie.org
• http//www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index991
  213340LanguageEN
• Click on campaign kit

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MP Coalition Action Kit

• Goal 1 to aid breastfeeding advocates to work
  for better MP laws better conditions for women
  at work, and to support ratification of C183
• Goal 2 to help trade unionists, employers, and
  governments understand their role in supporting
  breastfeeding

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MP Coalition Action Kit

• Plan preview at WABA Global Forum II in Arusha,
  Tanzania, September 2002
• Plan available through WABA Secretariat and
  IBFAN ILCA offices for cost of mailing
• Plan downloadable from the web

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Choosing your campaign path

• Ratify C183
• Improve MP laws nation, state/province
• Take a stepclose a gap
• Widen scope to include more women
• Work to set up a model one TU, one industry, one
  enterprise
• Propose a new scheme for financing benefits
• Inform women, TUs, and employers