Overview
This exercise will help participants gain insight into how trade unions and employers can work together to develop collective bargaining agreements to set out policies and procedures. They will analyse case scenarios and assess whether they can be adapted to and adopted in their contexts. The activity is split in two parts: in the first part participants analyse elements of good practice, in the second part they imagine how these can be adapted to their contexts.
Suggested time
60 – 120 minutes
Target groups
Stakeholders wishing to develop actions to address gender based violence at work, through social dialogue.
Aims
- To discuss the role of the different stakeholders in actions to address gender-based violence in the world of work
- To identify elements of success in examples of actions to address gender-based violence through social dialogue.
- To define strategies to address gender-based violence in social dialogue processes.
Preparation
Select some of the examples of good practice illustrated in the Case Studies of Module 8, (Examples of social dialogue to address sexual harassment or gender based violence) as relevant to the context of participants, and make copies for the different groups.
Time/Steps
Part 1: Analysing successful cases
Step 1: Case study (suggested time: 30 minutes)
Each small group will be assigned one Case Study. Participants will first individually read and then discuss the Case Study, using the guiding questions below:
- Who were the key stakeholders in the case study?
- What made it possible for the initiative to succeed?
- What are the most important results?
- What could be future obstacles to the successful continuation of the initiative?
A rapporteur will note the most important points on a flip chart.
Step 2: Sharing in plenary (suggested time 30 minutes)
- Each group will have 5 minutes to report on their discussion. Plenary discussion will follow, and the facilitator will encourage participants to choose the practice they feel as more relevant to their own context.
Part 2 : Adapting and adopting
Step 3: Adapting to context (suggested time 30 minutes)
- On the basis of the previous presentations, participants will choose the practice that they deem more relevant to their workplace contexts, and join that group. Group composition may therefore change, if needed. In groups, participants will discuss how the case could be possibly adapted to their contexts. Leading questions will be:
- Would it be possible to adapt this practice to your context?
- What would you/your organization need for such a plan to happen in terms of:
- Capacities?
- Resources?
- Partnerships?
Step 4: Mapping the process (suggested time: 30 minutes) (optional)
In this last part of the exercise participants will imagine, in groups or individually, the various stages of the process of getting their plan from idea to completion.
They will have to take into account what already exists that is,
- Is all the necessary legislation in place?
- Are there institutions with adequate capacity to support their plan?
- Which stakeholders would they need to involve? Employers? Workers? Women’s NGOs? Local government? Media?
- How would company managers and supervisors be involved?
- How would workers, both women and men, be directly involved in the plan?
- When would each action take place?
Each step will be written on a post-it note or large card, so as to draw a process map. The process map should include all the sub-level activities required to bring the plan to completion, including how to monitor and evaluate results.
Step 5: Peer review (suggested time: 20 minutes)
This exercise can be run by pairing participants, or groups, so that they can “peer review” each other’s plans. Participants or groups will present their process maps to one other and ask them to discuss their ideas and, in particular, any assumptions or risks that need to be considered (10 minutes each). Mutual feedback will help them improve their plans.
How to adapt it
This activity can be made shorter by selecting only one good practice and asking participants to discuss directly how they would be able to adapt it to their contexts. If participants have literacy/language difficulties, the facilitator can summarize the case study and present it in its main points.
Tips
Make sure that during the peer review all groups have a possibility to give and receive feedback. Make sure that everyone are aware of the importance of peer learning and active listening.
Resources
Paper copies of Case Studies selected from Module 8.
