NWC Annual School 7th to 9th MArch 2008
Wortley Hall

60 Students and 31 Children attended the 2008 FBU Women’s school held at Wortley Hall, near Sheffield between 7th and 9th March. A timely event, encompassing International Women’s Day and covering a range of issues from Equal Pay, How the Vote was Won, Responding to the National FRS Equality and Diversity Strategy and Women in Iraq - ensured wide debate and inclusion of all.

Our Sororal guests (women firefighters) from New South Wales and Tasmania Fire departments gave interesting input on the political scene for Women in overseas FRS’s and our Guest Speaker from the Iraqi Women’s league, Dr Shatha Beserani gave a fantastic account of life for Iraqi women after the Invasion of Iraq.

Shatha told us how it is for Women and Children still living in Iraq, many widowed or orphaned, how the involvement of trade unions, and international aid is crucial to the rebuilding of their cities and how – by acting collectively, the Iraqi Women’s League have re-instated from the rubble in towns like Basra, libraries and schoolrooms to enable communities to function and grow.

A collection at the school for the IWL raised £545.

8 workshops ran this year over the weekend, and evening sessions ran showing DVD’s on the TUC Equal Pay archives and the NYFD film “taking the heat” which was requested again and again over the weekend period.

On International Women’s day morning, the General Secretary addressed the school and in the evening, a banner procession and mass meeting/celebration was held in the ballroom presenting the work of the “Young trade unionists” in attendance and contributions from guests and students alike celebrating the event.

Sunday morning was utilised as a 3 hour session collating the FBU Women’s response to the Equality and Diversity strategy and questionnaire outcomes, soon to be released by CLG. Hopefully to assist in arming our members with the tools they may require in dealing with the forthcoming survey results and probable backlash and how to assist brigades in addressing the outstanding issues surrounding Equality in their FRS’s. These workshop outcomes were wonderful and will be fed back into the relevant channels via John McGhee’s office.

The feedback from the school was fantastic and there is a definite thirst for political, feminist and equality education amongst our women members and officials. Professor Mary Davis’s sessions linking the working class struggle with Class and Gender politics and Feminist/Socialist Politics would, it has been suggested by many women in their feedback results, be a lesson to all of our members in translating the adage ‘Unity is Strength’.

The National Women’s Committee did a wonderful job of organising and accomplishing the whole event, which simply couldn’t take place in the format it is and as accessibly as it is today without the services of our Creche workers who enable many women members who usually wouldn’t, to access FBU education. The usual breakdowns of the monitoring process information will also be completed in the near future, allowing proper evaluation of the event and it’s attendees.

For information, the Workshop sessions were:

Workplace Bullying

How the Vote was won- The east London federation of suffragettes and the significance of Sylvia Pankhurst.

Women and the Women’s movement today.

Finding your voice- learn to speak up.

Women’s health and Safety.

Women in the fire service.

Depression and Post Natal Depression.

Do women have a ‘best before’ date?- the media portrayal of women and attitudes towards ageing.

© Fire Brigades Union
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Published by Fire Brigades Union National Women's Committee