Jane Nellist, Former NUT NEC member
Avanti West Coast train company provoked quite a backlash over its menopause ‘gift pack’ given out to women employees recently. Hardly a gift pack, it contained a number of items, including a jelly baby, a paper clip, a fan, a pencil, one penny and a tissue – all with a supposedly humorous point to link the items to menopause symptoms.
Patronising statements such as a jelly baby ‘If you need to bite someone’s head off’ or ‘A pencil to write down things you might forget’!
But the menopause is certainly no laughing matter. It requires practical support from employers, with suitable policies to support women in employment, such as access to toilets, adequate breaks, and a sympathetic manager who has been trained to support women to remain in work during this time.
Both Aslef and TSSA unions rightly criticised the company for failing to take the issue seriously, and not ensuring adequate workplace policies and practical measures to support employees experiencing the symptoms of menopause.
A recent survey of 11,000 women union members, conducted by Unite the Union, found that 9,000 had no access to support for the menopause. That is disgraceful considering what we know about the menopause and how it impacts women.
Women workers are being forced to take early retirement due to the lack of support, impacting on their life as they retire. For most women, it is a temporary condition and, if supported, they can continue to work very successfully.
I’m really proud that through a motion Socialist Party members took to the National Union of Teachers (NUT – now NEU) conference in 2011, a union with the majority of the workforce being women, a campaign was launched to support women members, with model policies for employers and training for reps and union officers.
There is absolutely no excuse for women experiencing the menopause to be discriminated against because of the symptoms they may experience.
