World Menopause Day is held every year on October 18 to raise awareness, break the stigma and improve health and well-being for those experiencing menopause. The IUF 28th Congress adopted a resolution on menopause, a first for the IUF, affirming menopause as a workplace and trade union issue, and for the first time we are marking World Menopause Day.
Menopause is a natural process that every woman, usually between the ages of 45 and 55, will experience. Although the experience is varied and individual, seven out of ten women experience symptoms associated with the menopause, including sweating, hot flushes, mood swings, difficulty sleeping and brain fog; misdiagnoses can lead to complications for women in the workplace. As the IUF continues to implement a gender approach to health and safety, we need to build supportive and informed workplaces where menopause is neither a source of embarrassment nor stigma.
The resolution:
- Encourages trade unions to negotiate with employers a holistic workplace menopause policy that shall be integrated in the health and safety policy, for example appropriate workwear
- Calls on affiliates to raise awareness on menopause including in health care, develop training for union representatives, and actively work to prevent exclusion from work, study or society due to menopause
Sue Longley, IUF General Secretary stated, “Trade union awareness of menopause as a health and safety issue builds equality between women and men, fights against age discrimination, and protects against lost hours which is key to correcting the gender pay gap. It’s part of our toolkit for fighting against discrimination, economic injustice and inequality in the world of work.”
