Header
Cell
News
Home
Background information
History
Links
Español
Contact




2017 Madrid conference "Meeting the rights of LGBTQI* people at the workplace"

("Los derechos de las personas LGBTQI* en el ambito laboral")



painture painture painture Madrid city hall Plaza mayor Panel 2 Reception after 1st day Food for thought Closure session CCOO Orgullo general poster ABVV and Bear pride flag Crowds

(Click for larger pictures)

The conference took place in the UGT headquarters, that hosted a special exposition on LGBTQI artists.
The programme for the conference was as follows:

                                                                                                                             Thursday, 29 June
09:30 - 10:30 Welcome and introduction Adela Carrió Ibáñez, Confederal Secretary UGT
Maria Raquel Gómez Merayo, member of the Confederal Secretariat of Women-CCOO
 
10:30 - 11:15 Panel 1: Defense of the LGBTQI* people's rights in the workplace
and the international trade union collaboration		 Moderator: Gemma Ramón, UGT
Thiébaut Weber, Confederal Secretary ETUC
Jorge Maeso, Secretariat of Social Policy and Diversity USMR-CCOO
Isabel López, Secretary of Social Policy, UGT
Debate
 
11:15 - 11:45 Coffee break
11:45 - 13:15 Panel 2: Rights of LGBTQI* workers across Europe:
issues, capacity and strategies at national level		 Moderator: Raquel Gómez, CCOO
Sandro Gallittu, CGIL Nuovi Diritti (Italy):
Awareness of issues affecting LGBTQI people on the workplace;
a focus on transgender workers: collective bargaining
and recognition of parental rights for LGBTQI workers
Michiel Odijk, Pink Network FNV/Netwerk Roze FNV (the Netherlands):
Trade union moral support to LGBTQI people;
trade unions and the defense of LGBTQI workers through court decisions
Valérie Baud, CFDT:
Trade unions as legitimate actors in LGBTQI rights defense;
co-operation and partnerships with civil society
Jenny Renner, DGB:
General Act on Equal Treatment
content, flaws and meaning for the rights of LGBTQI workers in Germany;
the blockade of the Council Directive 2008/426 by the German government
 
13:15 - 14:30 Lunch
14:30 - 16:30 European trade unionism in the forefront
of LGBTQI* workers' rights		 Moderator: Santos Félix, UGT
Maria Exall, TUC:
The challenges of Brexit to equality and non-discrimination:
what can trade unions do?
Rebeca Sevilla, Education International:
Trade union successful strategies: links with the global perspective
Thiébaut Weber, ETUC:
The European level perspective; challenges, parths for progress, actions.
 
16:30 - 18:30
 
First drafting session of the
Trade Union Declaration for Madrid World Pride 2017
 
 
                                                                                                                             Friday, 30 June
09:30 - 11:00 Panel 3: Eradicate LGBTIQ*-phobia Moderator: Pilar Rato, CCOO
José Joaquín Álvarez, Duque de Rivas Vaciamadrid Highschool.
                                       Click here for an interview (in Spanish)
                                       And here for the production made
                                       to combat homophobia ("Al mismo son" - "At the same sound")
José Ignacio Pichardo Galán, University Complutense of Madrid (UCM)
Uge Sangil, Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Transexuales y Bisexuales (FELGBT)
 
11:10 - 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00  
Second drafting session, closing and presentation of the
Trade Union Declaration for Madrid World Pride 2017
Press conference.
 


Trade union conference Madrid: proper implementation of the social pillar of the European Union
One of the points of criticism about the European Union is that commercial interests are central in its policies.
That is why the initiative to create a social pillar is important.
Especially if it comes to the position of lesbian women, gays, trans people, queers and people with an intersex status (LGBTQIs)
on the labour market and the workplace, but also in other facets of their lives.

This is an element of the closing document of a conference in Madrid in the Summer of 2017, organised by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in co-operation with the Spanish trade union organisations CCOO (Comisiones Obreras) and UGT.
This was the first time that an international trade union conference had been linked to a World Pride celebration.
But the conference was also historical before it happened to coincide with a decision in the German parliament to open up marriage for same-sex couples. During the breaks and meals, German representatives were anxious to watch the parliamentary debates on their tablets.
The German federal chancellor Merkel had blocked same-sex marriages for many years, but now she had to give in.
At the conference people speculated if she would also give in ad for the so-called horizontal directive.
This is an initiative to amend the anti-discrimination policies in the European Union, ensuring that discrimination will be prohibed on any ground (mentioned in the treaties) and in all areas of life.
At this moment, the anti-discrimination policies of the Union are a patchwork of directives, some providing more protection than others. This means that although there is a protection for workers against discrimination based on sexual orientation, Europe provides less protection to LGBTQIs if it comes to their health care, education, goods and services.
A horizontal directive - covering all discrimination grounds and all areas of life - is waiting for aproval by the member states, but Germany has been a strong opponent thusfar.

The Madrid conference took place in the headquarters of the UGT(= Union General de Trabajadores, General Workers' Union). For this occasion it offered an exhibition about famous historical LGBTQIs.

In February 2017 the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC, in French and Spanish knows as CES)and its educational training organisation ETUI organised in Brussels a training for members of the European network of trade union representatives working on LGBTQI policies all around Europe. During this training, it became clear that although the European Union has obligated member states to implement legislation against discrimination, only few cases of discrimination are brought before the courts. This does not mean that discrimination does not exist, but there seems to be a reluntance towards legal procedures.
Why do workers hesitate to bring cases of discrmination before their courts? The reasons are not clear. But only if more cases of discrimination are legally blocked, awareness of the anti-discrimination legislation can be raised, was the general opinion during the course. At the Madrid conference some contributions were dedicated to the issue.

The closing document of the Madrid conference can be found here.