This is the section of the General Secretary's report to RMT's 2009 AGM concerning the the union's work on women workers' issues ...

Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers - Rest Facilities

The lack of suitable rest facilities for pregnant women and nursing mothers was fully aired during the debate at last year's AGM. As a result of the resolution carried, I wrote to all lead officers instructing them to raise the points of the resolution to ensure all companies are complying with their legal obligations under health and safety laws.

Copies of the HSE's guidance on the provision of rest facilities were given to lead officers to assist them. However, I was clear that we should be aiming to build on the guidance which only sets out minimum standards. To date, not one company has admitted to not complying with the legal requirements; in some companies the matter is being looked at by joint safety committees; some companies are still to respond. Once all the information is in, consideration will have to be given as to how best to check that the companies comply. The most effective way is for women to complain if they do not. The information will be posted on our website.

Anti-Social Hours, Shifts & Short Notice Duty Changes

Juggling the responsibilities of childcare and work is difficult, especially for those who work rosters.

For those who work as reserve/cover/pool staff and are subject to late-notice duty changes, combining these responsibilities can be a nightmare. An agreement with London Underground means that management are supposed to ask the individual before changing shifts.

I have asked all lead Officers to raise this issue with companies to ensure that suitable agreements are in place to ensure some degree of certainty for the members affected. A progress report will be placed before the Council of Executives to monitor the situation.

Abortion Rights Campaign

We continue to support the Abortion Rights Campaign and have been pleased to circulate information about events organised to counter the threats that have increasingly emerged to restrict abortion. A speaker from the campaign addressed our National Women's Conference this year to encourage our activists to get involved in local campaigning.

One of our resolutions to the STUC Women's Conference sought to extend a woman's right to choose by the repeal of the legal requirement to have two doctors' signatures before an abortion can take place. The resolution also wished to add support to any campaign by our sisters in Northern Ireland to extend the Abortion Act to Northern Ireland.

Menopause Policies

The lack of workplace policies to assist those women who are adversely affected by the menopause is something we are trying to redress. We have used a TUC report to glean best practice and ask companies to incorporate it within their policies. When asking lead Officers to raise this matter, it was suggested that they would wish to discuss this subject with women reps within each company or women activists to ensure any policy is acceptable to those that it is supposed to assist. Again, this is a matter that will be reviewed by the Council of Executives to ensure progress is made.

Women's Safety

The issue of women's safety formed the basis of a resolution moved by our delegates to both the STUC and Wales TUC Women's Conferences. We asked that railway stations should be re-staffed, especially in the evenings. We recognised that women should not be deterred from travelling at any time of day because of lack of staff. The re-staffing of stations would create a better environment for passengers but importantly for our members.

Flexible Working

High on the list of queries received on equality issues is that of flexible working. It is clear that the transport industry has not embraced the concept of flexible working. Many members, especially women see their applications turned down without proper consideration. Unfortunately the law does not provide a remedy in most cases. The right to request to work flexibly has been extended over the past few years, initially for those with child under six or children with a disability, then to those defined as carers. This year saw the age limit applying to children raised to 16 years, which means that more people will be exercising their right to request. Research shows that flexible working can be accommodated and that where it is not restricted to those who have the statutory right to apply, it is more widely accepted in principle. We will continue to pursue the Union's policy of flexible working both industrially and more widely politically through our political group.