First Nautilus Women's course at Ruskin

From March 20th-22nd, the International Labour and Trade Union Studies department ran a weekend course for women from the seafarers union, Nautilus. 

Tracy Walsh, ILTUS tutor, co-ordinated the weekend with Blossom Bell, Nautilus Recruitment Advisor and speakers included Mieke den Hollander, a lawyer from the Nautilus Rotterdam office, Carolyn Lewis from Port Welfare and Sarah Robinson, a journalist from Nautilus UK.  

Nine women attended the weekend workshops, which included what is a Trade Union for, a history of the Women’s Movement and dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.  

Some of the comments on the course evaluation forms:  

"Well organised, it has made me more aware and armed with skills I can use every day".
 
"The discussions were dynamic". 

"Helped me to talk to a group of people with confidence". 

"Good for networking and team building". 

"Sharing experiences and ideas". 

"Course content was extremely well structured".

The participants concluded that they needed to form a Women’s Advisory Committee within their union and proposed a motion to take forward to the AGM in June 2010.  

Tracy Walsh  

March 2010.