BWI 5th World Congress: "Breathtaking to see many women unionists!"

Lisa Zanatta, a qualified Carpenter and Joiner by occupation, and currently working as an organiser and women’s Officer for the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Australia is one of the more than 700 trade union delegates who attended BWI’s 5^th World Congress in Madrid, Spain. 

Lisa, who is also a Titular Member of BWI’s Asia Pacific Regional Women’s Committee, said that she is both excited and inspired to learn from and share her experiences with fellow delegates.

“At the Global Women in Trades Conference today, it has been simply breathtaking to witness the amount of diversity in the room – women from different parts of the world are here and all of us, women everywhere have similar issues, similar concerns and similar challenges – level or degree may vary. Also, low numbers of women in the construction sector and the need to bring more women in the trade unions and in the leadership positions, have emerged strongly. Attracting women to the trade union movement, recruiting and retaining them in the unions is what we are working on and campaigning for. This has been echoed throughout the conference today," Zanatta said.

"I am looking forward to the Congress deliberations – the agenda is engaging and progressive. I am sure that this is going to be an informative and an incredible experience for all the delegates,” Zanatta added.