Fórsa’s probation branch will be running a clothing drive to mark International Women’s Day (IWD) on Friday (8th March). The event will support ‘Dress for Success Dublin,’ an organisation that helps women to access employment.

The branch is collecting suits, shirts, unworn tights, shoes, handbags and jewellery. Donations are welcome any time before March 8th to Fiona Daly on the fourth floor and Linda or Mary on the first floor at 9 Haymarket, Smithfield, Dublin 7.

Dress for Success campaigned alongside Fórsa and multiple other groups for the introduction of gender pay gap reporting legislation in Ireland. If enacted, the law would oblige companies above a certain size to publish details of their gender pay gap. The Bill is currently before the Dáil, having passed through the Seanad last October.

The gender pay gap in Ireland today is approximately 14% which is significant to the theme for this IWD - #BalanceforBetter.

Also on this IWD, Fórsa president Ann McGee will speak on a panel at the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s (ICTU) Women’s Committee seminar. The panel, to be chaired by ICTU president Sheila Nunan, will discuss the challenges and opportunities that women in leadership positions face in the trade union movement. Contributors include leading women from various unions across Ireland and the UK.

The event takes place on Thursday and Friday (7th and 8th of March) in Newcastle, County Down, and you can follow proceedings on our Twitter.

At the international level, the European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU), of which Fórsa is an affiliate, is sending a delegation to the 63rd UN Commission on the Status of Women. This global event coincides with IWD, and will examine the theme of “social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

For more information on this you can follow the hashtags #IWD #EPSUIWD and #publicservicesforequality on Friday.