By Unite the Union’s Equality Committee

Unite the Union’s Equality Committee stands with women all over the world in the fight for equal opportunities and justice for women everywhere. 

We come together in support of this year’s theme, a planet 50-50 where by 2030 we aim to ensure all children get quality education. We want to fight for a world where discrimination, violence, exploitation and trafficking against girls and women are eradicated. We want to fight for a world where child marriage and genital mutilation no longer exist. 

Thankfully Gibraltar, for the most part, is sheltered from the worst of these appalling situations but we must not ignore our own internal battles whilst supporting the bigger battles worldwide. We must look into our own issues within our community, the fact that there are no female firefighters in a modern 21st century and why so few women are in politics and top ranking positions within the working environment. We must change the concept of some jobs being only for boys and others only for girls. We need to bring up our daughters thinking that they can be whatever they want to be and that it’s not ‘a man’s world’ but a world in which a woman is empowered to have success and have choices. 

Unite the Union takes this opportunity to give recognition to Mrs Eileen Barcio for her long service as a Prison Officer, overcoming gendered discrimination at the workplace, and for her selfless service to the community. Mrs Barcio had been a supply worker at the Prison Service in Gibraltar for over 30 years, the longest period a person had ever served as a supply worker. 

At the time, women prison officers predominantly in charge of women prisoners were unable to obtain permanent and pensionable jobs in contrast to their male colleagues. This was the reality of gendered policies that made a distinction between male and female prisoners and staff. The practice was wholly discriminatory where Unite made representations for many years in order to rectify this wrong, and where finally, the current Government acknowledged this discrepancy and regularised all women officers on supply workers onto permanent and pensionable posts.

Eileen Barcio is a woman that has shown strength, determination and humbleness, enduring over 30 years of financial instability, brought up three children as a single parent, and had periods of very poor health, yet gave selflessly of herself for the benefit of the community serving as a Scout Leader in the 1st/4th pack. 

Unite the Union’s Equality Committee feel it right and just that Eileen receives the tributes and public acknowledgement that she deserves. A clear example and reference to Gibraltarian women, irrespective of age or background, that no matter the hardship, women have the strength of will and character to endure and overcome all of their obstacles. We wish Eileen all the best in her recent retirement which she profoundly deserves on this International Women’s Day 2017.