Today we celebrate the women in our lives – those that nurtured us, support us, our siblings and are amongst our family and friends.
We also commemorate the women who have made great strides for the inclusion of women in all aspects of society and industry and are the role models for
our young women of today.
Firefighting is often wrongly maligned as being anti-women or discriminatory because it is a traditionally male-dominated workforce. Firefighters and fire
services have worked hard over the past decade to change that view and to make changes to ensure that women aspire to a career as a firefighter, and
are warmly accepted as part of the crew. As with every workplace we can always do better and today we reflect on how far we have come and what still
needs to be done.
FENZ has a Women’s Development team who support women in their employment across FENZ, but also help with those that want to make their workplace more
inclusive. The NZPFU has welcomed the establishment of this team and touch base regularly to ensure we are across their action plans and work.
Today we encourage our social-media savvy members to use the hash tag #BalanceforBetter to promote the benefits of an inclusive workplace.
This morning Members can also stream a special International Womens Day breakfast being held in Parliament with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as keynote
speaker. This breakfast can be streamed via the following links:
In unity
Wattie Watson
Madam Secretary
