Denmark
The FOA public services union argues that women should take the rest of the year off because of the scale of the gender pay gap. On average women are paid 18% less than men which effectively is like being paid only for 10 months a year and so they should refuse to work from 1 November until the end of the year. FOA argues that efforts to close the gender pay gap have been piecemeal and what is needed is major and coordinated action.
Read more at > FOA (DK)
21 October is marked as equal pay day in Austria where the gender pay gap is one of the biggest in Europe at 19.7%. This is based on a full-time woman worker getting an average of EUR 41785 compared to EUR 52033 for a man. This is the equivalent of women working for free for 72 days - hence setting the date as 21 October. Unions highlight the problems of part-time work and unpaid care as contributing to the problem. While 47% of women work part time only 11% of men do.
The strike by nurses at the Norwegian Cancer Society has passed the 100-day mark and the NSF trade union is determined to maintain the action. The strike, the longest by nurses in Norway, is in protest at the Society's decision to switch employer organisations and by so doing sign up to a different collective agreement which means poorer pay and conditions for the nurses. The strike has received widespread support not only from the trade union movement but also from patient and retirement associations.
The Pardia state sector union and STTK confederation marked 28 October as equal pay day. According to data from Statistics Finland, women's pay in Finland is only 84,2% of men's. Converted into an annual pay, women's wages have effectively been paid by 28 October and work "without pay" for the rest of the year. One issue being raised by the unions is the legal requirement on employers to draw up an annual gender equality plan, including a pay survey. However, the evidence shows that the pay survey is often neglected, or it does not lead to action. [Read more at > Pardia (EN)->http://www.pardia
