A large EPSU delegation joined hundreds of other trade unionists from across Europe to celebrate 50 years of struggle for Europe’s workers and people. We ended the ETUC Congress with the election of a new team and the adoption of an action plan titled ‘Together for a Fair Deal for Workers in Europe’.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is recommending that governments should aim to increase the collective bargaining coverage rate among women in non-standard jobs as a way to close the gender pay gap. The report says that collective bargaining can be effective through targeted raises compensating for the concentration of women in low-paid industries; by establishing gender-neutral occupational classification schemes to correct the undervaluation of female-dominated occupations; measures promoting pay transparency; and gender-neutral evaluation criteria for
Low pay in female dominated sectors, gender-differences in precarious employment, uneven distribution of unpaid care work, persistent pay gap – what connects these issues is that they are all linked to and/or are reinforced by gender segregation on the labour market.
The CCOO and UGT trade union confederations report massive support for their two-shift strike action across the public and private sectors on 8 March in protest at the gender pay gap, precarious emploment and violence against women. The two two-hour stoppages took place from 11.30 to 13.30 and from 16.30 to 18.30. The unions say that over 100000 people joined rallies in front of town halls across the country and that the success of the action was the result of intensive preparation through thousands of trade union meetings, trade union statements and an well-organised information campaign in
Negotiations covering the public sector are due to begin in early January and unions have included action on equal pay as a priority. They want the employers to agree higher increases for sectors dominated by women. Unions say that comparing similar jobs requiring the same qualifications and training shows that those in sectors dominated by women are paid less than in a sector dominated by men. The FOA public services union argues this is an historic demand that requires coordinated action and it is pleased that has got the support of the many other unions in the public sector bargaining group
The FSC-CCOO and FeSP-UGT public service federations have called a strike on 16 October involving workers in the government's overseas services. The strike is in protest at the freezing of salaries for the 7000 workers in the service and increasingly precarious employment conditions. The unions say that the strike is necessary as there has been no response to their demands since a meeting a meeting in June and despite a number of other protests and actions so far in 2017.
A new report from the health federation of the CCOO confederation covering the period 2012-2016 confirms the union's concerns over a widening gender pay and employment gap in the health sector. The report finds that women tend to have more precarious contracts with many on temporary contracts while they make up the vast majority of part-time workers and both of these contribute to the persistent gender pay gap. The union wants to see equality plans produced in any health institutions that don't yet have them and existing plans updated. Along with the CCOO, the UGT trade union has called on the
(March 2017) Public services union JHL is calling for an extra pay increase for sectors dominated by women. The union chair Päivi Niemi-Laine said:"We need a separate round on top of the general increase. Women-dominated sectors have been kept in check and now we have to ensure that purchasing power remains strong in women-led fields." The union argues that action needs to be taken to address the persistent gender pay gap and that public salaries are being effectively cut by a decision to reduce holiday pay as part of the competitiveness deal negotiated last year.
