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6 March, 2007March 2007
1. Finland – Study on Working Conditions Reveals Gaps in Male and Female Employment
2. ITUC: Message on 8th of March
3. Japan – Number of Part-time Workers Declines
4. Malta – Malta has one of the Lowest Gender Pay Gaps
5. Mexico – New Law Passed on Violence against Women
6. Nepal – GEFONT Organises Domestic Workers
7. Spain – CCOO and UGT Issue Joint Statement on International Women’s Day
8. Thailand – Thailand Women’s Forum Held
9. Turkey – Petrol-Iş Sponsors Women Writers
10. United Kingdom – Single Women Do less Housework
11. United States – 3-Day ‘Sisters on the Frontline’ Seminar in NYC in late March
12. Resources
1. Finland – Study on Working Conditions Reveals Gaps in Male and Female Employment
A recent study on employment in Europe indicates the differences in employment between women and men. Sweden and Finland are the countries with the lowest gaps. In Finland, the low gap is due to the fact that the rate of female employment is very high and the rate of male employment is low.
Working conditions in Europe have remained relatively stable over the past few years in spite of the increases in part-time and temporary work and the greater number of women working.
The following figures indicate the levels of male and female employment in 31 countries in Europe and refer to 2004:
For more information, see: Fourth European Working Conditions Surveys
2. ITUC: Message on 8th of March
This year, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is launching a campaign on maternity protection for 8 March. The aim is to promote governments ratifying ILO Convention 183. The ITUC has resources and tools available for this purpose, including a new video on the informal economy. To find out more, see: www.ituc-csi.org.
3. Japan – Number of Part-time Workers Declines
In the midst of an economic recovery in Japan, employers are hiring more full-time workers, after the number of part-timers reached a record high in 2005. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare presented figures to the government, which indicate that the level has reached a five-year low.
Part-timers are defined as those who work less than 35 hours a week. They make up 22.5% of total employment, which is a 1.5% decline. Over 8.6 million women work part-time, as opposed to 3.4 million men.
4. Malta – Malta has one of the Lowest Gender Pay Gaps
A new report from the European Commission details the gender-related differences in pay earned by women and men. These 2007 conclusions are very similar to those presented over the past few years. The biggest differences in pay, between 20 to 25%, are in Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia, Germany, and the UK, while the lowest differences, under 5%, can be found in Malta and Portugal.
Some countries have been forcing companies to provide detailed arguments for their pay discrepancies, and this pressure has contributed to some improvement. Public sector pay gaps are generally less striking than in the private sector, where the typical pay gap is 25%.
The EU Commission argues for more and better childcare facilities to enable women to pursue careers, because women often have no choice but to work part-time in order to continue looking after their families. All over Europe, 32.9% of women work part-time as opposed to 7.7% of men. The highest number of part-timers is in the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, UK, and Germany. However, very few women work part-time in the new member states.
5. Mexico – New Law Passed on Violence against Women
A new law was passed in February in Mexico to provide tools for fighting violence against women. The law ensures involvement by the police at all levels, the courts, media and schools.
By law, the Ministry of the Interior can call an emergency due to an outbreak of gender violence to enable the response to be coordinated by the federal and local police and the courts. Measures to protect women must be taken, such as removing the aggressor from home.
A national education campaign is now running, and a national data base is being created to document cases of violence against women. Studies are being done to diagnose the extent of the violence, and more women’s shelters are being promoted.
The law orders gender training for police, prosecutors and other relevant officials. The government has been sponsoring ads on radio and television to warn perpetrators of violence that they will be punished.
It is hoped that the law will improve the situation in a country where the murder rate of women due to violence is high. Seventy-five percent of these women are murdered by their husbands. Impunity has perpetuated these crimes, and means that the many murders in Ciudad Juarez, on the border with the US, have gone unpunished up to now. But now the law will hopefully provide some justice.
6. Nepal – GEFONT Organises Domestic Workers
GEFONT organised a meeting of domestic workers on 2 February which culminated in the formation of the Nepal Independent Domestic Workers’ Union with a 13-member coordinating committee. The union will be registered as a national federation. This year, a national convention will be held. More than 200 domestic workers from the Katmandu Valley participated in the event.
7. Spain – CCOO and UGT Issue Joint Statement on International Women’s Day
The 8 March Manifesto, issued by the two Spanish confederations, CCOO and UGT, passes in review the highs and lows of the past year. One of the highs was the new Spanish equal opportunities law, which provides for the negotiation of equality plans in companies with more than 250 employees, 13 days of paternity leave, and more flexible requirements for maternity pay and subsidies.
Not all has been rosy, however, especially outside of Spain – where hundreds of women are murdered in Mexico and Guatemala, connivance by the police in rapes in Nigeria, and women stoned to death in Iran. CCOO and UGT have been involved in the fight to achieve the millennium development goals.
Spanish women still lag behind other women in Europe. While the average rate of women’s employment in the rest of Europe is 57.4%, in Spain it is only 54.1%. Women’s rate of unemployment in countries outside of Spain is 9%, whereas in Spain it is 12.2%. However, agreements have been reached in the framework of social dialogue which will hopefully improve this situation.
Collective bargaining has also contributed to positive developments, with 52% of collective agreements containing clauses on non-discrimination or gender equality.
From our readers:
Carol Fraser of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) union of Canada sends greetings on International Women’s Day, as well as links to two sites in Canada to celebrate the day: www.cfc-swc.gc.ca/dates/iwd/index_e.html where it is a question of taking real action against violence against women and www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/index.asp which indicates activities that can be done in schools.
8. Thailand – Thailand Women’s Forum Held
The Thailand Women’s Forum was held in Bangkok on 3 and 4 March to celebrate Women’s Day. The forum was intended to provide space for exchange and sharing between women, men, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, people living with HIV and civil organisations who work for democracy, protest unfair trade, protect their communities and fight for women’s rights.
Discussions focused on neo-liberalism and free trade agreements, health, gender roles, sexual relationships, oppression from customs and religion and building alternatives. The forum was organised by Thai Labour Campaign, among other sponsors.
9. Turkey – Petrol-Iş Sponsors Women Writers
In this month of March 2007, Petrol-Iş has launched a contest for women to write stories. All women home workers, factory workers, public workers, temporary workers, non-unionised, sub-contracted workers, women at home or outside the home are possible themes for the contest.
The stories must not have been published before. Professional or non-professional writers are eligible to participate. Anyone can send in stories of between 3 and 10 pages, and the deadline is 25 March. A women’s jury will be judging the entries, and First, Second, and Third Place given.
Petrol-Iş will publish all stories. The results will be declared on 2 May and prizes awarded at Petrol-Iş headquarters.
Please see also ICEM’s InBrief of 26 February, or the ICEM Circular on the ICEM’s home page for information on the Petrol-Iş strike against Fresenius. A remarkable group of women are on strike at this medical facility in Turkey, and they deserve whatever support we can generate.
All are invited to take action on 8 March through www.icem.org, where a model letter of support is available in different languages.
10. United Kingdom – Single Women Do less Housework
Single women do an average of ten hours of housework a week, while it increases to 15 hours when they live as a couple. Men, on the other hand, spend seven hours on housework when they are single, with it reduces to five when they live in a couple.
The conclusion is that gender inequalities at home have a major influence on gender inequalities at work, and vice versa.
What is needed is for women to gain equal employment opportunities and to start doing the same jobs as men and achieve pay parity. Nevertheless it will still take time for people to change cultures.
The Print, Paper, Publishing and Media Section of ICEM affiliate Amicus has published a very interesting newsletter for Women’s International Day. This timely and informative newsletter promises to assure all women in this sector that they will be made aware of opportunities within UK’s largest union to participate and be involved in the wider union and its democratic structures.
The Equalities Department of Amicus also has an International Women’s Day page, which encourages trade unionists to send messages of support to women across the world through the union’s global trade union links. Throughout March, the Amicus page will be updated with information throughout the world. The page can be found at http://www.amicustheunion.org/Default.aspx?page=5797.
In London on 8 March, a unique panel discussion and viewing of the short film “In the Name of Honor” by Reza Moradi, an Iranian free-speech advocate. The seminar, entitled “Women’s Rights, the Veil and Islamic and Religious Laws, is sponsored by the International Campaign in Defense of Women’s Rights in Iran, the UK and National Secular Society, and the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.
It will take place from 6 PM until 10 PM on 8 March, in Room 3D of the University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY. (The nearest Underground stops are Russell Street or Goodge Street.)
11. United States – 3-Day ‘Sisters on the Frontline’ Seminar in NYC in late March
Cornell University’s Institute for Women and Work, the university’s Labor Program, the New York State AFL-CIO, and City University of New York’s (CUNY) Murphy Center for Labor, Community and Policy Studies will conduct a series of workshops on 30-31 March, and 1 April.
Called “Sisters on the Frontline: Organising Women and Building Power,” the sponsors are billing it as the first women organisers’ conference in the US that will bring together women organisers, scholars, officials, and leaders of labour organisations.
The conference’s aims are to generate ideas and methodology to overcome the challenges for women in labour unions and community-based organisations; and to identify the challenges to recruit and retain women in such organisations. One session in the three-day set of workshops and panel discussions is called “How to Rock the Boat without Getting Thrown Off.”
The conference will take place at CUNY’s Murphy Center, 25 W. 43rd Street in Manhattan, and the conference’s programme and agenda is at
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/iww/events/
sistersFrontline.html.
Registration fee is US$50.00, and scholarships are available. Contact Francine Moccio of Cornell at [email protected] for further information.
12. Resources
http://www.cimacnoticias.com/site is a Mexican site with news from a gender perspective (in Spanish).
http://www.unfpa.org/publications/detail.cfm?ID=322
includes a publication called Programming to Address Violence Against Women: Ten Case Studies.