Read this article in:
9 March, 2006MARCH 2006
Contents
1. Australia - Companies Benefit from Treating Women Workers Well
2. Brazil – Women of Colour Receive Half Pay
3. China – More Protection for Female Migrant Workers?
4. European Union – Eurostat Publishes Statistics; Commission Issues Gender Equality Roadmap
5. France – Parliament Adopts Law to Allow Equal Pay for Women
6. ICFTU – International Women’s Day – Organising Campaign II
7. South Africa – National Union of Mineworkers Holds 3rd National Women’s Conference
8. Spain – Equality Law between Men and Women; Agreement to Promote Women in Traditional Men’s Jobs
9. UNICEF – 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation
10. United Kingdom – Women and Work Commission Issues “Shaping a Fairer Future” Report
11. Resources
1. Australia – Companies Benefit from Treating Women Workers Well
Forward-thinking businesses in South Australia are reaping the benefits of treating their female staff well. Paid maternity leave, part-time work and mentoring are features that draw bright female employees to companies with “Employer of Choice for Women” citations. The awards were presented on 21 February 2006 by the Women in the Workplace Agency to a total of 116 companies nationally.
Employees are seen to be selective about where they want to work, and many women use the list as a guide. As a rule, the listed employers have higher numbers of women at senior levels, succession plans for women in management, development plans for high achievers, paid maternity leave, high maternity leave retention rates and the ability to work part-time at all levels.
2. Brazil – Women of Colour Receive Half Pay
Women of colour in Brazil receive, on average, half the wages paid to white female workers. This was one of the findings of a survey conducted by the Special Secretariat for Women’s Policies, based on data gathered between July and September 2005 in six Brazilian state capitals.
According to the study, the biggest difference exists in the city of Salvador, Bahia, where women of colour receive on average US$247 per month, compared with white women’s US$598 per month. In Rio de Janeiro, white female workers received US$468 per month, while their black counterparts earned half this amount.
The data indicate that the government should make a greater effort to address the issue of race and gender, invest in schooling and job training for women, and raise awareness about workers’ rights.
The study, which was completed in December 2005, covered the cities of Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Recife and Porto Alegre. The research was based on data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics’ (IBGE) Monthly Employment Survey. (Source: Public Services International)
3. China – More Protection for Female Migrant Workers?
The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is stepping up its efforts to protect more migrant workers, especially women, according to a senior official. The ACFTU will work out rules to prevent female migrant workers from doing overtime and protect them from suffering from occupational diseases and sexual harassment. Surveys in different cities show that employers did not abide by the rules when hiring rural women.
Trade unions in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province found that 60 percent of female migrants who were questioned in the provincial capital Harbin did not sign labour contracts with their employers, and 62 percent of them suffered wage defaults. About 653,000 migrants were working in the city last year, and 35 percent of them were women.
4. European Union – Eurostat Publishes Statistics; Commission Issues Gender Equality Roadmap
In conjunction with the International Women’s Day on 8 March 2006, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Community, publishes statistics to provide information on women and men in the European Union (EU). For example, women in the EU live, on average, 6 years longer than men. More women than men aged 20 to 24 had completed at least upper secondary education in 2005 (80% of women compared to 75% of men). Almost a third of managers in the EU are women.
The employment rate, that is the percentage of the working age population that has an employment, was lower for women than for men in all member states, 56% for women and 71% for men. The female employment rate varied between 34% in Malta and 71% in Denmark and Sweden. On average about a third of working women were in part-time jobs, compared to 7% of men. Women work longer hours than men, however, including domestic work. Only in the United Kingdom and Sweden are the number of hours worked by women and men almost equal.
Eurostat also produces a study entitled How is the time of women and men distributed in Europe? For more information on both publications, see http://www.eu.int/comm/eurostat.
The European Commission adopted a “Roadmap for equality between men and women 2006-2010” in view of International Women’s Day. The roadmap sets out six priority areas for action in the 2006 to 2010 period:
-
Achieving equal economic independence for women and men;
-
Enhancing reconciliation of work, private and family life;
-
Promoting equal participation of men and women in decision-making;
-
Eradicating gender-based violence and trafficking;
-
Eliminating gender stereotypes in society, and;
-
Promoting gender equality outside the EU.
The Committee on Women’s Rights and Equality of the European Parliament has also adopted a number of texts, including on the future of the Lisbon strategy from a gender perspective and on the call for the Gender Equality Institute.
5. France – Parliament Adopts Law to Allow Equal Pay for Women
The French government adopted, on 23 February 2006, a law aimed at guaranteeing equal pay rights for women, who currently earn - on average - one-fifth less than their male counterparts. The text sets a five-year target for wiping out pay inequalities, calling for more negotiations between companies and unions, but does not provide for any sanctions.
A national review, to be carried out in three years’ time, will decide whether to introduce financial penalties for employers who are in breach of the regulations. The law requires French companies to carry out their own audits every year, including a comparison of salaries by gender.
6. ICFTU – International Women’s Day – Organising Campaign II
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, ICFTU, is launching phase two of the Global Unions’ Organising Campaign “Unions for Women, Women for Unions” on 8 March. The ICFTU Women’s Committee decided that phase two will aim at a significant increase in female membership rates in trade unions, particularly amongst women workers in the export processing zones, in the informal economy, among migrant women workers and young women, as well as a net increase in women’s representation in decision-making levels of trade unions.
Through the campaign unions will continue to advocate for women workers’ rights. More focus will also go to transforming the cultural and structural barriers that prevent women from becoming active members and leaders. For more information see: www.icftu.org.
7. South Africa – National Union of Mineworkers Holds 3rd National Women’s Conference
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) held its 3rd National Women’s Conference from 16 to 18 February 2006 in Johannesburg. The conference was held against the background of the 50th Commemoration of the Women’s March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in 1956. It also was a prelude to the NUM Congress in May 2006.
The theme of the conference was “Mobilise, organise and lead against chains of domination, exploitation and oppression of women.” 285 delegates attended the conference, including some 30 men. NUM’s emphasis is on women’s development in order to generate cadres. NUM’s structures must also be an engine to generate women activists. There are now women in the regional structures in 5 of the 11 national regions.
In 2004, when the Mining Charter was adopted, women made up 1.5% of the workforce in South African mines. Now it is 6%. Growing numbers of women are also engine drivers. In addition, there are currently much more women in the mining engineering school than before.
8. Spain – Equality Law between Men and Women; Agreement to Promote Women in Traditional Men’s Jobs
Draft legislation was approved in Spain on equality between women and men. The aim is first to transpose the European directive into Spanish law and to define direct and indirect discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying. The sanctions to punish these violations are already set.
Parental rights are defined and broadly extended. Measures to improve work-life balance are also provided for. Furthermore, gender-related social security rights are improved. The path is open for positive action measures to eliminate inequality.
So far, equality plans are voluntary, but companies with more than 250 workers ought to try to set up such plans.
An agreement was signed between the Education and Science Council, the Spanish Chemical Employers’ Federation, the CCOO Chemical and Textile Workers’ Federation (FITEQA-CCOO) and the UGT Industrial Federation (FIA-UGT) to increase the number of girls taking vocational training courses in sectors that are not traditionally feminine. The point is to develop programmes and activities in secondary schools to help avoid discrimination in the chemical industry.
9. UNICEF – 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation
6 February was UNICEF’s 4th Annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). UNICEF operates programmes in 18 of the 28 countries where this traditional practice exists. Of these 28 countries, 14 countries have passed anti-FGM laws. However, according to the London-based Foundation for Women’s Health, Research and Development, only Burkina Faso, Ghana and Kenya actively uphold those laws.
Countries have been under international pressure to ratify the African Union’s Maputo Protocol banning FGM. However, they simultaneously face opposition to cultural change from many traditional ruling classes within their own societies. The African Union needs to set up a monitoring mechanism to follow compliance with the protocol. In addition, rights groups are needed to do field work to follow up at local level.
10. United Kingdom – Women and Work Commission Issues “Shaping a Fairer Future” Report
On 27 February 2006 the UK Government issued a report by the Women and Work Commission, entitled “Shaping a Fairer Future”. The commission was chaired by former Deputy General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (and also former Chair of ICEM Women’s Committee) Baroness Prosser.
According to the report, women work in the lowest paid jobs, the so-called “five c’s”: catering, cleaning, cashiering, clerical work and caring. The report claims that the equal pay gap is bad for the British economy and recommends 40 measures to boost women’s careers and earnings.
British trade unions, however, had mixed reviews about the report. The Transport and General Workers’ Union (T&G) welcomed the report but also said the commission should have gone further and recommend a mandatory pay audit. “Being a woman still means being paid less – a quarter less than men, which is the highest gap in Europe,” said Diana Holland, T&G’s National Organiser for Women, Race and Equalities.
“Audits simply ensure an employer is complying with the law. Without an audit, employers will be vulnerable to thousands of individual, costly equal pay cases.”
For more information, see:
http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/
women_work_commission/index.htm
11. Resources
- WEDO's (Women’s Environment and Development Organisation) Latest Global Monitoring Report: Beijing Betrayed.
In this appraisal of the status of women worldwide, which comes 10 years after governments adopted the groundbreaking “Beijing Platform for Action”, women in 150 countries assess the progress in the implementation the commitments. For the report, available in five languages, see www.wedo.org.
- UNESCO launched its initiative “Women Make the News” to ensure that the issue of gender equality must remain at the forefront of each society’s agenda. See www.unesco.org/march8.
For news and information on the global action on gender and the media see http://www.whomakesthenews.org.
- The view the minimum wage and equality campaign in New Zealand, see www.supersizemypay.com.
- Play an interactive game on working time at http://www.worksmart.org.uk.
- For a resource on good quality, affordable childcare, see the British TUC: www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-11300-f0.cfm.
- To learn about women’s vital contributions to peace and security, see www.womenwagingpeace.net.
- Mama Cash works for social transformation and the advancement of women’s rights worldwide. She strives for a peaceful and just world where women are free to make their own choices and secure their human rights: http://www.mamacash.nl.
- The International Transport Federation ITF has a campaign site that includes news on activities around the negotiation of equal rights for women airline employees in Jordan, the demonstrations outside train stations in France and India, and on surveys of women members in New Zealand. For information on strengthening women’s participation in transport unions, see www.itfglobal.org/women/NetworkNews.cfm.
- For information on the long-term earnings gap in the United States, Still a Man’s Labor Market: The Long-term Earnings Gap, see the web site of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research: www.iwpr.org.