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4 February, 2002Lathe operator fought hard against pay discrimination.
SWITZERLAND: The well-known Swiss independent consumer magazine "Beobachter" (The Observer) awarded on February 2 its 2002 "Prize for Courage" to a female metalworker for her fight for equal rights for women workers.
Malica Skrijelj, who worked as a lathe operator in a factory in the Swiss canton of Vaud and is a member of the IMF-affiliated Swiss metalworkers' union SMUV, was earning 2,450 Swiss francs (US$1,449) per month, or 1,000 francs ($592) less than her male colleagues who were performing the same work as she.
In 1998, when Ms Skrijelj first took her case for equal pay to court, it was thrown out. However, with the help of the Swiss metalworkers' union and her lawyer, Malica appealed to a higher court, which recently ruled that her case was clearly one of wage discrimination and ordered the employer to pay her 20,000 francs in complementary wages.
The Swiss magazine presented Ms Skrijelj, who is Serbian in origin and a single parent, with a check for 25,000 Swiss francs (US$14,790) - the "prize" for her courage in promoting equal rights for women.
Malica Skrijelj, who worked as a lathe operator in a factory in the Swiss canton of Vaud and is a member of the IMF-affiliated Swiss metalworkers' union SMUV, was earning 2,450 Swiss francs (US$1,449) per month, or 1,000 francs ($592) less than her male colleagues who were performing the same work as she.
In 1998, when Ms Skrijelj first took her case for equal pay to court, it was thrown out. However, with the help of the Swiss metalworkers' union and her lawyer, Malica appealed to a higher court, which recently ruled that her case was clearly one of wage discrimination and ordered the employer to pay her 20,000 francs in complementary wages.
The Swiss magazine presented Ms Skrijelj, who is Serbian in origin and a single parent, with a check for 25,000 Swiss francs (US$14,790) - the "prize" for her courage in promoting equal rights for women.