Call to Action : Request for action to MEPs - Briefing Note on Gender Pay Transparency

Brussels, 22 April 2021

• To Members of the European Parliament

Dear Members of the European Parliament,

I am contacting you to ask your assistance to ensure that the  Directive to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms, published by the European Commission on 4 March 2021, makes swift progress.

The ETUC assessment is that the Directive contains good principles and intentions that will make a real difference. 

The Directive will certainly help to reduce secrecy on pay and expose pay inequality. But the Directive does not do enough to be the game changer it needs to be. Instead, the proposed Directive puts a number of obstacles in the way of women workers securing the pay equality they deserve and are entitled to.

The ETUC is calling on all MEPs to take up the opportunity of the passage of the Directive to propose improvements.

To assist MEPs to understand the deficiencies in the Directive and to propose solutions and amendments we attach a Briefing Note you may also find on the ETUC website.

The ETUC is ready to assist you in preparing amendments and available to meet to discuss our concerns in detail.

Yours sincerely

Esther Lynch,
Deputy General Secretary

Annex: Briefing Note