Brussels, 11/07/2008
In its Executive Committee of 25 June 2008 the ETUC adopted a resolution committing ETUC and its member organisations to step up their actions and activities to reduce the gender pay gap. The ETUC has already included its reduction as one important goal of its 2008 Fair Wages campaign.
The resolution acknowledges that the negotiation of wages is core business for trade unions, and collective bargaining their key instrument. Collective bargaining should therefore be used more actively to address the gender pay gap and the persistent inequalities women face in the labour market and the workplace. One area for urgent action is the ‘wage penalty’ apparently linked to part time working.
Attached to the resolution is the response of the ETUC to the Commission’s Communication on “Tackling the pay gap between men and women”, that was published in August 2007. While welcoming the thrust of the Communication, ETUC would like to see more concrete measures proposed by the Commission, such as further strengthening the legal framework, the re-introduction of a concrete target for reducing the pay gap in the European Employment guidelines, improving statistics especially with regard to the part time gender pay gap, and promoting equality clauses in public contracts.
- ETUC position on the Communication of the European Commission “Tackling the pay gap between men and women” (2007)
- Resolution “Reducing the gender pay gap”