On March 8, International Women's Day, ICFTU demands Pay Equity Now!

From the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)

(Posted March 9, 2003)

Wage gaps between men and women persist, while women remain tied to underpaid jobs. On March 8, International Women's Day, and as part of the Global Unions Women's campaign, the trade union movement is launching a worldwide call for "Pay Equity Now!"

Equal pay is a fundamental right, recognized in many international instruments such as in Conventions 100 and 111 of the International Labour Organisation. But worldwide, women are still paid between 10% and 50% less than men for doing similar work or jobs of comparable worth.

On Women's Day, the ICFTU is releasing a "briefing" entitled Equality through pay equity, illustrating with figures and concrete examples of how this shameful reality continues to persist. The new ICFTU publication also explains ways in which trade unions are taking action on many fronts to pursue pay equity: these include promoting proactive legislation, legal action, collective bargaining and decent minimum wages. The briefing evokes the union struggle to make pay equity a reality in law, by actively voicing women's demands.

"Why for example should floor cleaners, who are mainly women, earn less than wall cleaners, who are mainly men, when they work in the same public hospital in the UK? Why should a female nursery nurse earn less than a male veterinary assistant who is in charge of pest control, working in the same hospital in the USA? Why should a female nursing assistant in a hospital in the Philippines earn more than the male car park attendant?" said Nora Wintour, Equality and Rights Officer at the Global Union Federation, Public Services International.

"We need to recognise and revalue the work that women do, in particular in health and education services", she adds.

Accordingly, as part of the Global Union's Campaign "Women for Unions, Unions for Women", trade unions are building up their strategy to develop a clearer understanding of the nature of discrimination and to identify where it exists and how to bring women's wages up to the same level as their male counterparts.

"There have been major successes in the industrialised world, particularly in Canada, where the public sector unions won a very substantive pay award for women in the low paid sector. In New Zealand, primary teachers have achieved parity with secondary school teachers. In Britain, women in the school meal-service had their pay cut when their jobs were privatised while maintenance staff who were mainly men did not. With the support of their union UNISON, the women were able to win an equal pay case. Successes like these make women want to join and participate in the union and also strengthen the union as a whole," added Nora Wintour.

The Global Unions' Organizing Campaign "Women for Unions, Unions for Women", was launched on the eve of 8 March 2002. The objective is to significantly increase female membership rates, with the ultimate goal of doubling the number of women union members. Evidence from all over the world shows that workers receive better pay and conditions if they are union members, and that unions are effective in bringing womens' wages up to the levels paid to men.

Key target groups in the campaign are women workers in the informal economy and atypical workers, young workers, migrant women and women from ethnic minorities, along with those working in export processing zones and in the public sector. Since the launch of the campaign, activities have taken place in more than 30 countries around the world.

"The fact that women are concentrated in those areas of work which are our key organizing challenges - the informal economy, part-time, and other "atypical" work, as well as the rural sector - only underlines the urgency of the challenge. This campaign makes a difference as it is not made only of words and good intentions, but of actions and results", said Guy Ryder at the recent ICFTU Word Women's Conference which took place in Melbourne, Australia from 18-21 February.

For more information on Pay Equity, see the PSI Pay equity Resource Package: