The Prosecutor General, Andrei Shved, has just announced a plan to eliminate independent unions. He submitted a petition to the Supreme Court to terminate the activities of a number of trade unions:
Union federation the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP)
The Belarusian Free Trade Union (SPB)
The Free Trade Union of Metalworkers (SPM)
The Belarusian Independent Trade Union of Mineworkers, Chemists, Fuel and Energy Workers, Transport Workers, Workers and Other Workers (BNP)
The Belarusian Trade Union of Radio and Electronics Workers (REP)
The Prosecutor General claims that the activities of independent unions have been politicized, and their leaders are engaged in "destructive activities." Criminal proceedings have been instituted.
IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie says:
“The appearance of the government of Belarus at the CAS was clearly a charade – they had no intention of complying with the conclusions, as shown by the fact that they moved to ban unions before the conclusions were even announced.
“In the seventeen years since an ILO Commission of Inquiry found that the government of Belarus had undermined union independence, no progress has been made. Instead, Belarus is moving in the opposite direction, abusing the processes of international diplomacy to provide cover for its retreat from democracy and brutal suppression of all dissent. There must be serious diplomatic consequences.”
Caterpillar workers on strike in Northern Ireland
The current increase of the cost of living in the United Kingdom stands at 11.1 per cent and is likely to increase even further. Caterpillar’s offer of salary increases of 2.6 per cent in 2021 and 6.4 per cent this year, are below inflation and was overwhelmingly rejected by the union members. The company has also attempted to tie a basic pay increase to the introduction of compulsory overtime.
IndustriALL affiliate, Unite the Union, represents the Caterpillar workers in Northern Ireland. Senior union representative Paula Hurst says:
“Caterpillar want to drive down wages and increase working hours, this model of compulsory overtime is on the back of making 700 workers redundant, including 400 hourly paid skilled workers in 2020/2021. Unite rejects any attempt to tie a basic pay increase to the introduction of compulsory overtime. With the cost of living rising and only likely to rise further, workers are striking to win a fair pay increase.”
Unite has lodged a complaint with the Agency Inspectorate due to Caterpillar deploying union busting tactics by commissioning untrained scab labour from sites in the UK (office workers) and paying them a bounty.
The company management have refused to sit down with the union to resolve the dispute, despite requests from Unite and the Labour Relations Agency (ACAS).
Says Matthias Hartwich, IndustriALL director for mechanical engineering:
“We have seen it before in other countries – Caterpillar is again failing to respect its workers. It is always the same; management makes decisions without consulting the workers.
“We urge the Caterpillar management to come back to the table and enter into real negotiations over wages and working conditions. Collective bargaining in good faith is different from making one-sided announcements. It means sitting down with respect for each other and finding a compromise that helps workers, their families as well as the company.”
Guatemala must respect freedom of association
In the garment sector, an important part of Guatemala’s economy, freedom of association is virtually impossible and there is an immense pressure on unions. Workers are often intimidated, threatened, blacklisted and even fired, and fear that employers will retaliate if they join a union.
The government of Guatemala was invited to submit information to the CAS on individual cases concerning the application of Convention 87 on freedom of association and the protection of the right to organize.
On 6 June, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan, raised on behalf of the workers’ delegation, the violations against IndustriALL's Guatemalan affiliate FESTRAS (Federación Sindical de Trabajadores de la Alimentación, Agroindustria y Similar de Guatemala).
Özkan explained that workers in Guatemala face threats and intimidation that prevent the full exercise of Convention 87. He noted that FESTRAS informed IndustriALL that one of its affiliates, the SITRAWINNERS union, faces violations of Conventions 87 and 98.
Winners, owned by South Korean company SA-E SAE Group, does not respect the right to freedom of association. A fortnight ago, the company shut down its operations and dismissed a number of workers in an attempt to prevent union membership. The former Winners employees tried to get new jobs, but claim they were not hired due to the conflict at the previous employer.
According to the workers, Winners management use physical and psychological violence, intimidation and threats against the union. The local union general secretary was harassed and received death threats, and was forced to move to a safe place.
In his statement, Kemal Özkan, said:
"The attacks against trade union leaders happen every day, as they defend workers’ rights.
“We therefore urge the government of Guatemala to take immediate steps to create an environment where workers can exercise their fundamental right to freedom of association, with clear timelines and in compliance with Convention 87".
Global call for Belarus to release detained unionists
The Belarussian government continues to blatantly ignore its obligations under ILO Convention 87. 18 years after the 2004 Commission of Inquiry recommendations, no meaningful progress has been made towards its implementation.
The situation has dramatically deteriorated since 2020 and even more so in the last two months, with targeted, politically motivated suppression of independent trade unions. The government is systematically destroying independent and democratic trade unions, whose leaders are under constant attack.
At the moment, all leaders of independent unions in Belarus have either been arrested and later released, but prohibited to leave the country or disclose any information about their case, or remain in prison.
Hundreds of union members have been subjected to harassment and intimidation and pressured to leave their unions. Activists have been interrogated and union offices have been bugged.
Workers in Belarus still need authorisation to establish a union. CAS has repeatedly demanded that all obstacles for registering unions are removed, both in law and in practice, and that there should be no special treatment of any particular union.
Over the last two years, the government of Belarus has grossly violated freedom of opinion, expression, assembly, freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, and a right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary – all basic preconditions for freedom of association. CAS has urged the government to amend several laws in conformity with freedom of association principles.
CAS is demanding:
An end to the repression of independent trade unions,
The release of detained leaders and activists and withdrawal of all charges
That all necessary measures are taken to ensure that independent unions, their leaders and activists can carry out trade union activities in a climate free from violence, intimidation or threat of any kind
The apparent lack of action by the government to follow up on the 2004 Commission of Inquiry recommendations and the 2021 CAS conclusions demonstrate a lack of commitment to ensure respect for its obligations under the ILO Constitution, and the lack of respect for the ILO supervisory system. Therefore, CAS is demanding to refer this issue to the session of the ILO Governing Body in November 2022 for consideration of additional measures.
In a joint statement on behalf of IndustriALL, PSI and ITF, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:
“We urge the Belorussian government to change their course and commit to global democratic standards, and to demonstrate this commitment by releasing those union leaders who have been arrested and dropping all charges.”
"Present, present, present"
Trade unionists around the world demonstrated in solidarity with the imprisoned leaders of independent unions in Belarus today. In Geneva, representatives of the global labour movement gathered outside the UN building at Place des Nations, holding pictures of those who have been arrested. This was a reminder that attacks on unions are not just attacks on institutions, but on people – and that our brothers and sisters in Belarus are in prison for the crime of representing workers.
A symbolic role call was held: the names of the imprisoned trade unionists were read out, while the crowd responded “present, present, present.”
Speakers linked the recent wave of repression in Belarus with the war in Ukraine, pointing out that attacks on independent trade unions intensified when union leaders spoke out against the war. Union leaders have consistently condemned the war, and called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Belarus.
The demonstration was attended by a delegation of Ukrainian trade unionists, and Mikhailo Volynets, the chair of the Ukrainian miners’ union NPGU, spoke in support of his Belarusian colleagues.
India: gas leak in garment factory
Some workers fainted, others complained of headaches, stomach pain, vomiting, nausea, and burning eyes. According to media reports, workers had to wait for ambulances as management looked for hospitals in the region.
The factory employs 22,000 people, 18,000 of which are women, and clearly lack healthcare facilities on site.
Contract workers make up the majority of the workforce in India’s special economic zones. The entry of trade union office bearers into SEZs is restricted, making organizing difficult. And the low unionization rate makes it difficult for workers to speak out against plant owners’ negligence.
Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia regional secretary, says:
“The dismal industrial safety situation in the SEZ is again exposed by a gas. The authorities in charge have failed to provide workers with safe working conditions, showing serious lapses on the part of the regulatory bodies. The only way to change this is to ensure that trade unions have access to SEZs.”
What kind of gas was leaked and where it came from have yet to be determined.
Two years ago, lethal styrene vapours leaked from a factory in the city, prompting the government to appoint a committee. The committee made recommendations, including the need for a comprehensive industrial safety audit of all hazardous industries in and around Vishakhapatnam, located in the same region as Brandix India Apparel garment factory, but the occupational safety and working conditions in the city's industrial units remain precarious.
Photo: Brandix Apparel
Kazakhstan must respect union rights
Since the tragedy in Zhanaozen in 2011, there has been no substantial progress in trade union rights; Kazakhstan continues to avoid fulfilling its obligations under ILO Convention 87.
An actual ban on the creation of independent trade unions, repression against union leaders and the criminalization of strikes deprive workers of their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and create conditions for new social conflicts. Over 60 large spontaneous strikes, mainly in the energy and oil sector last year, and massive protests in January 2022 where at least 160 people were killed, clearly demonstrate that the demolition and oppression of democratic institutions leads to tragic consequences.
The longstanding issue of the registration of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (KNPRK), dissolved in March 2017, and the last KNPRK affiliate, the Trade Union of Fuel and Energy Industry Workers, suspended in February 2021, has yet to be resolved.
CAS is demanding that any legal and practical obstacles preventing the registration is removed.
The registration procedure is complex and serves to prevent the creation of free and independent unions. The registration of the local branch of Trade Union of Fuel and Energy Industry Workers in the Atyrau region was denied six times, each time with a new reason. The union branch in Almaty has had its registration papers rejected on four separate occasions, over alleged irregularities of the paperwork.
The practice of judicial harassment of union leaders continues. Independent union leaders Erlan Baltabay and Larisa Kharkova are still banned from public activity, including union activities.
CAS has repeatedly demanded that the ban is lifted.
The government of Kazakhstan has announced amendments to legislation to improve human rights by the end of 2022. However, independent unions have been excluded from the government’s working group on labour legislation reform.
In a referendum on 5 June, a majority of the voters approved a number of constitutional reforms, which means returning to a parliamentary system, among other things.There is an urgent need to establish genuine social dialogue and to remove the legal and practical barriers unions face in exercising freedom of association.
In a statement at the CAS, IndustriALL assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan said:
“We once again urge the government to take all necessary action to make sure that Kazakhstan complies with its international obligations. The union registration procedure should be simplified and based on notification of the creation of the union, any restrictions on union activity shall be lifted and all charges against union leaders dropped, including removing the charges from the trade union leaders’ records.”
Building social protection for garment workers
On 31 May, IndustriALL and ILR School’s New Conversation Project hosted a webinar to launch the recent report, “Security for Apparel Workers: Alternative Models”. The report, commissioned to examine past efforts and possible models for advancing social protection in the global apparel and footwear sector, outlines existing approaches that have attempted to provide apparel workers with some degree of income security, and use those to assemble the necessary elements of a way forward for the development of sustainable systems of social protection.
Executive director of the ILR School’s New Conversation Project Jason Judd, says:
"Covid was a stress test for systems – private ones run by fashion brands and public ones built by national governments – to protect workers in the global apparel industry. Most were found wanting."
After addressing several other systems – including funds that were set up in the aftermath of a tragedy, like the Rana Plaza accident, as well as one responding to COVID-19 – the paper highlights that one match for the goals of a global social protection would be to set a model similar to the International Bargaining Forum. The Forum is the industry-wide framework established in 1999 for collective bargaining between the global seafarers’ union, the International Transport Workers Federation– now representing nearly 150,000 seafarers – and a consortium of European vessel owners and shipping management firms.
“Of all the agreements and mechanisms reviewed above, we see this as the strongest in that it is specific and binding, covers multiple countries and is global in scope, includes industry funding for independent enforcement and work welfare, and has a governance structure rooted in collective bargaining. All of these elements could figure in a global social protection agreement, beginning with its form: a transnational collective bargaining agreement between unions such as IndustriALL and its affiliates, buyers and suppliers.”
"The current supply chain model is built on cheap labour and avoiding responsibility; taking production to countries with no labour rights and little social protection. Without social protection, societies fall apart. Social protection is a public issue, but until that is a reality, we have to build a system with incentives to push governments and companies in the countries where they operate,"
says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie.
The report recommends:
A global severance fund established with money provided as a result of an agreement between global unions and global brands.
A global governing body for unions, suppliers and fashion brands with a small number of seats (voting or observing) reserved for national governments, a representative of an international financial institution, and NGOs which are active in the apparel supply chain sphere.
National level bodies to monitor the process of establishing, improving national social security systems, educating workers about the fund and its purpose, and, potentially, a role in disbursing funds nationally.
An “inspection function” that allows union participants across dozens of countries, supported by the global fund, to verify compliance with the terms of the agreement
Young trade unionist’s deportation ordeal in Zimbabwe
Mamisa arrived at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Zimbabwe from Nairobi at 3 am on 30 May, to attend a capacity development workshop on advancing due diligence in the energy transition supply chain in Sub Saharan Africa.
When asked by an immigration official what she did for a living, Mamisa replied that she was a trade unionist.
“This sent the official into a fury. He took me to an office where they were two other officials, and they said ‘we don’t want trade union activists in our country. And we decide who comes in and who doesn’t. You are going back home,’”
says Mamisa.
“They gave me a form to sign. And I refused saying that I cannot sign a form before reading it. They then threatened me and said I was wasting their time by requesting to read the form. If I refused to sign, they will lock me up at a police station, and even the meeting organizers will not know where I am. After that scary threat I signed the form. I pleaded with them to explain why I was being treated this way — as if I had committed a crime. And they kept saying they did not want trade union activists and non-governmental organizations in Zimbabwe, and that her name did not appear on the data base for the ministry of foreign affairs,”
narrated Mamisa, who was detained for four hours, before boarding the next plane to Nairobi. There was no Internet connection at the airport, and the Zimbabwean officials refused to explain why she was being deported.
The section of the law that was used to deny her entry requires a visitor to the country “to produce documentary or other evidence relative to his (her) claims to enter or leave Zimbabwe.” Mamisa says she presented the required documents to the officials. Surprisingly, a young worker she was travelling with to the workshop was allowed to enter the country whilst she was denied entry. When the colleague asked why, he was told not to talk to a “suspect” or risk being “questioned.”
It was only in Nairobi that she was able to get her passport back – after another four hours without food or water. She was also given the form. Even after reading the deportation form, Mamisa says it is not clear why she was deported, except that she was a trade unionist.
Joseph Tanyanyiwa, chairperson of IndustriALL Global Union national council for Zimbabwe says:
“We are disappointed by this treatment of unionists by the immigration officials. If the Government of Zimbabwe says it is open for business, it should also be open for trade union activities.”
“I find it deplorable that three young trade unionists were denied entry into Zimbabwe and deported to their home countries of Tanzania and Uganda after being harassed and threatened with arrest. They were denied of their rights and never given a chance to explain that they were in the country to attend a youth capacity development workshop. The invitation letters and documents that they presented to the officials were ignored. Shockingly, they were told by the officials that trade union activism is not allowed in Zimbabwe,”
says Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.
The workshop which was attended by 25 participants including from IndustriALL offices in Geneva, Switzerland and the Sub-Saharan Africa regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa, FES Zimbabwe, and FES Trade union Competence Centre for Sub Saharan Africa. The discussions ranged from the roles that young workers can play in the Just Transition and their demands, the future of the energy mix and developing a Just Transition plan that included a decent work agenda.
"Workers need a strong, independent voice"
Opening the meeting, IndustriALL president Jörg Hoffman stressed that a further escalation of the war in Ukraine must be avoided and that as part of the international trade union movement, we have a responsibility.
"IndustriALL has taken a strong stand against the war and has set up a solidarity fund, visited Kyiv, workers in Europe has collected necessary items for their colleagues in Ukraine. The war affects us all as supply chains are breaking down, energy and food prices sky rocketing. Those who lived hand to mouth before the war are even harder hit. We must not allow people in the global South to pay the price for Putin's war.
"The war in Ukraine cannot allow us to close our eyes to other troubled spots in the world. War, violence, climate change that has followed on the pandemic – never has a strong commitment to freedom, peace, equal rights been more needed. We need a strong independent voice of the workers and we can provide that strong voice."
In the secretariat report, IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie said that we must stand up for democracy and rights.
"The right to organize and collective bargaining are grounds for peace. But it is not all dire; in Brazil, Renault workers won increased wages after a 16-day strike; SINTTIA in Mexico won an important symbolic victory when they obtained the right to bargain collectively at a General Motors plant; garment workers in Haiti faced rubber bullets but did not back down and GOSTTRA won the minimum wage for its members; in Thailand a 13-month campaign led to legal severance finally being paid to garment workers who were illegally fired during the pandemic; and the tremendous victory by Finnish paper workers on strike for 112 days, fighting back against the employer who wanted to break the CBA."
IndustriALL affiliates from Ukraine reported on the situation on the ground, describing a very dangerous situation, giving the example from a mine where miners were caught underground, in the dark, due to a power cut. Schools and educational institutions have been destroyed beyond repair in the war. Hundreds of children have been injured or killed, people are raped, killed and tortured.
"But we continue to do what we can and we need your support."
Affiliates took the floor in support of people in Ukraine and the Executive Committee endorsed a statement condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling on the aggression to stop immediately.
Following a meeting in May, IndustriALL’s Women's Committee reported on the discussions to the Executive Committee. Advancing gender equality in all IndustriALL sectors, empowering and promoting the participation of young women, how to use global framework agreements to advance gender equality, and ending the gender pay gap – there is lack of understanding of what it is and that it actually exists. Classification alone does not prevent gender pay gap.
Following up on the Congress resolution on youth, the meeting heard that throughout the year, young workers in each region will establish their priorities ahead of the road map to implement the resolution next year. Capacity building is needed and building a second layer of leadership should be a priority, supported by the Women’s Committee who has proposed a mentor programme to advance young leaders.
The Executive Committee was challenged to discuss the strategic direction of IndustriALL’s work on multinational companies. This included the scope and mandate of the working group on global framework agreements. There was agreement that the scope has to be extended to deal with all leverage points towards multinational companies, not only GFAs. The working group might have to split up into smaller action groups to deal with different challenging topics. To safeguard workers’ rights in the supply chain, there is a need for binding and enforceable global rules to confront global corporate power. The discussion is carried over to the next meeting of the Executive Committee in November, where the new working group will be finalized.
The meeting endorsed a global day of action against inequality on 7 October. From the proposal:
“Inequality is growing around the world despite increased productivity, and workers in many countries face a cost of living crisis. Workers need a fair share of the wealth they produce. Until we address the question of the unequal distribution of wealth, we will be unable to advance in other areas, including Just Transition.”
The Executive Committee also endorsed
A campaign week on Just Transition, ahead of COP 27, which will be held in Egypt 8-20 November
Proposed roadmap for the implementation of Congress resolution on sexism and misogyny
Proposed steps to advancing gender equality in IndustriALL sectors
FEATURE: Achieving pay equity through collective bargaining
FEATURE
From Global Worker No 1 June 2022
Theme: The gender pay gap
Text: Armelle Seby
The pay gap – IndustriALL
What is the gender pay gap?
Women and men have the right to receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. Men and women should get equal pay for doing the same or a similar job, and when they perform work that differs in terms of responsibilities, tasks, efforts and working conditions, but, through objective criteria is of equal value.
Equal remuneration (or pay) for work of equal value is the principle designed to achieve pay equity and to address the gender pay gap. According to ILO Equal pay An introductory guide, the gender pay gap means the gap between women’s and men’s pay in a workforce and measures the difference between male and female average earnings as a percentage of the male earnings.
There is a widespread belief that there is no gender pay gap because women workers are paid the same salary as men for performing the same work. As USW explains it in its guidelines on closing the gender pay gap, unions are often successful at ensuring equal pay for equal work. But that alone does not eliminate the gender pay gap. Salary scales do not prevent the undervaluing of women’s work, or occupational segregation where women work in lower paid job categories. The concept of pay equity, or equal pay for work of equal value, seeks to eliminate the lower pay in female-dominated jobs or sectors.
There are gender biases in wage structures, which lead to indirect discrimination. For example, physical strength has a higher value compared to dexterity or eye concentration. The latter skills, considered to be of less value, gives preferential treatment to men. Although not a conscious bias, wage setting is constructed in a way that gives men a greater advantage. (Manuela Tomei, February 2018).
The basic or minimum wage is often only a small part of the overall payment and benefits that a worker receives. ILO C100 defines remuneration to include the ordinary, basic or minimum wage or salary and any additional emoluments whatsoever payable, directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker’s employment. Remuneration includes for example overtime and bonus payments, company shares, and family allowances paid by the employer, as well as benefits in kind.
Discretionary pay can contribute to indirect discrimination and gender pay gap. For example, women have less opportunity to get overtime bonuses due to an unequal share of unpaid work and care responsibilities.
A recent report from Comisiones Obreras in Spain, shows that almost forty per cent of the monthly pay gap between women and men is found in allowances/bonuses. In the UK, companies with over 250 employees are obliged to report on the gender pay gap, including on bonuses. This contributes to raising awareness on the part that plays in the gender pay gap.
By negotiating transparent, objective and gender-neutral criteria to be used in granting allowances and bonuses, collective bargaining can help to address the part of the gender pay gap caused by discriminatory pay settings.
The role and challenges of collective bargaining
Collective bargaining remains the most important tool for trade unions to implement the principle of equal pay for job of equal value and achieving more transparent pay systems. Evidence shows that collective bargaining contributes positively to reducing pay inequalities between women and men. (Jane Pillinger and Nora Wintour, 2019).
Where collective bargaining is centralized or conducted at sectoral level, it covers a wider proportion of workers and have a larger impact on reducing pay inequalities between men and women. Trade unions should prioritize to promote inclusive wage setting by extending the coverage of minimum wages and collective agreements to precarious workers and part-time workers, as women are disproportionally represented in these groups of workers. (ACTRAV/ILO, 2019)
Collective bargaining is important, as many countries’ legislation does not reflect the principle of equal pay for job of equal value. Collective bargaining then becomes the main way to determine terms and conditions of pay. Where existing legislation promotes pay equity, collective bargaining remains a critical tool for implementation and monitoring of these principles.
Gender balance and a bargaining team trained on gender issues are key to advance gender equality through collective bargaining. Evidence shows that collective bargaining outcomes are more gender sensitive with women in trade union leadership and on negotiation teams. According to an ACTRAV survey, women make up only 30 per cent of trade unions’ wage negotiation teams. Around half of the unions responded that negotiating teams are briefed or trained on gender issues.
The TUC in the UK has set quotas for women representation on negotiation teams. In South Africa, the national gender structure of NUMSA has made training collective bargaining teams on gender equality, including on the gender pay gap, a priority.
Raising the wage floor
Evidence shows that an increase in minimum wage contributes to decreased earnings inequalities and the gender pay gap (ILO).
According to the ACTRAV survey, unions would primarily focus on improving wages for low-paid workers and unionizing or extending coverage of legal minimum wages or collective agreements, to groups of workers found in vulnerable types of employment, when wage setting for gender equality.
Minimum or living wages are key to reducing the gender pay gap since women are more likely than men to work in the lowest paid jobs. As a significant proportion of women workers are found in non-unionized or precarious work not covered by collective bargaining; the negotiation of minimum wages at national or sectoral level would benefit them.
The concentration of women at the very end of global supply chains in industries like garment or electronics, in lower paid jobs with low level of unionization, is contributing to the gender pay gap (ACTRAV/ ILO, 2019). Through ACT, IndustriALL is working with other stakeholders to establish systems of industry-wide collective bargaining, supported by brand purchasing practices as a primary means of wage-fixing in the global garment industry. This will enable setting living wages for workers (mostly women workers) in the garment industry.
However, minimum or living wage policies are not sufficient to close the gender pay gap. To maximize the effect of minimum wage or living wage policies on gender pay, they must be linked with efforts and negotiations on equal pay for jobs of equal value. The low pay of women in feminized jobs and sectors, is linked to the undervaluing of women’s work. Those wages must be compared to those of men in male dominated jobs and industries, otherwise the minimum and living wages policies risk, directly or indirectly, discriminating against vulnerable groups of workers (e.g. by setting lower wage levels in sectors or occupations held by women or excluding migrants from coverage of minimum wage laws). (Jane Pillinger and Nora Wintour, 2019)
Pay transparency and equal pay for jobs of equal value
To properly implement the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, collective bargaining must address the undervaluing of women’s work and segregation of women in job classifications. The lack of pay transparency makes pay discrimination a hidden phenomenon. Gender disaggregated data and statistics at all levels (national, sectoral and company level) are key to identifying existing bias, discriminatory job evaluations and classification schemes.
Trade unions need this information to negotiate gender-neutral wage settings. In several European countries, it is done through legislation on pay reporting obligations for companies with a certain number of workers. In Austria, the gender pay transparency law introduced in 2011, has raised awareness on the extent of the gender pay gap. IndustriALL affiliate PRO-GE has developed tools and guidelines to educate their representatives.
The way pay audits or pay reports are currently set means that they do not report on whether existing job evaluation and job classification schemes are discriminatory. Unions do not have access to information about how pay is determined and to have the potential to tackle the undervaluing of work predominantly carried out by women. (Jane Pillinger, 2020).
The ETUC and European trade unions have campaigned for a strong EU directive that would ensure that jobs are evaluated and assessed in gender-neutral and non-discriminatory ways. ETUC is demanding that the value of work is assessed and compared to objective criteria, including skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions. Ensuring that comparisons for job evaluation can take place at the workplace, company and/or cross-sectoral levels, has been central in the unions’ demands.
Another request is to include those employers with more than ten employees are obliged to provide workers and trade unions with regular pay reports and pay audits. The pay audits should contain analyses of women and men in each category or position, as well as job evaluations and classification systems used, and detailed information on pay and pay differentials on grounds of gender. Trade unions want to end pay secrecy restricting a worker from disclosing information about their pay, or to seek information from other workers on their pay.
The European Commission’s proposal for a Pay Transparency Directive published in March 2021, addresses binding measures on pay transparency aimed at strengthening the application of equal pay for work of equal value. However, it fails to recognize the central role of trade unions and collective bargaining. In its response, the ETUC is calling for trade union involvement, including in assessing the criteria for equal pay for work of equal value, for comparisons to be made across sectors, for trade unions to be involved in determining how the pay gap is measured, and an obligation for employers to negotiate a plan to close the gender pay gap. Involving trade unions in job evaluation is critical to make sure that gender biases are considered and that a new wage setting will not replicate gender pay inequalities.
Trade unions in Canada are building pay equity committees, as provided by the new Pay Equity Act. Unifor has developed tools and guidelines to enable representatives on the committees to fully play their role. Through the pay equity committees, employers must compare all work of equal value and develop pay equity plans defining compensation increase and pay adjustment for female dominated job classes that have been undervalued, compared to same value male dominated work.
“We are expecting a lot of push back from employers who are already approaching trade union representatives, saying that they have already done a review of the job classification systems. They are attempting to outsource job evaluations to consultants that try to influence trade union representatives. Our representatives are quite anxious to get the work of the committees started, as it is a lot of work ahead of them. We are raising awareness on the importance of equal pay for jobs of equal value. We are educating them, and providing them with new tools,”
says Tracey Ramsey, director for women, Unifor.
For collective bargaining to effectively contribute to closing the gender pay gap, a radical shift in wage negotiations is needed so that all pay negotiations in all sectors bring the value of the work carried out to the centre of negotiations. (Jane Pillinger, 2020)
Pay transparency measures need to take account all the intersecting forms of discrimination, with the obligation to provide intersectional data and analysis in the reports and action plans.
Ensuring fair and inclusive career development for women
To fully implement pay equity, unions need to ensure that women enjoy equal opportunities and benefit from the same chances of career development.
NUMSA and NUM is South Africa have negotiated training for women returning from maternity leave. The unions report that women often lack new skills to cope with technology that has evolved during their pregnancy and maternity leave, hindering their career development.
Trade unions are also negotiating for more women to be recruited into more technical and managerial jobs.
“We are negotiating to make employers recruit more women into high paid jobs. In Kenya’s auto sector, nearly all engineers are men, and all secretaries are women. Women represent only 25 per cent of human resources managers, even though their proportion is increasing this job category. We need to make sure that women get the same opportunities as men,”
says Rose Omamo, general secretary of Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metalworkers.
Awareness raising, training and education on equal pay for work of equal value should be a priority for IndustriALL and its affiliates to implement pay equity. Campaigns around the gender pay gap and pay equity, as well as the development of guidelines and other material, will contribute to raising awareness and building a better understanding of trade unions and this issue.
“IndustriALL and its affiliates should include pay equity in all the work that networks and sectors do,”
says, IndustriALL Latin America vice president Lucineide Varjão.
The ETUC and European trade unions have campaigned for a strong EU directive that would ensure that jobs are evaluated and assessed in gender-neutral and non-discriminatory ways. ETUC is demanding that the value of work is assessed and compared to objective criteria, including skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions. Ensuring that comparisons for job evaluation can take place at the workplace, company and/or cross-sectoral levels, has been central in the unions’ demands. 
