European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)

WOMEN’S COMMITTEEJanine Booth, March 2014

ETF and its Women’s Committee

Transport trade unions from across Europe

UK affiliates include RMT, TSSA, ASLEF, Unite, Nautilus and others

Campaigns on issues such as the EU Rail Packages (privatisation)

Women’s Committee elected at Women’s Conference every four years (2013-2017)

Meets twice per year

last meeting in Helsinki in September 2013

next in Brussels 19-20 March 2014

For the first time, RMT now has a nominee on the Committee

ETF Women’s Conference 2013

May 2013, Berlin

The work of the previous four years

Country visits

Economic crisis

Training package – now available

ETF Urban Transport Committee project on women’s employment

Delegates

Unions

Countries

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

94

41

22

Work plan 2013-2017

Workplace violence

Women’s health and safety at work

Recruitment and promotion of women in trade unions

Women and the economic crisis

Workplace Violence

We need to change the culture that

violence at work is part of the job.

It’s none of my business.

It’s totally unacceptable.

Sexual harassment/ assault:

You should take it as a compliment.

It’s totally unacceptable.

Workplace violence: what are we going to do about it?

25 November: annual day for the elimination of violence against women and girls

Collate good practice – and bad practice!

Guidance and ETF policy

Highlight impact of austerity measures on levels of violence

Poster – ‘Violence and abuse against women transport workers – it’s not part of the job’

Working group: Janine, Ekaterina, Brigitta

Women’s health and safety at work

Concern: women’s health and safety issues often overlooked because women are more likely to work in jobs with less obvious physical dangers

Workplace stress and bullying

Develop training module on women’s health and safety

Working group set up

What issues would you like to see included?

Women in trade unions

country visits

meetings with women in workplaces

meeting with union executives and women reps

‘Women: Making Unions Stronger’

‘A Woman’s Place is in her Union’

training package

designed to be used in different settings

formal as well as informal

Too many women – good, strong

women – are lost to the trade union

movement by discrimination.

Progress in women’s representation

ETUC has its first female General Secretary

Half the ETF Rail and Road Section Executives are women

8 out of 14 members of ver.di Executive are women

Some unions have reserved seats or quotas to ensure women’s representation

How does RMT compare?

8 wome

n

6 men

ver.di executive

Women and the economic crisis

ILO: 2008-2011

One in seven transport workers were women.

three-quarters of transport jobs lost were women’s jobs

but

Women and the economic crisis

Precarious work / casualisation

Women concentrated in jobs that are insecure, temporary, part-time, low-paid

Known in Germany as ‘mini-jobs’, “based on the prejudice that when women have children, they return to the home and only work for pocket money”

Arguing for a set of demands to defend women transport workers eg.

Defend public services – reverse privatisation and contracting-out

End low pay – make the minimum wage a living wage

Childcare

Women migrant workers

Women migrating across Europe, working in transport

Often in most low-paid, insecure, super-exploited jobs eg. contract cleaning

ETF and unions should work hard to recruit and organise these workers

Exciting possibilities for international solidarity eg.Bulgarian trade unionists - ‘We support RMT London Underground cleaners!’

Through ETF, can arrange for women trade unionists from these countries to visit UK and help RMT communicate with and organise migrant workers

Has been proposed to RMT Executive, but decision deferred

Finland: women’s employment

Women’s employment rate = 68.2%

higher than the EU average

Casualisation and part-time work is increasing

Service sector is growing

-> women’s jobs not hit as hard by the economic crisis as men’s jobs

Over the age of 40, women’s employment is higher than men’s

Unemployment -> growth of ‘shadow economy’

68.2% in work

31.8% not in work

Finland: limited progress for women

1966-70: committee on women’s position in society

Full-time childcare -> increase in women’s employment

Equal pay legislation 1962: pay still unequal

More women paid less than 1800 euros per month than men paid less than 2000 euros per month

Finland: gender segregation in transport

Service sector mainly women

Industrial sector mainly men

25% men

75% women

Finnair cabin crew

92% men

8% women

Finnair technical workers

Finland: gender segregation in transport

1,000 railyard workers

2 are women

1770 train drivers

36 are women

Finland: gender pay gap

7% of women in supervisory posts

25% of men

Even disregarding sector and supervisory position, there is still a pay gap of 8% between men and women

Finland: sexism at work

Men receive more workplace training than women do

Employers will not hire women because they don’t have facilities eg. changing rooms

Regular sexist comments at work

Raising equality issues is seen as ‘trouble making’

Violence and verbal abuse against women transport workers

Law requires all companies to have an equality plan and employer/employee committee

Men workers often oppose women working there, and the public companies are not doing enough to challenge sexism and gender segregation.

Finland: privatising public transport

All public sector companies, including transport, are being sold

Largest party in the parliament is the National Coalition (equivalent of Conservative Party in the UK)

Green Party also part of the government – holds position of Transport Minister, privatising state-owned transport companies

Helsinki Metro to go ‘driverless’ next year: lessons from the unions’ failure to stop this

The gender pay gap across Europe

ETUC ‘Bargaining for Equality’ project

Gender pay gap (gross hourly earnings) across Europe:

2007: 17.6%

2011: 16.2%

Gap in take-home pay will be even higher

Gender pay gap narrowing, but

Not nearly fast enough

Partly due to fall in men’s incomes

We want to close the gap through levelling-up not levelling-down!

It is – or at least it should be –

shocking that such

inequality still exists.

Gender pay gap – why?

straightforward discrimination (10-15%)

bargaining coverage

unequal balance of work and family

women’s over-representation in part-time, temporary, casual, low-paid jobs

workplace segregation: ‘women’s jobs’ paid less

gender socialisation

‘glass ceiling’

level of legal minimum wage

overall level of gender equality in society

overall level of pay inequality in society

Gender pay gap – what are we going to do about it?

Demand and compile information

Assess pay claims and pay offers for impact on gender pay gap

Oppose performance-related pay and reliance on overtime

Flat-rate pay increases

Childcare / work-life balance provision

Example: London Underground station staff

Equal Pay Day

The day on which women in the UK effectively work for nothing for the rest of the year due to the gender pay gap

7 November

2013

Where do we go from here?

look at how RMT can use the ETF Women’s Committee training package

consider information on what strategies different European unions use to encourage women’s participation and ask women members’ views on these

consider arranging a visit by Bulgarian women trade unionists

use strategies to tackle the gender pay gap

use and circulate ETF (and ITF) materials

What more would you like the union to do?

How would you like to get involved?

Keep in touch

Reports and information: www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk/women

ETF website: www.itfglobal/etf/women.cfm

Contact Janine:

j.booth@rmt.org.uk

07957-217639

@JanineBooth