Trade union capabilities for the promotion of decent work Employment: incorporating a gender perspective Jesús García and Rebeca Torada 1

Objectives: 1.Identify differential situations between women and men with regard to employment: entering the workforce, staying in the workforce, difficulties, discrimination and tension with domestic responsibilities. 2.Presenting a methodological proposal for introducing a gender perspective in the promotion of decent work. Structure: 1.The pay gap as the tip of the iceberg. 2.The causes: inequalities in the labour market and discrimination. What can be done: elements for trade union action. 3.Activity: identifying inequality and situations of discrimination in real cases. 4.The gender perspective: a process and a strategy. 2

¿What are we talking about? What is the cause of pay differences? How can we correct the pay gap? World pay gap 3

Gender pay gap in the waged population in LAC. CEPAL ¿What are we talking about? 4

WageWage “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” ILO Convention 100 on equal remuneration What are we talking about? Average wage 5

Gender discrimination indicators in income. CEPAL What are we talking about? 6

Development of pay gap in LAC countries. (1) What are we talking about? 7

Development of pay gap in LAC countries. (2) What are we talking about? 8

-Why do employed women earn less than employed men on average? - Why are the income gaps for the set of employed women greater than those for women engaged in waged labour? - What could be the reason for the different development of pay gaps in countries of the region? - How can we explain the fact that progress in the training and capacitation of women has not meant a reduction in pay gaps? What is the cause of pay differences? 9

A multitude of factors, that we can group into two aspects: - Gender pay gap rooted in the different characteristics of the labour market and, - Differences due to direct or indirect discrimination, that include differences in the valuation of work, and of occupations and sectors with a greater presence of women – feminized. What is the cause of pay gaps? 10

Income gap arising out of the structure of the labour market 11

Income gap arising out of the structure of the labour market -Different starting points: training, capacitation, experience... -Horizontal and vertical segregation. -Tension between work and family. -Precarious, part-time and temporary. Informal work. -Weak trade union presence and low bargaining power of women in feminized sectors. - New roles with regard to migration processes. -Different starting points: training, capacitation, experience... -Horizontal and vertical segregation. -Tension between work and family. -Precarious, part-time and temporary. Informal work. -Weak trade union presence and low bargaining power of women in feminized sectors. - New roles with regard to migration processes. Division of labour according to gender: Rules that have traditionally been assigned to women and men are perpetuated in the labour market and affect it. 12

What can be done? Trade union impact on public policies that change the labour market: - Access to education and vocational training, diversifying and promoting access to “male” professions and of men to “feminized” professions, - Recruitment of women to typically male sectors, - Promoting reconciliation between work and family, - Establishing a minimum wage, -Guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining, and participation in trade union organizations, -Effective participation of women in social dialogue forums. How can we correct the pay gap? 13

Wage discrimination: case analyses In the following cases, identify Wage differences between women and men, Possible causes, Situations of discrimination, Trade union strategies to correct discrimination. 14

Wage discrimination: case 1 15

Wage discrimination: case 2 16

Wage discrimination 17

Gender bias when establishing wages - under-evaluation of “typically female” tasks, -application of the concept of “head of the family” when granting certain wage allowances, -carry-over of wage rates from a time when there was a clear discrimination between “light work” and the “heavy work” performed by women and men respectively. ILO, general wage surveys 1986 and 2003 What is the cause of these wage differences? 18

What can be done? Action on gender discrimination: - Convention 100 on equal remuneration, of 1951, which established the principle of “work of equal value” and proposed the objective evaluation of jobs as a means of correcting gender inequalities. - Convention 111 on discrimination in employment and occupation, of 1958: Equality of treatment and of opportunities – positive action – together with the mainstreaming of gender and labour and employment policies. How can we correct the pay gap? 19

This is a process used to assess the implications for women and men of any status, condition or action. It is a strategy to convert the concerns and experiences of women and men into social, economic and labour priority The gender perspective 20

The gender perspective involves three concepts, corresponding to three differentiated processes: Gender equality as an objective: recognition of inequalities and discriminations and the will to overcome them, implementing the necessary means for this: promoting social and economic changes, etc. The analysis of gender as a tool of knowledge: identifying the needs, the initial situations, the living conditions, and the position of men and women in a differentiated way. Gender mainstreaming: how to systematically proceed by incorporating criteria that ensures equality as a priority in any action, programme, project or policy.. The gender perspective 21

Where are women and men? It is necessary to collect and present data broken down by gender to identify, for instance, current levels of inequality in the labour market, composition of families and management, vulnerability and risk of exclusion and poverty, social and political participation and so on. Gender analysis 1: quantitative data 22

How are men and women Identifying gender differences in the division of work, in the access to and control of resources- participation in the decision-making process on how to manage and allocate these resources- the social norms and values that contribute to perpetuation of gender roles based on sexual division and on the effective enjoyment of rights. Gender analysis 2: Qualitative analysis 23

What are the different needs that men and women have ? Differentiating practical needs (immediate needs, linked to the roles of gender, to the conditions of life and work) and strategic needs (related to the relationship of subordination and strengthening of their own political and social position). Gender analysis 3: Different needs. 24

25 Practical Needs and Strategic Needs of Women Practical NeedsStrategic Needs What are they?Immediate needs of women due to their role of gender, that have to do with their living and working conditions: + In general, women's health. Specifically, reproductive health. + Family nutrition. + Family care. Cast off the relationship of subordination, strengthen your social, economic, and political position, in other words, empower yourself. Modify roles, stereotypes, and revisit the gender identity through: + Education and training on gender prejudices and equality of conditions. + Balanced participation in different public forums. + Full and equal integration in the labour market. + Distribution of family responsibilities. + Control of resources. What can be done? + Reduce the workload of women. + Ensure the prevention and maintenance of women’s health, in general, and the reproductive aspect in specific. + Provide more and better services to families. + Full exercise of all rights as human beings and citizens. + Actions to build social consensus. + Increase in education opportunities and in access to the labour market. + Encourage autonomy and economic independence. + Equal access to representative, decision- making, and government positions.

What limitations – restrictions – and opportunities are they faced with By considering needs closely, we must identify obstacles that may arise and opportunities that make it easier to meet needs in order to be able to achieve the proposed objectives. Gender analysis 4: Opportunities and limitations 26

Gender analysis 5: action capability. 5)What organizational, institutional, community based capabilities exist to promote equality? Assessing the capability of our own organization and also that of other bodies or institutions that can and must be involved in the changes to be promoted. 27

Where are women and men? Data on distribution of wage bands according to gender (at country, sector or company level). Pay gap. What are they like? Analysis of the relationship between wages and labour segregation, link between wages and poverty and social exclusion, access to collective bargaining and influence on agenda, etc. What different needs do they have? heads of household, emerging from poverty, financial and social worth of jobs traditionally carried out by women, access to all labour categories and sectors, etc. Limitations and opportunities? Reconciliation between family life and work and repercussion on availability for work, strength of stereotypes, exclusion from certain sectors of the labour market. Access to occupational training. What trade union capability do we have? raising awareness among members about equal wages as a right and strength in collective bargaining to reduce labour segregation and the pay gap, promoting the presence of women in collective bargaining. An example: wages 28