A4-0338/95

Resolution on the Memorandum on equal pay for work of equal value

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission Memorandum on equal pay for work of equal value (COM(94)0006 - C4-0084/94),

- having regard to Article 119 of the EC Treaty and Article 6(3) of the Agreement on Social Policy annexed to the EC Treaty,

- having regard to Directive 75/117/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women,

- having regard to the White and Green papers from the Commission on Social Policy and Employment,

- having regard to the Community's Third Medium-Term Action Programme for equal opportunities and the Commission's proposal for the Fourth Action programme for Equal Opportunities (1996-2000),

- having regard to the conclusions of the Forum held in March 1992 on Equal Pay Legislation organised by its Committee on Women's Rights and its proposal to adopt a Memorandum on the scope and concept of equal pay for work of equal value,

- having regard to the conclusions of the hearing of the Committee on Women's Rights on 21 and 22 March 1995,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights and to the opinion of the Committee on Social Affairs and Employment (A4-0338/95),

A. whereas in all the countries of Europe the numbers of working women and women in employment have increased significantly,

B. whereas, however, the segregation apparent in the employment markets is equally significant, with women concentrated in the service and 'caring' sectors,

C. whereas the feminization of a sector or, at least, a high concentration of women in a sector is one of the most important reasons for wage inequality,

D. whereas there continues to be extensive segregation in the world of work despite the increase in women's education levels,

E. whereas structural changes in the employment market (atypical and part-time work, short-term employment contracts, homeworking, etc.) may result in even greater segregation of women at work and have a detrimental effect on wage equality,

F. whereas not only is segregation in the labour market (and the feminization of certain industries and/or occupations) one of the principal causes of a persistent wage differential between men and women, but in addition the unequal division of family responsibilities and domestic chores between men and women affects women's professional activities and may be regarded as a cause of occupational segregation and disparities in wages,

G. whereas wage discrimination gives rise to other forms of discrimination, particularly in unemployment benefit and retirement pensions,

H. whereas the current migratory trends have a particular impact on women,

I. having regard to the structural changes to the family and the increasing number of single-person households and single-parent families,

J. whereas, despite the adoption of laws implementing Directive 75/117/EEC mentioned above, wage differentials between men and women are still increasing,

K. whereas, furthermore, the wage differentials between the sexes for work of equal value are only one of the sources of discrimination in the employment market and whereas such differentials are also due to other causes, such as the structure of the local employment market, wage structure, or the lack of social structures that can make it possible for men and women to combine care commitments with an occupational career,

L. whereas the indiscriminate cuts in public expenditure adversely affect the employment of women, directly or indirectly, and the availability of social infrastructure such as child care and care for the elderly,

M. whereas this situation of inequality and the extremely gradual impact of the Treaty, Directives and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in reducing its call for the adoption of appropriate positive measures,

1. Requests that the IGC propose a precise rewording of Article 119 EC on equal pay for work of equal value in accordance with case law passed by the Court of Justice of the European Communities as documented in the Memorandum;

2. Welcomes the agreement reached on parental leave and requests that the Council, on conclusion of the current consultation procedure involving the social partners on both sides of industry, rapidly adopt the proposal concerning parental leave and leave for family reasons; calls on the Member States to implement this framework agreement rapidly and, in this connection, deal with the problem of income; calls on the social partners to enter into negotiations as soon as possible on the burden of proof, atypical work and part-time work with a view to reaching agreement under the terms of the Social Protocol; calls on the Commission, if the social partners are unable to reach agreement, to

- propose without delay a framework directive on atypical work,

- again propose a directive on reversal of the burden of proof;

3. Calls on the Commission to draw up a proposal for a directive to introduce positive action to eliminate discrimination against women;

4. Welcomes the publication by the Commission of the Memorandum on equal pay for work of equal value as a starting point for a more specific strategy;

5. Calls on the Commission to assess as a priority aspect the impact on equality of wages of the entirety of its proposals concerning the labour market, with regard to both the supply and demand sides;

6. Calls on the Commission

- to provide the parties concerned with information on a systematic, widespread and accessible basis concerning case law relating to wage discrimination, the economic analysis of developments in the labour market, and developments in Community policies on achieving wage equality;

- to strengthen and adjust the existing instruments;

- to promote adequate training of groups and parties which have an interest in equality of pay;

7. Calls on the Commission to make greater use of the procedures laid down in Article 169 EC for failure to fulfil an obligation;

8. Calls on the Commission to organize legal advice projects and assist in projects for test cases in those countries where few cases are brought;

9. Calls on the Commission to forward to it, as soon as possible, the draft code of practice on equal pay;

10. Calls for the code to encourage

(a) a precise analysis of the wage structure, in order to identify discrimination on grounds of sex,

(b) appropriate measures to eliminate such discrimination,

(c) measures to facilitate the use of the code by the social partners;

11. Instructs the Commission, and particularly EUROSTAT, in cooperation with the Member States' statistical offices, to promote a permanent, uniform, comparable information system which will enable wage differentials to be measured and a survey to be carried out of the various causes of wage discrimination between the sexes, broken down as far as possible according to location, sector and type of work, in order to establish microdata using survey and panel techniques, and to publish the data annually;

12. Congratulates the Commission on the planned adoption of a regulation on statistics on the structure and distribution of wages and calls for the regulation to devote special attention to the industries where women workers are most concentrated, starting with the public sector;

13. Calls on the Commission to study examples of new creative types of collective and proactive legislation on equal wages for work of equal value (such as that in Ontario, Canada) and to investigate whether they could be applied in the European Union;

14. Calls on the Commission, together with experts in the field of job evaluation and equal treatment, to study sexually non-discriminatory methods of evaluating jobs and to hold a European conference on the subject;

15. Calls on the Member States to apply without delay the laws on equal pay for men and women for work of equal value which are consistent with the past decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and to establish procedures and penalties which will ensure that they are enforced;

16. Calls on Member States to determine the arrangements for the social partners and bodies responsible for equal opportunities within the Member States to take legal action in cases of direct or indirect wage discrimination;

17. Calls on the Member States to incorporate into their laws appropriate initiatives, with particular reference to training and work organization, in order to reduce wage differences;

18. Calls on the Member States to promote the practical and legal training of experts capable of identifying and studying situations in which unequal wages are paid and proposing practical ways of resolving them;

19. Calls on the Member States, the Commission and the social partners to gather transparent information systematically on wages and on segregation within the world of work in order to identify wage discrimination;

20. Calls on Member States to take measures to ensure that enterprises draw up annual reports on equal pay for women and men;

21. Calls on Member States to take into account, in their equal pay policy, the problems and reasons behind the existence of low-pay sectors, including indirect wage discrimination resulting from arbitrary or unregulated pay agreements;

22. Calls on the social partners to incorporate the concept of equal value into collective bargaining and calls for particular attention to be paid in such bargaining to the upgrading of female employment and to low-paid workers, particularly by upgrading feminized occupations, and with a view to developing a strategy for combating low wages;

23. Calls on Member States to reach a rapid agreement, under the agreement on social policy, on reconciling work and family life;

24. Calls on both sides of industry to enable women to be involved and to make a greater contribution to the process of setting pay during wage negotiations,including negotiations on collective agreements, inter alia by appointing more women to positions of responsibility in trade unions and in organizations representing employers;

25. Calls on Member States and organizations representing employers and employees to conduct thorough discussions at all levels of policy-making (European, national, industry and enterprise) concerning the implementation of the European code of conduct on equal pay for work of equal value;

26. Calls on the social partners, inter alia when applying the code of conduct, to identify and eliminate whatever direct and indirect discrimination exists in the job evaluation and employment classification system;

27. Calls on the two sides of industry to organize campaigns for increasing awareness and providing information on equal pay for work of equal value, particularly for women and negotiators of collective agreements;

28. Stresses the need to improve basic training and the occupational qualifications of women and also to broaden the professional options open to them;

29. Calls on the Commission to include in its annual report on equal opportunities for women and men an appropriate chapter on the progress made in the area of equal pay for work of equal value, taking into consideration in particular the proposed strategy of the Memorandum and the code of conduct for achieving real equal pay by improving baseline data on women's pay, dissemination of information, training and, where applicable, legal actions taken;

30. Calls on the Commission to analyze the impact which cuts by Member States in public expenditure on social infrastructure - particularly child care and care of the elderly - have had on the employment of women;

31. Calls on the Commission to analyze the employment strategy which it has worked out on the basis of the mandate from the Essen European Council from the point of view of equality of treatment and to incorporate in it specific employment objectives for women, including equal pay for work of equal value;

32. Calls on the Commission to study the link between the growth of atypical work and the structure of women's wages;

33. Calls on the Commission to investigate how a strategy for implementing the principle of equal pay for work of equal value can be implemented in the non-profit-making and social sectors;

34. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the social partners.