Ahead of Unequal Pay Day on 15 November, PES Women and the Flemish progressive women’s movement ZIJkant are organising ‘Championing Equal Pay’ on 4 November, a conference hosted by the City of Brussels at Brussels Townhall. Information on the event can be found here.
The gender pay gap is still at 13% in the EU. Progress towards closing it is too slow, and there are stark differences between member states (for example, in Luxembourg it is 0.7%, and in Latvia it is 22.5%). This is why PES Women and ZIJkant join forces every year to raise awareness and mark 15 November as the day in which symbolically, at EU level, women cease to be remunerated for their work.
The Championing Equal Pay conference will bring together politicians from EU institutions – including video messages from EU Commissioner Helena Dalli and European Parliament Vice-President Evelyn Regner – national and local level representatives, trade unionists and voices from the private sector to exchange best practices on how to close the gender pay gap once and for all.
Moreover, the 2022 the Unequal Pay Day campaign video by ZIJkant and PES Women, created by Motierbrigade, will be premiered during the conference. This year’s video will call on men to collaborate to close the gender pay gap, which in turn benefits everyone in society.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai said:
“Closing the gender pay gap is a long-standing demand of PES Women. This is why it is a key topic for us every year. The reasons behind it are more complex than it may seem at a first glance: we demand equal pay for equal work, of course. But we must also factor in the societal constraints on women: taking on more unpaid care responsibilities than men leads to working part-time or not at all. There is also still a glass ceiling for top positions in all sectors. This is what our campaign video for 2022 will bring attention to.
“However, it is encouraging to see so many organisations and politicians from the PES political family engaged in the cause. We can close the pay gap with enough awareness and political will, so let’s move forward. The proposal for an EU Directive on Pay Transparency, led by EU Commissioner Helena Dalli, is a great first step which will make everyone aware of the gaps which exist, and encourage society and companies to close them. We will not achieve equality without everyone’s contribution.”
ZIJkant is the Flemish progressive women’s movement that stands up for equal opportunities for women and men, empowering women and men and eliminating gender discrimination. More information is available here.
