Newsletter. Bridging the Gender Pay Gap. Transnational Cooperation: Cyprus, Greece, Portugal

Transcription

1 Newsletter November 016 Bridging the Gender Pay Gap. Transnational Cooperation: Cyprus, Greece, Portugal No.4 Inside this Newsletter Welcome 1 International Conference The Effects of the Economic Crisis: A Comparative Analytical Report Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value Ways to eliminate the gap Gender Pay Gap mainstreaming in social dialogue The Gender Pay Gap in Cyprus Hotels Welcome to the fourth and last newsletter of the project Bridging the gender pay gap. Transnational Cooperation: Cyprus, Greece, Portugal! The project has been running from September 014 and has come to an end on October 016. The main aim of the project was to help reducing the pay gap between women and men through the cooperation of organisations from Cyprus, Greece and Portugal. This newsletter consists of a brief account of the most important activities which have taken place during the two years of the project s life. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Gender Pay Gap in the EU in the era of economic crisis Awareness raising campaign Closing up Press Conference 4 5 Who we are 5 "This newsletter has been produced with the financial support of the PROGRESS Programme of the European Union. T h e c o n t e n t s of this publication are the sole responsibility of Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK-PEO) and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission". Co-funded by the PROGRESS programme of the European Union. One of the key events which took place within this project was the international conference on Gender Pay Gap in the EU in the era of economic crisis. The conference was organised by the project s leader, the Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK- PEO). It was held on June 3, 016 at the Journalists House in Nicosia. The conference dealt with the consequences of the financial crisis and of the austerity measures to the Gender Pay Gap, putting emphasis to the countries of northern Europe, that is, countries hit particularly hard by the crisis. The presenters and the participants of the conference included well-known researchers, academics and experts in gender equality as well as stakeholders. The conference was opened by the president of the Board of Directors of INEK-PEO and General Secretary of PEO, Pambis Kyritsis followed by the speech of the Head of the European Commission Representation in Cyprus, Georgios Markopouliotis. The first keynote presentation was given by Prof. Francesca Bettio (University of Sienna, Italy), an academic who has conducted significant work on equal pay. Prof. Bettio focused on the consequences of the economic crisis not only to the pay gap, but also to the overall earnings gap between men and women in the EU. The second keynote speaker was Prof. Maria Karamesini (Panteion University, Athens) who focused on the Gender Pay Gap within the framework of crisis and austerity, particularly in the countries of the southern Europe. EU -1-

2 Newsletter No.4 The Effects of the Economic Crisis on GPG: A Comparative Analytical Report between Cyprus, Greece and Portugal The conference also included several presentations which resulted from the activities of this project. Particularly, one of the presentations of the first session referred to the results of a comparative study on the consequences of the economic crisis in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal, which was implemented within the framework of this project. Namely, the researchers Ms Maria Liapi (DIOTIMA, Greece) and Mr Elias Ioakimoglou (scientific associate of INEK-PEO, Cyprus) presented the main findings of the comparative report which will soon be uploaded to the project s website ( Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: The Job Evaluation Tool This project has put an emphasis on the undervaluation of women s work as one of the causes of pay inequality. In this context, the project team dedicated the second session of the conference to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. The keynote speaker was Ms Albertina Jordao, the chair of the Gender Focal Point in the branch office of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Lisbon. To identify unequal pay for work of equal value, one needs to first identify what occupations, though different, are however of equal value. In this framework, Ms Jordao presented the main methods and tools that exist and can be used for the evaluation and comparison of different jobs. The presentation can be found in the project s website ( The next two speakers, Dr. Loucas Antoniou (INEK-PEO) and Mr. Giorgos Kritikides (Labour Institute of the Greek General Confederation of Labour, INE-GSEE) referred to a particular Job Evaluation Tool which aims to assess jobs by using criteria that eliminate altogether the influence of gender-based stereotypes in pay determination arrangements. The tool was initially built in Portugal under the Revaluing Work to promote Equality Project carried out by the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme and was implemented by a tripartite partnership consisted of trade unions, employers organisations, governmental bodies as well as the ILO and other stakeholders. Among the partnership was the Confederation of Portuguese Workers - National Inter Trade-Unions (CGTP IN), which is also a partner of this project. Considering the expertise of CGTP-IN, within the framework of this project, members of the project s team from Cyprus and Greece received training in Portugal by CGTP-IN and ILO experts on the Job Evaluation Tool, in order to pilot the implementation of the tool in the hotel industry of their countries. In this context, the main results of the pilot implementation of the Job Evaluation Tool in the hotel industry of Cyprus and Greece were presented in the conference by Dr. Antoniou and Mr. Kritikides, respectively. More information on this activity can be found in the project s website, where one can find the presentations as well as the report on the pilot research in the hotel industry of Cyprus and Greece. For more information, the reader may refer to the project s web page where the researchers presentations have been posted. Ways to eliminate the gap The international conference included a third session which referred to practical issues regarding the ways that the GPG could be eliminated. The first speaker of the session was the gender expert, Ms Anna Pilavaki from Equality Committee in Employment and Vocational Training of Cyprus, which was one of the project's partners. Ms Pilavaki delivered a presentation on the institutional and legal framework of GPG in the EU. The second speaker was Ms Anthoula Papadopoulou (chair of the Steering Committee, KISA Action for Equality, Support, antiracism). Ms Papadopoulou referred to the role of NGOs regarding equal pay, putting emphasis on the vulnerable group of migrant women. The last speech, by Ms Marina Koukou (chair of the Working Women s Office of PEO, Cyprus), noted the important role of social dialogue and trade unions with regard to pay equality. Ms Koukou referred to collective bargaining as a basic tool for setting and determining the terms of employment which, as such, can have positive effects to tackling the relevant issues. --

3 GENDER PAY GAP MAINSTREAMING IN SOCIAL DIALOGUE Training social partners in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal Visit our Website: One of the project s objectives was to promote the inclusion of equal pay for work of equal value in social dialogue and collective bargaining. For this purpose, the project s team, with DIOTIMA being the leader of the activity, prepared and implemented a 3 day training seminar for employers, unionists and governmental organisations in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal. The seminar aimed to train social partners on GPG mainstreaming in social dialogue. It included lessons on key terminology regarding gender and pay equality, presentations of statistical data and research work done on the pay gap whilst it also introduced the participants to the constitutional and legal framework of each country. More importantly, the seminar included lectures and interactive activities on what Gender Pay Gap mainstreaming in social dialogue means and which practical ways could be used to achieve it. Training Manuals DIOTIMA, as the leader of the activity, also constructed two manuals: one on Gender Pay Gap Mainstreaming in Social Dialogue and one on Collective Bargaining and GPG. The manuals will soon be uploaded to the project s website. The training seminars in Cyprus, Greece and Portugal THE GENDER PAY GAP IN CYPRUS HOTELS One activity of this project was the research on the gender pay gap in the hotel industry in Cyprus, which analyses the determining factors of the gap in Cyprus hotels. Methodologically, the research was based on statistical data analysis, desk research and the conduct of a field study. A questionnaire was constructed and completed through personal interviews with hotel employees throughout Cyprus. The study was published by INEK-PEO and is accessible for free on the website of the project. INEK-PEO has also published a booklet summarising the main results of the study, which can also be found on the project s website.

4 AWARENESS RAISING CAMPAIGN In order to raise awareness and understanding of the gender pay gap, the project implemented an awarenessraising campaign which aimed to inform the public on the existence of the pay inequalities between men and women and to advocate the importance of pay equity. An important material produced by the project within this framework was the TV spot titled Let s bridge the gap: it s vital!. The spot was broadcast on several TV channels and published in social media, such as Facebook, twitter and YouTube. It is also accessible through the project s website, where it can be found with English, Greek and Portuguese subtitles. Moreover, in the context of the campaign, the project team prepared printed material on pay equality in three languages (English, Greek and Portuguese) with the general slogan Equal work Equal Pay. This included four types of printed material: a poster, a leaflet, a bookmark, and a sticker, which were distributed to public spaces and work places. Visit our Website:

5 Newsletter No.4 CLOSING-UP PRESS CONFERENCE The project closed officially on October 31, 016 by a closing-up press conference. The conference took place in Nicosia and was organised by the project s leader organisation, namely the Cyprus Labour Institute, INEK-PEO. During the closing-up conference, the main activities and deliverables of the project were summarised and discussed. Who we are This project is implemented by a transnational partnership which includes organizations of Cyprus, Greece and Portugal. Particularly. The following organisations are cooperating to implement it: Project coordinator: Cyprus Institute of Labour of the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (INEK -PEO), Cyprus. The Hotel and Catering Establishment Employee s Trade Union (SYXKA-PEO), Cyprus. Centre for Research on Women s Issues (CRWI) DIOTIMA, Greece. Labour Institute of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE), Greece. General Confederation of Portuguese Workers-National Inter Trade-Unions (CGTP IN), Portugal. Gender Equality Committee in Employment and Vocational Training, Cyprus. Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK- PEO) 14 Simonidou Str ETKA-PEO, 1045 Nicosia Cyprus tel: fax: Cyprus Contact person: Eva Soumeli: inek.eiro@inek.org.cy Diotima. Centre for Research on Women s Issues (CRWI) 4 Nikis Street, Athens Greece tel: fax: Maria Liapi: diotima@otenet.gr Confederation of Portuguese Workers- National Inter Trade-Unions (CGTP IN) Rua Vitor Cordon, Lisboa Portugal tel: Contact person: Maria de Fatima Marques Messias: Fatima.messias@cgtp.pt Hotel and Catering Establishment Employee s Trade Union (SYXKA-PEO) SYXKA-PEO Arhermou 9, 1045 Nicosia - Cyprus tel: fax: Elefterios Georgiades: syxka@peo.org.cy Labour Institute of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (INE/GSEE) Em. Benaki Athens Greece tel: fax: Zoi Sinogiorgou: zsinog@inegsee.gr Gender Equality Committee in Employment and Vocational Training Clementos Nicosia Cyprus tel: fax: Anna Pilavaki: pilavaki@cytanet.com.cy -5-