SIPTU says EU Directive on pay transparency won’t deliver real change for women workers

SIPTU representatives have said that the draft EU Directive on pay transparency, published today (Thursday, 4th March), will effectively lock women into a state of permanent pay inequality.

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary for Organising and Membership Development, Ethel Buckley, said: “While this long awaited and overdue Directive contains some fine aspirations, it falls way short in terms of the actions and urgency required to deliver real change for women workers.

“While the Directive aims to reduce secrecy on pay, it does not provide the practical tools necessary to negotiate and address the glaring pay inequalities that exist for women workers. The gender pay gap is currently standing at 14.4% in Ireland and if recent rates of progress are anything to go by the women of Europe and Ireland would have to wait another four generations for equal pay. That is not acceptable.”

She added: “We are calling on all Irish MEPs to work with SIPTU representatives to improve the Directive over the coming weeks to remove the limits of the pay audits to companies with over 250 employees, to enable trade unions to collectively bargain and to combat the power imbalance that exists when it comes to equal pay for work of equal value.”