Research has shown that collective arrangements are good for workers in general, but they also have important advantages for women in the labour market. In unionised companies and sectors of the economy, as well as in countries with a high coverage of collective bargaining, a general tendency exists to have shorter working hours for both women and men, more flexible work options under secure employment conditions, better protection for non-standard workers, in addition to a reduced gender pay gap. For ETUC, there are many urgent reasons to increase efforts and actions in this regard.
Reduced gender pay gap
Collective bargaining can be a powerful means to reduce the gender pay gap, combat low pay and upgrade the value of women’s work, as well as to provide work arrangements that allow to a better reconciliation of work and family life for parents.
Gender mainstreaming
Collective bargaining is also key to implement gender mainstreaming. A significant number of trade unions report that they have included targeted measures in collective bargaining. These measures either added topics to the collective bargaining agenda which are traditionally seen as ‘women’s issues’ – such as childcare and flexible work arrangements – and/or evoked the gender dimension of general issues – such as wages and working time – in collective bargaining.
Equality in collective bargaining
Other key pre-requisites to fully integrate equality in collective bargaining are to ensure that women are always present in negotiating teams, as well to follow up on the implementation of collective agreements by assessing their impact on women.
Further information
ETUC has addressed the close relationship between collective bargaining and gender equality in a number of documents. Please refer to the references below for more information.
• See the ETUC reports on Women in trade unions: Making the difference (2003) and Women in trade unions: Bridging the gaps (2007)
