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Procedure : 2012/2046(INI)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected : A7-0246/2012

Texts tabled :

A7-0246/2012

Debates :

PV 10/09/2012 - 27
CRE 10/09/2012 - 27

Votes :

PV 11/09/2012 - 10.19
Explanations of votes
Explanations of votes

Texts adopted :

P7_TA(2012)0322

Verbatim report of proceedings
Monday, 10 September 2012 - Strasbourg OJ edition

27. Women's working conditions in the service sector (short presentation)
Video of the speeches
PV
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  President. - The next item is a short presentation of the report by Iratxe García Pérez on women’s working conditions in the service sector [2012/2046(INI)] (A7-0246/2012).

 
  
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  Iratxe García Pérez, rapporteur.(ES) Mr President, the service sector represents almost 70% of total employment in the EU, and 83% of the active female population works in this sector. I therefore believe that the work carried out on this report by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality is fundamental, and I want to begin by thanking all my colleagues for the work they have done on amendments and follow-up negotiations; they made it possible to get this job done and to improve the original report.

In this report, we have tried to reflect issues such as precarity, stereotypes, the digital divide, the pay gap, reconciliation, the glass ceiling, training, new technologies – issues that are central to the debate on equality and the situation of women in the labour market. However, I believe it is important to refer to some important matters that have also been the subject of an interesting debate in the committee.

With regard to flexibility, it is true that labour flexibility at certain times may help women join the labour market when they are trying to reconcile work and family life, but we should not forget that this flexibility cannot come at the cost of having the employer propose and maintain the working conditions; instead, it has to come about through collective negotiation and the role that women can play in promoting a reconciliation between work and family life, because otherwise, that reconciliation will not be possible and, therefore, flexibility will not be positive.

Another question we have also brought up in the report concerns the issues surrounding part-time contracts. The majority of part-time contracts are held by women, and this can be an opportunity, but only if that opportunity means giving women the free choice to enter the labour market under such conditions and, of course, men too, because we should not forget that reconciling work and family life is the responsibility of both men and women, and we cannot always leave women to shoulder the vitally important task of caring for children, dependent persons and the elderly.

In this report therefore, we also wanted to make reference to the importance of public care services for children, the disabled and other dependants. Today, 80% of informal carers are women, and we therefore need free and quality public services, and we should not facilitate the dismantling – as is happening in many Member States – of the welfare state, public education and those social services that can help women join the labour market on an equal footing.

We also wanted to raise the important issue of the pay gap, which has been brought up many times by Parliament. The pay gap shows that women, as I said earlier, are mostly working part-time or in very precarious jobs, which not only means there is a pay gap in terms of the wages they currently earn, but also that these women’s future retirement pension rights are far weaker than men’s.

The gender pay gap is therefore a crucial issue that the Commission and Member States must address and develop in order for the gap to be narrowed; of course, another vital matter to bear in mind concerns all the issues surrounding work inspections and the monitoring of companies’ policies on working conditions.

We were keen to make reference to the need to re-examine the question of the Maternity Directive. I believe that Parliament has been calling for this for quite some time, and the issue is not only maternity leave but also paternity leave, which is important and relevant.

Mr President, I shall finish by saying that we cannot allow this economic crisis to bring about a deterioration in the labour market and in working conditions because, in the end, that falls primarily on the shoulders of those who are already experiencing the most difficulty: in this case, on the shoulders of women in the labour market. Therefore, we will have to continue working and urging the Commission to carry out its own work on this issue.

 
  
 

Catch-the-eye procedure

 
  
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  Joanna Katarzyna Skrzydlewska (PPE).(PL) Mr President, tomorrow we will be voting on another report concerning the matter of women in employment, this time in the service sector. This is an important sector, as the level of female employment is high and represents 25% of the total employment of women. This sector suffers from typical problems faced by women who are active in the labour market, namely: they are employed in capacities below their level of qualification, they are paid less than men for the same work and they are forced to work part time. To a large extent, this is caused by the difficulties women are confronted with when trying to reconcile family life and their careers.

In this report, we yet again call for the creation of an appropriate and affordable infrastructure for the care of children and the elderly. With regard to unequal pay, we reiterate our appeal to the Member States, employers and trade unions to develop and implement specific performance assessment instruments which would facilitate the definition of work of equal value.

 
  
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  Angelika Werthmann (ALDE).(DE) Mr President, it remains a sad but true fact: women in the EU still earn 16.4% less than men and make up 80% of low earners. In my home country, women earned, on average, around 60% of male average income in 2010. There still remain different gradings for the same work, while only one in seven board members in Europe’s biggest corporations were female in 2010. It is high time women were seen as just as capable as men. Working hours that make it possible to combine professional and family life, the opportunity to have child care to that same end and access to permanent upskilling programmes are things that I see as an appropriate start in order to move in the right direction.

 
  
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  Monika Flašíková Beňová (S&D).(SK) Mr President, almost 70% of people in the EU are employed in the service sector. However, this area accounts for most working women: more than 83%, compared to 58% of working men. Services, however, suffer from the problem of horizontal segregation, as a result of the persistent stereotypes in this sector. These are deeply rooted in society. It is assumed that there are male professions and female professions, and the female professions relate, for example, to work that women perform mainly in a domestic environment. They also include education, nursing, cleaning services and the like – all the worst paid jobs.

Women, moreover, still suffer from persistent pay differences. In the EU, they make 17% less than men, and that is not all. Almost 80% of low-paid people are women. Despite the fact that women account for almost 60% of university graduates, only one in seven members of the boards of leading European companies are women.

 
  
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  Franz Obermayr (NI).(DE) Mr President, 83.1% of women in paid work are active in the service sector. There is a concentration to be seen in certain fields, such as care, mediation, marketing and teaching, and not only as a result of social stereotypes, as the report claims. Rather, women also bring very special skills to specialist fields. Marketing and mediation are thus classical female professions because women are generally better than their male colleagues at putting themselves in the shoes of others.

It is absurd to believe that there is suddenly a need for more male nursery school teachers or more female plumbers. That is of benefit neither to women nor to society as a whole. What is important, rather, is to remunerate and value people according to their profession, both financially and in terms of reputation. Moreover, part-time work must not become a case of precarity.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 149(8))

 
  
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  Krisztina Morvai (NI), Blue-card question. – Mr Obermayr, may I ask whether you think women would qualify as politicians? Could you accept more female politicians taking into consideration our wonderful abilities for mediation and care and all the other values that we need so much in politics?

 
  
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  Franz Obermayr (NI), Blue-card answer.(DE) Thank you for your question. I said right at the start that I regard women as, by and large, more empathetic than their male colleagues, and that is a very important point, including in politics. I therefore believe that, both in politics and, of course, also in management positions – as was touched on earlier by a female Member – it is important that we should have many more women without the imposition of quotas. I believe that imposing quotas would be the wrong approach, and I concede that equal pay would be an important step forwards in this connection.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 149(8))

 
  
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  Andrea Češková (ECR), Blue-card question.(CS) I would like to respond to one thing you said in relation to whether or not we should have more male staff members in pre-school facilities.

If my translation was correct, then this is what was said, and I would like to ask you why we should not have more male staff members in these facilities, how many children you have and how many times you have been with them in such pre-school facilities, and how many male staff members and teachers there were.

Because, in my experience, we must do everything to ensure that there are male staff members among the educators or teachers in these pre-school facilities. The work needs to be divided up in this way.

 
  
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  Franz Obermayr (NI), Blue-card answer.(DE) Thank you for your question. I said very clearly that we should not force blessings on people. Naturally, if more men are able to feel enthused by that kind of work, that is absolutely legitimate, and it is welcome if women also feel enthused by technical professions. A forced blessing, however, does not make sense, if you ask me. I would stress, once again, that it is important that, in this connection, people’s professions – be it teaching or care – should have their status fundamentally enhanced. If these professions were to obtain a better image, if pay were improved and made equal for all, whether male or female, access would be equally attractive to both men and women. The problem would then solve itself.

 
  
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  Elena Băsescu (PPE).(RO) Mr President, working conditions should be exactly the same, regardless of gender. There are discrepancies in the majority of countries, especially in terms of women’s access to jobs and pay. I also feel obliged to mention that in 2010, only one in seven members of the boards of directors of Europe’s major companies were women.

First of all, women need to defend their rights, including through civil judicial proceedings, when appropriate. Women’s working conditions in the service sector must comply with the International Labour Organisation’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Authorities in Member States must monitor compliance with these principles.

 
  
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  Anna Záborská (PPE). - (SK) Mr President, I know there are many problems in this sector. According to the report, we need more male teachers and doctors, for we have too many women teachers and doctors. In companies, there are few female managers and too many male managers, and this must change. Part-time jobs are insecure and uncertain. At the same time, however, we praise them as a means of balancing work and family. We want flexibility, high pay and family, and for our health it suddenly matters whether we are treated by a man or a woman.

All this in the name of the plan to have three quarters of all women and men in work by 2020. It is thus becoming an economic necessity for women to work. Children are raised by comrade teacher, and old people are cared for in social facilities. It will be efficient in budgetary terms, and we will save on the hypocritical citing of statistics.

I am concerned that we are not paying equal attention to women who freely decide that they want to care for their family.

 
  
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  Andrea Češková (ECR).(CS) Mr President, it is a fact that there are still occupations where women are more strongly represented than men, and that this is a direct result of the gender stereotypes that, even in this day and age, still dominate society. I also agree that women are often less valued than men for the same work and that, in addition to horizontal segregation, we also have vertical segregation in the labour market.

In my opinion, we should not talk about the service sector in terms of occupations with low social status and low social prestige. I firmly believe that our society values jobs such as teaching, care services and the like, and is aware that these jobs are irreplaceable.

I am generally opposed to excessive legal regulation, and even though I agree with many of the issues in the report overall, such as support for flexible working hours and child care, I cannot agree to the development of new proposals at EU level that will regulate this area very tightly.

We must not lose sight of the fact that, in services provided to households and private child care services, for example, there are many specialised small firms that are not currently able to adapt to the regulations demanded by this report.

 
  
  

IN THE CHAIR: ISABELLE DURANT
Vice-President

 
  
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  Ana Miranda (Verts/ALE).(ES) Madam President, Commissioner, Ms García Pérez, congratulations on your report.

While it is true that the majority of women in Europe are employed in the service sector, it is also true that the majority of women have jobs that are precarious, segregated, part-time, undervalued, paid differently from those of men, irregular and illegal, in many cases simply to survive.

The last thing we women need is to be forced to accept job flexibility under the pretext of reforms like the ones being introduced in some Member States, such as Spain, which are leading to austerity measures, social security cutbacks and the loss of rights.

We women want rights, including in the services sector.

 
  
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  Silvia-Adriana Ţicău (S&D).(RO) Madam President, in 2010, 83.1% of the female workforce worked in the service sector in the European Union, and 78% of all part-time jobs were done by women.

I call on the Commission and Member States to devise strategies and adopt specific measures for combating precarious employment conditions in the service sector, which particularly affect women. Although there are increasing numbers of women using computers and the Internet, the digital divide in terms of skills remains very wide, which hampers women’s opportunities to seek and find skilled jobs. I call on Member States and regions to arrange free IT training courses through projects financed by the European Social Fund, providing women with the opportunity to acquire new technical skills in the fields of communications and information technology, and thereby boosting their chances of finding a decent job in the service sector.

 
  
 

End of the catch-the-eye procedure

 
  
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  John Dalli, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members, I would like to thank Ms García Pérez for her report on the working conditions of female workers. This report offers a comprehensive but gloomy picture – an assessment that the Commission shares.

Women are over-represented in low-quality, precarious positions and frequently have few opportunities for career advancement. Lack of policies to reconcile work and family or private life, inappropriate incentives or rigid gender roles can contribute to this unfavourable situation. The presence of children, too, often dampens women’s employment prospects significantly. This is an issue that has to be dealt with urgently, as a woman’s decision to have a child should not imply her exclusion from the labour market. The persistence of the gender pay gap, women’s lower representation in decision-making positions and the barriers facing immigrant women are all further issues we have to fight against.

Overcoming these challenges features high on the Commission’s political agenda.

First, although there is no definite target for female employment rates in the Europe 2020 strategy, it says that the 75% employment rate in the 20-64 age group should be achieved through the greater involvement of women. The Europe 2020 strategy also sets a target for reducing the number of Europeans at risk of poverty by at least 20 million by 2020, which can hardly be achieved without better inclusion of women.

Second, gender issues were prominent during the European Semester of enhanced policy coordination. The solid conclusion emerging from the first European Semester was that the Member States need to put in place a comprehensive policy mix to combat the gender employment gap and its main causes. Country-specific recommendations were issued to several Member States in 2011 and 2012 in this area. They have focused on the need to offer affordable, available and quality care services, to remove fiscal disincentives for second earners from the tax benefit system, to provide flexible working arrangements and to combat the gender pay gap.

The Commission has monitored actions taken by the Member States in this field and taken stock of progress made but has noted that additional efforts were necessary.

The Commission has instruments to help Member States design and implement more efficient actions in this area. Addressing equal treatment for women can be found in our few recent initiatives that underline the importance of a growing and inclusive workforce and a more equal society.

First, our engagement is reflected in the priorities of the strategy for equality between women and men, which defines actions addressing cross-cutting women-related issues. The gender pay gap in the EU is one of these. Its persistence indicates a need to tackle the underlying causes and to enforce the existing rules more effectively. The Commission will report on the implementation of its directive on equal pay matters in 2013.

The Commission has recently launched an initiative which will help to raise the awareness of companies about the business and economic case for gender equality, such as the gender pay gap. Training activities and exchanges of good practices for and by companies will be organised starting this autumn. Furthermore, we will mark again European Equal Pay Day in 2013.

This House knows and supports Vice-President Reding’s commitment to making rapid progress on the representation of women in top positions in the corporate sector. Given the insufficient and unequal progress so far, the Commission is now considering taking an EU-level measure.

Second, I would also draw your attention to the employment package, which points to women’s integration into the labour market. The employment package also calls on the Member States to establish national job plans within their national reform programmes and use them to focus on job creation and to fine-tune the use of the structural funds to increase employment opportunities. Indeed, stronger governance of employment policy can provide a strong framework for improving the work conditions of the female workforce. According to the sectoral approach of the package, the Commission will promote white-collar, green and ICT careers in order to attract under-represented profiles such as women.

Third, a job is the best guarantee to avoid unemployment and exclusion in society. However, at the outset of the current economic downturn, social inclusion should be taken into account.

Our commitment is clear: to encourage development of the necessary social services within the framework of elaborating policy options and tackling the long-term care challenges. It can ease employment patterns so that women can enter the labour market.

I believe that these provisions make things change on the ground and will close the gap between women and men.

 
  
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  President. – The debate is closed.

The vote will take place on Tuesday, 11 September, at 12.00.

Written statements (Rule 149)

 
  
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  Iosif Matula (PPE), in writing.(RO) In the area of equal opportunities for women and men, we must acknowledge that the EU has not fully achieved its objectives. Guaranteeing decent working conditions for women, including not only health standards, and access to social security, but also the opportunity for further training, remain issues in respect of which we are trying to find effective solutions.

In my personal view, we need more effective policies promoting the balance between work and family life, especially as the overwhelming majority of parents who apply for parental leave are women, an inequality which is also being felt by children.

One effective solution is to encourage female entrepreneurship, together with devising training programmes involving new technologies, an area where surveys indicate a gender gap. This restricts the opportunities women have to gain access to higher qualified jobs and receive higher salaries and, in the long term, it deprives them of the chance to develop their career. I am also concerned about the situation of undeclared female workers, a large proportion of whom are immigrants, employed in private households. They endure insecure working conditions and low salaries, deprived of any social rights. Unfortunately, this facilitates the vicious circle of poverty.

 
  
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  Jutta Steinruck (S&D), in writing.(DE) The working conditions of women in the service sector are still not how we would like them to be. A quarter of all non-typical employees work in the service sector; in the German retail trade, there are almost a million so-called ‘mini-jobs’. Working women, who represent eight out of 10 of those employed in the service sector, are particularly strongly affected by this. We have already achieved a great deal in respect of equality between men and women, and we are on the right path to achieving even more. However, in the context of services, specifically, it is particularly important that agreement is finally reached on the Posting of Workers Directive. Women are particularly strongly affected by this: 58% of all the women working in posted positions in Germany work in the service sector. The percentage of female workers in, for example, care work is considerably higher than in many other sectors, and the working conditions are often very poor. What we need are minimum wage rates, limits on working hours and safety standards that are reasonable for all female workers in Europe. We can only achieve these objectives if we lay down clear rules for the posting of workers by temporary employment agencies. I am therefore pleased to see that the rapporteur takes up the subject of mobility in her opinion. We advocate a clearly regulated legal framework for Europe’s internal market in the field of services in order to prevent precarious labour relations and discrimination.

 
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