Doslovno izvješće

Četvrtak, 30. ožujka 2023. - Bruxelles

7.1. Jačanje primjene načela jednakih plaća muškaraca i žena za jednak rad ili rad jednake vrijednosti (A9-0056/2022 - Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, Samira Rafaela)

Mündliche Stimmerklärungen

  Clare Daly (The Left). – Madam President, of course I voted for this motion, but I think it’s slightly mad that we’re still here in 2023 having to argue that people who do equal work should get equal pay. But I guess that’s capitalism for you. An opportunity to exploit workers will always be taken, and women, as James Connolly said, have always been ‘the slaves of slaves’. Capital steals resources instead of paying for them whenever it can, and women’s time and energy is a resource pool it’s been robbing since the dawn of time.

But let’s make no bones about it: at a time of record shareholder profits and stratospheric executive pay, workers – no matter their gender – are being robbed blind. So there’s not much benefit in us talking about a right to equal pay if it is a right to be treated equally badly. So if we’re fighting for equal pay for women, we have to fight for everybody’s pay to go up to a fair and equal level.

  Michaela Šojdrová (PPE). – Paní předsedající, dámy a pánové, Evropský parlament dnes přijal směrnici, kterou se posiluje uplatňování zásady stejné odměny mužů a žen za stejnou práci prostřednictvím transparentnosti odměňování a mechanismu prosazování. V roce 2021 činil tento rozdíl v platech žen a mužů v Evropské unii více než 12,7 %, a to v neprospěch žen. Podpořila jsem tedy v hlasování výsledek interinstitucionální dohody mezi Evropským parlamentem, Komisí a Radou. Považuji posílení transparentnosti jako nezbytné, a proto jsem tedy celkově tuto směrnici podpořila. Oceňuji, že finální znění směrnice se snaží o co nejmenší administrativní zátěž pro zaměstnavatele pomocí postupné adaptace těchto opatření. To by jim mělo dát dostatečný časový prostor, jak pro velké, tak zejména pro malé zaměstnavatele, připravit se na oznamovací povinnosti a chci poděkovat českému předsednictví, které dovedlo jednání k úspěšnému konci.

  Luke Ming Flanagan (The Left). – Madam President, when I had my first of my three daughters in 2002, I’d never have thought that over 20 years later would be standing in this place still talking about the fact that we have to fight for equal pay for equal work. It’s extraordinary.

But this is good news, what we’re doing here. It could be done quicker, it could be done for smaller companies. But, look, it’s an improvement. This directive will offer a series of new rights to all European workers, notably on access to information and justice, and will allow for the implementation of plans to reduce the gender pay gap within the largest workplaces.

The gender pay gap remains around 14%. I don’t know how the hell that’s the case. It’s a shame that we actually have to force people to do this. But look, if we have to do that, we have to do it. It’s a pity that just wouldn’t do it because it’s the right thing to do. The pay gap has a long-term impact on the quality of women’s lives, their increased risk of and exposure to poverty. And the persisting pension pay gap is 33% in the EU.

I hope by the time my eight-year-old daughter, my third daughter, is an adult, she won’t have to put up with this crap. Time for change.

  Mick Wallace (The Left). – Madam President, despite the principle of equal pay being enshrined in the Treaty of Rome, the EU continues to struggle with pay disparity. European women are, on average, paid almost 14% less than their male counterparts. It’ encouraging that this text allows workers to detect and prove discrimination based on sex, as well as shifting the burden of proof of non-discrimination from the employee to the employer.

Despite being a step in the right direction, pay transparency is not a magic wand that will bridge the pay gap. In the EU the income of a typical care worker ranges from between 50% and 80% less than the average income. The low pay, work conditions and the segregation of women into care work must end if we are in any way to advance gender equality and pay in our society.