Ahead of the vote during the April plenary session, Eurocadres sent Members of the European Parliament the following message:

On behalf of Eurocadres, the trade union representative of European professionals and managers, I am writing to ask for your vote in favour of the upcoming Gender Pay and Transparency Directive text. With gender inequality rampant throughout the European Union, the Parliament must progress into negotiations to secure pay transparency.

The EU gender pay gap has been reduced by only 1% over the last eight years. At this rate, women in the EU will achieve equal pay in the next century, by the year 2104. The gender pay gap currently sits at 14.1% (women in the EU earn on average almost 15% less per hour than men), while the pension pay gap sits at 29%. All of this comes despite almost 60% of graduates in the EU being women. Around two-thirds of the gender pay gap in the EU remains unexplained. It is especially female professionals and managers who face the unexplainable pay gap. As salaries are often individually negotiated, it can be nearly impossible to get the facts when suspecting pay discrimination.

While the Commission’s proposal was a welcome first step, MEPs in the EMPL and FEMM Committees have adopted a text that strengthens provisions. As a trade union representative of professionals and managers, I call on you to vote in favour of this text, and enhance the position of women throughout Europe.

The argument has been made that pay transparency would be too burdensome on managerial staff. Eurocadres can categorically deny this claim, with our members, in an overwhelming majority, calling for the adoption of this report.

This is the position of Eurocadres, who represent professionals and managers at a European level. With a membership of over 6 million workers, we have joined ETUC’s call for the adoption of this text. Your voice and your vote will play an important part in this process, and inspire countless women in your constituency and continent. We ask you to help Europe lead the way in gender equality reforms during the April plenary session.

Hoping for your vote in favour,

Sincerely

Nayla Glaise

President of Eurocadres