Women earn 16% less than men

Date: 03 March 2008

ACTU President, Burrow

Women earn 16% less than men: International Women's Day - International Pay Equity Report

Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, a global study of sixty-three nations has revealed women across all industries and age groups are being paid on average 16% less than men.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Report on Pay Equity revealed the extent of discrimination women still faced around the globe:

"In this day and age the gap is appalling. In reality it is probably even wider than the figures suggest because developing countries don't keep national records, nor do hundreds of millions of women working in informal and unprotected jobs appear in any records.

"While education is often touted as the key to closing the gap, the study shows it's educated women who are experiencing the widest pay gap of all with their male counterparts," said Ms Burrow.

The ACTU President says unions are working hard in Australia and in other countries to bridge the pay divide by educating governments, employers and the public. However it is collective bargaining which remains the best means of closing the pay equity gap.

A copy of the report is available on request.

ACTU Media Alert - IWD
2008 Summit - Progress for Women in the Next Decade
When: 9.30am - 12.30pm Friday March 7
Where: RJ Hawke Room, Level 4, 365 Queen St, Melbourne
What:

9.45am Keynote speech - key issues facing working women in 2008, by Sara Charlesworth, Centre for Applied Research, RMIT University
10.45am Press Conference: Sara Charlesworth and ACTU President Sharan Burrow
11am Open Forum with Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner

For further information

Contact:	Evan Langdon
Union:	ACTU
Contact Mobile:	0418 479 455
Email:	elangdon@actu.asn.au
WWW:	http://www.actu.asn.au/

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