The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK) views gender equality as a key element of a socially just society and therefore expressly welcomes the European Commission’s action plan to tackle the gender pay gap. While we consider all measures set out in the action plan to be important and useful, in our view the following two actions are of particular importance.

In view of the substantial increase in cross-border employment and associated cross-border cases in the fields of labour law and social law, we welcome the establishment of a relevant European Labour Authority. Due to the differing interests of the Member States, in most cases the associated problems cannot currently be resolved effectively at the bilateral level.

The European Commission has announced its intention to create a European Labour Authority. If implemented properly, such an authority could make a contribution to effectively combat cross-border wage and social dumping. Therefore, AK EUROPA and ÖGB Europabüro provide the opportunity of taking part in the official consultation of the Commission with a pre-completed questionnaire. Let’s join together to raise our voice for a Europe that will make our labour markets fairer!

 

On 12 December, the European Social Observatory (OSE) together with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) presented their latest publication ‘Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2017’ in Brussels. Due to the fact, that the European debate has recently put greater focus social policy, the presentation of this annual publication was of particular significance this year. Trade unions and employee representatives are loudly demanding more initiatives for a social Europe.

 

For the seventh time already, the so-called Lifelong Learning Week took place in Brussels from 20 to 24 November 2017. The Lifelong Learning Platform, an umbrella organisation of over 40 organisations with more than 50,000 educational establishments all over Europe, promotes the exchange with policymakers within the scope of this week. The numerous events made it clear: In view of current technical and social developments, lifelong learning is more important than ever before!

 

On the occasion of the EU-wide Gender Pay Day on 3 November 2017, AK EUROPE reported that unfortunately hardly any progress has been made towards more gender equality in Europe. From a statistical point of view, since this day, women in the EU have been working without payment, as they are still being paid less than their male counterparts for the same work. Mid-November, the European Commission presented its Action Plan to combat the gender pay gap.

 

On 22 November 2017, an intensive debate took place in the Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament (TRAN) on the market and social law aspects of the Mobility Package, which the EU Commission had presented at the end of May 2017. During the debate, the interests of employees and employers as well as those of the old and the new Member States clashed. AK EUROPA reports from the Committee.

 

On Friday, 17th November 2017, the EU Social Summit in Gothenburg will solemnly proclaim the European Pillar of Social Rights. However, to ensure that one does not end up just with “hot air”, it is now necessary to fill the Pillar with concrete policy. Hence, AK and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) use their “Social Rights First” campaign to show what the social foundation for Europe’s future should look like!

 

The Heads of State and Government of the EU will gather for a “Social Summit” in Gothenburg on 17 November 2017 to ceremonially proclaim the “European Pillar of Social Rights’ presented by the Commission. Help us to set a signal to ensure that words will be followed by deeds!

 

The European Equal Pay Day took place on 3 November; from a statistical point of view, from this day, women in the EU are working without payment. The average hourly wage of women is 16.3 % lower than that of their male colleagues. In general, the recently published Gender Equality Index for 2017 shows that hardly any noticeable progress has been made towards more gender equality in the EU.