Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Public sector. With reference to its previous comments on the activities for the promotion of equal remuneration in the public sector, the Committee notes that the second collective labour agreement for the public sector, approved by Decree No. 214/06, establishes in section 125 the Tripartite Commission on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment (CIOT) and extends its mandate. Membership of the above Commission includes representatives of the State and the two trade union organizations that are signatories to the agreement: the National Federation of Civilian Personnel and the Association of State Workers. The report describes the activities of the Commission, including the creation of a web site containing the summary reports of each meeting, the activities of the Commission and the machinery for submitting complaints. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the activities of the CIOT in relation to the principle of the Convention.

The Government indicates that persons employed in the public sector are remunerated according to the category or level of the corresponding wage scale, and that accordingly in order to achieve equal remuneration it is necessary to examine whether women encounter greater difficulties than men in gaining access to positions of greater responsibility or independence. In this respect, it indicates that in the National System of Administrative Occupations (SINAPA), women represent 50.8 per cent of all workers, 38.5 per cent of managerial positions – with the exception of the Ministry of Social Development, where the figure is 53 per cent – and 16 per cent of policy-making positions in ministries and secretariats. It also notes that women are predominant in ministries covering areas traditionally considered to be “feminine”, such as social development, education, science and technology, and justice and human rights, while men are in the majority in federal planning, public investment and services, foreign affairs and economy and production. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the policies intended to promote greater representation of women in ministries in which they are less well represented and in executive positions in the public administration and to continue providing information on the representation of women in the public service, based on the three categories referred to in its report, in general, in managerial positions and policy-making positions in ministries, so as to be able to monitor the employment trends of women in the public administration.

The Committee observes that in addition to the difficulties experienced by women in gaining access to certain sectors traditionally considered as being “masculine” and to managerial positions, the wage scale tends to reflect hidden discriminatory criteria in so far as, in reflecting the value of the various types of work involved, it may involuntarily attribute greater value to work considered to be traditionally masculine than traditionally feminine work, but which nevertheless is of equal value. To change this situation it is necessary to examine the ranking given in the wage scale to positions covering “feminine” types of work, such as supervisors of school canteens (generally women), and compare them with the ranking that is given to positions which include types of work considered to be “masculine”, such as supervisors of parks and gardens (generally men) and to ensure that less value is not given to positions involving “feminine” types of work. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on any initiatives taken to ensure that the wage scale in the public sector is free from gender bias.

The Committee is examining the points raised by the General Confederation of Labour in its communication in its comments on the application of Convention No. 111.