Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Referring to its earlier direct request, the Committee notes the information contained in the Government's report.

1. According to the report, the average remuneration for the first quarter of 1993 was 19,400 Ukrainian karbovanitzi for male workers and 16,800 for female workers. Figures for average monthly earnings broken down by reference to branch of the economy also show women systematically earning less than men. However, in those areas where female employees predominate or are a large proportion of the total workforce (particularly catering, financial services, public health and social security, education and communications), the Committee notes with interest that they earn only very slightly less than their male colleagues. For example, in catering where women make up 87.1 per cent of the total workforce, the average for a worker was 115,000, with women earning 112,000 karbovanitzi. The Committee notes the Government's statement that these figures do not reflect subsequent wage and salary increases.

Noting the information supplied in its earlier reports on measures taken to promote the implementation of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, the Committee asks the Government to continue to supply statistical data on the actual earnings of men and women in the different branches of economic activity, together with the percentage of women employed in the occupations or sectors reflected in the statistics.

It would also appreciate receiving copies of any studies, inquiries or reports which attempt to investigate the wage differential between men and women workers, particularly from the point of view of the principle of equal pay. The Committee recalls, in this connection, the importance it attached to such research in its 1986 General Survey on Equal Remuneration where, at paragraph 248, it stated "in cases where inequalities of remuneration are noted between men and women, information regarding the nature of these inequalities is either insufficient or totally lacking. The available data do not in themselves make it possible to indicate the size, scope and nature of the inequalities, nor to assess the impact of measures taken to ensure the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value".

2. The Committee would also appreciate receiving up-to-date information on Article 4 of the Convention, according to which each ratifying State shall cooperate as appropriate with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Convention.