Call to Action : ETUC calls on MEPs to vote in favour of the European Parliament’s mandate to enter into inter-institutional negotiations on the Gender Pay Transparency Directive

Brussels, 29 March 2022

To: Members of the European Parliament

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

I am contacting you to urge you to vote in favour of the European Parliament’s mandate to enter into trilogue negotiations.

After long months of negotiations, your colleagues in the EMPL and FEMM Committee have adopted a position that contains many improvements to the European Commission’s proposal for an EU Directive to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms.

We urge you as Member of the European Parliament to pave the way forward for this Directive and to work towards its swift adoption.

The assessment of the European trade union movement is that the proposal for a Gender Pay Transparency Directive is a real chance to significantly advance the fight for equal pay and to put a stop to undervaluation of work predominantly carried out by women.

This Directive, when adopted, will empower women workers and their unions and safeguard trade union prerogatives, such as collective bargaining as the appropriate way to close the gender pay gap in organisations. We also expressly welcome the ban of pay secrecy clauses that workers have been calling for in a longstanding effort.

As the lengthy negotiations are coming closer to the next step, the Directive is now in a very decisive moment. The European Trade Union Confederation calls on you as Member of the European Parliament to vote in favour of the European Parliament’s mandate to start inter-institutional negotiations during the 4-7 April plenary session.

The Gender Pay Transparency Directive is a unique chance to finally draw the right lessons from the COVID pandemic by empowering women workers and their unions, giving them the tools they need to close the gender pay gap. Whereas the cost of non-action will be shouldered by women workers who have brought us through the pandemic and who deserve equal pay and the revaluation of their work.

With your vote in favour, you have the chance of shaping the legacy of COVID-19, contributing to delivering pay justice for women workers.

Yours sincerely,

Esther Lynch

ETUC Deputy General Secretary