Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE) which shows that this discrimination occurs in “all sectors, classes and occupations”.
The secretary of Union Action, Equality and Youth of CCOO Canarias, Esther Martín, has announced this Friday at a press conference the study, prepared from the Annual Survey of Salary Structure of 2020, on the occasion of the International Day of Equal Salary, which is commemorated on February 22.
There is a wage gap in all occupations, but it skyrockets in those with low qualifications, where the difference reaches 28.6%.
In the services sector, women receive 2,557 euros less for work of equal value than that performed by men and due to the type of contract they also charge less, since temporary contracts are mostly signed by women and 2,408 euros less are charged per year than the indefinite ones, Martín has reported.
He has pointed out that the labor reform has reduced temporary contracts, by promoting the indefinite one, but that difference continues to exist because a large part of the temporary contracts are assumed by women.
Regarding part-time contracts, he has indicated that 75% of those signed in the Canary Islands are for women, either because the market demands it or because of the burdens he assumes for child or family care. In addition, nine out of 10 requests to reduce working hours or leave to care for a person are requested by women, which has a negative impact on wages and social benefits.
In this sense, he recalled that pensions are where the wage gap skyrockets the most, since non-contributory pensions are mostly received by women.
The female sector not only has greater difficulties in joining the labor market in the Canary Islands, where 57.6% are registered as unemployed, but also in staying in the labor market under the same conditions as men, the head of Equality of Employment has concluded. CCOO.
Martín has highlighted that although the wage gap on the islands is the lowest in the entire country, 10.9% compared to the 20.9% state average, it is due to the fact that wages are lower in the archipelago than the rest of Spain , with a difference of 3,534 euros less.
The wage gap has fallen by almost two points on the islands in 2022 compared to 2021 due to the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), because 56% of the beneficiaries are women, pointed out Martín, who added that in the last four years has grown by 40%, going from 736 euros to 1,080, “thanks to CCOO and UGT”.
In order to overcome this situation, she stressed that it is not only necessary for the SMI to increase, but it is also essential to unblock collective bargaining in order to have decent wages and good working conditions and to introduce the gender perspective.
He has cited as an example that in feminized sectors such as textiles, cleaning or agriculture, women do not perceive the extra danger when they work with toxic products, and he has estimated that this type of discrimination must be corrected through agreements.
In addition, he has stressed that it is necessary to continue betting on an education in equality and have places in educational centers for children from zero to three years of age and for the care of dependents, which in the Canary Islands are “insufficient” and this harms women because they exclusively assume the roles of caregivers.
“Governments and administrations are obliged to correct this situation,” Martín stressed.
The union leader has stressed that equality plans are another fundamental instrument to correct the wage gap, but has regretted that, although they are mandatory in companies with more than 50 workers, many still do not have them.
In 2022, 79 equality plans were approved throughout the Canary Islands and 434 are being processed, he has detailed. EFE