Collective agreements regulate work in each economic sector: from vacations, salaries, through permits, but do they do it equally? The Association of Businesswomen and Professionals of Valencia (EVAP) doubts about that, who saw how the person who cleaned an office did not earn the same as the person who cleaned the windows. The first job was done by a woman, the second by a man.
"We sensed these gender biases, but we wanted data because we want to transform the world and contribute our bit to build a better one," says Eva Blasco, president of EVAP. The businesswoman presented yesterday the project "Existing gender biases in collective bargaining, a study" that will be led by two professors of Labor Law from the UJI and that will serve to trace the biases that are hidden, even today, in the collective agreements that govern our economy. Yesterday they insisted that the analysis is done with a positive purpose, "we are not trying to make any agreement ugly," said Blasco, also vice president of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community.
The study is carried out thanks to a collaboration agreement between EVAP and the Jaume I University of Castelló, in which the Generalitat Valenciana has mediated. Its general director of Social Dialogue Coordination, Zulima Pérez, participated yesterday in the presentation and pointed out that "there are many biases that are made without will, but that have an impact."
The General Director of Labour, Welfare and Occupational Safety, Elvira Ródenas, also intervened, who pointed out that in the Valencian Community between 300 and 350 labor agreements are drawn up each year with a negotiation time of about six months. For this reason, she Ródenas explained that applying the gender perspective "is very important", since due to the rush, she pointed out, "in many cases it is done 'cut and paste' because they do not have time for more".
The people in charge of the study shared yesterday the structure and objectives of the program, which will analyze up to 17 economic sectors. They will serve "very masculinized or very feminized sectors, such as the construction or cleaning of buildings, for example, always taking into account the relevance of the activity in terms of employment and economic relevance in the Valencian territory", explained Arántzazu Vicente, professor of Labor law and social security of the UJI.
They will analyze more than thirty labor agreements, some about to end their validity. Its purpose is to present conclusions in the month of November so that the next negotiations include the recommendations that derive from it. "In the second phase we have chosen subjects in which the biases may be more evident, those other biases that are not appreciated and not verified as those that exist in a selection process, in working conditions, remuneration, or for example , in personal protective equipment, which is generally large, or in the fact that it is difficult to find safety shoes. These are things that seem like trifles but until you face them you don't realize it," said the professor. .
The majority unions also support the project, convinced of the importance of equality plans or the review of inclusive language in the wording of the agreements themselves, a task that they have been working on for some time. Thus, Pilar Mora, UGT-PV Secretary for Training, Employment and Gender Equality, pointed out that "we cannot lose sight of collective bargaining because there are such small companies where there are no equality plans because they are not mandatory or where there is no union representation either and the focus has to be the same".
Cloti Iborra, CCOO-PV Secretary for Women and Equality agreed with her, for whom the conclusions will also be valuable because "equality is not usually a priority in agreements, because working hours and pay are usually more important."
The results will propose standard clauses that may have different degrees of application depending on the sectors, in order to set indicators for subsequent monitoring. "We are not only going to see the things that attract attention, but also those that do not comply with the regulations because we think that it can lead us to develop a series of proposals. And be careful because we have also seen very interesting things, for example, that give men more days of paid leave so that they are the ones who assume these tasks, to promote co-responsibility", explained Inmaculada Ballester, the other researcher, who thus gave optimism to the result of a study that at first glance seems deficient for they.
