Gender equality improves


The latest gender equality survey by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows some improvements in the position of women in unions across Europe. 


The ETUC Annual Gender Equality Survey 2017, undertaken by the Labour Research Department, shows that just under half (46.5%) of all employees in Europe (including Turkey) are women. The proportion of woman among trade union members is only slightly lower at 43.6%. 


Women’s union membership is highest in confederations in the Nordic countries and the Baltic states and lowest in confederations in Turkey. 


The proportion of women in leadership positions is lower than the proportion of women members — just 37% among leadership teams and only 23.9% of top leaders. They include the general secretaries of the UK’s TUC and the two largest confederations in Italy, as well as the heads of five Nordic union confederations. 


There has also been an increase in the proportion of women in leading positions. CISL — one of the Italian confederations led by a woman — reported in the survey that the introduction of the requirement to have a 30% quota for women “has led to a major and irreversible change, and an increasing presence of women in leading roles”.


However, not everything is positive. The survey asked about obstacles to women’s progress within unions and the most frequently cited barriers were gender stereotyping and men’s attitudes.

https://www.etuc.org/sites/www.etuc.org/files/document/files/etuc_annual_equality_survey_2017_final_en.pdf