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Gender equality

“Women hold up half the sky – get used to it.” That message, painted on a sign at a demonstration, tells only half the story. In many ways, women do more than their share: caring for the next generation and elderly parents, household duties, and contributing economically. Women are more than equal in the responsibilities they assume. This must be matched with political, economic and social equality.

PSI women are empowered and determined to force change

28 May 2015

The PSI Women's Committee met on 25-26 May 2015 in Geneva. A varied agenda included violence against women, precarious work, labour migration, peace and freedom, gender equality and gender strategy for the post-2015 development agenda.

UN WOMEN + UBER = A VISION for precarious work

12 March 2015
Taxi drivers have a discussion in the street during a protest over Uber outside City Hall in Chicago

PSI calls for UN WOMEN to cancel its partnership with UBER. During the annual UNCSW, the UN’s leading agency for women’s rights, UN WOMEN, announced a strategic partnership with UBER to “create 1,000,000 jobs for women as drivers on the Uber platform by 2020.”

Women’s economic and political empowerment

09 March 2015
Rosa Pavanelli addressing UN High-level panel discussion

"The key to the empowerment of women is jobs, jobs, jobs! Decent work and fair wages!," said Rosa Pavanelli, PSI General Secretary at the recent UN High-level debate on the advancement of gender equality in New York on 6 March 2015.

Bachelet calls on PSI to fight for an ILO resolution on the elimination of violence against women at work

01 November 2014
Mujeres de la ISP el “Encuentro Internacional sobre Violencia de Género en los lugares de trabajo y el empleo público”

Before an audience of more than 140 women members of the PSI, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, called on the organisation to continue fighting for approval of an ILO resolution on the elimination of violence against women at the workplace and in public employment.

ILO Standard on Gender Based Violence

10 October 2014

The November 2014 session of the ILO Governing Body will again discuss a proposal to include a standard setting item on “violence against women and men in the world of work” on the agenda of a future International Labour Conference. This item was last discussed at the March 2014 Governing Body and whilst there was strong support from some governments, the proposal was not supported by the employers. The Worker’s Group has consistently supported the proposal as a first priority.

Video: Hero Dad (STTK - Finland)

27 May 2014

A video by the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees STTK which encourages young fathers to use their right for longer paternity leave.

Maternity and paternity at work: Law and practice across the world

12 May 2014

This new ILO study reviews national law and practice on both maternity and paternity at work in 185 countries and territories including leave, benefits, employment protection, health protection, breastfeeding arrangements at work and childcare.