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The Committee notes with interest the detailed information, including legislation and statistical data, contained in the Government's report and attached documentation. The Committee further notes the inclusion of information in the Government's report which it will take up next year in its treatment of Convention No. 111.

1. The Government acknowledges in its report that the salary differentials between men and women are still significant. The data provided indicate that on average, in 1997, women earned 20.4 per cent less than the average salary for men and women nationwide. In contrast, men earned 12.6 per cent more than the nationwide average. The preamble to the National Employment Plan of 13 April 1998 ("NEP") attached to the Government's report indicates that women earn on average 71 per cent of the average salary earned by men and recognizes that women continue to occupy lower-level positions in comparison with men, despite the fact that women workers on average have a higher level of education than their male counterparts. The Government's report also reflects that approximately 63 per cent of the workers receiving the minimum wage in 1997 were women, up from 60 per cent in 1995. The greatest wage disparities were identified in the manufacturing, commerce and restaurants and banking sectors, where women earned 23.4 per cent, 22.5 per cent and 17.9 per cent less than the overall average earnings in those sectors, respectively. The salary differentials remain significant at different occupational levels, with women employed as operatives earning 22.2 per cent below the average wage for their level and sector and senior management/technical staff earning 20.1 per cent below the average wage corresponding to their level and position. These figures represent a slight increase of 0.7 per cent from 1995 in women's percentage of overall average earnings in the country. The Committee thanks the Government for the detailed statistical information provided and asks the Government to continue to supply such data, including detailed information both on the measures to reduce the existing wage gap and any studies which may indicate the factors accounting for women continuing to occupy lower-level positions in comparison with men, despite women's higher levels of education.

2. The Committee notes with interest the enactment of Council of Ministers resolution No. 49/97, approving the Global Plan for Equal Opportunity ("Global Plan") which, inter alia, recognizes that the level of participation of women in the labour market reveals the presence of significant sex-based occupational segregation, including vertical occupational segregation, concentrated in the fields of health and education as well as at the lower and intermediate levels of the organizational hierarchy, where wages are correspondingly lower. The NEP affirms the will of the Government and social partners to eliminate occupational segregation and sex-based salary differentials by, inter alia, promoting vocational training for women, disseminating information on the concept of equal opportunity, promoting the employment of women in occupations where they are underrepresented and awarding prizes to companies with exemplary equal opportunity policies. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to address the issues raised in the Global Plan, to implement the NEP, and the results achieved.

3. The Committee notes that the Global Plan provides for the promotion of equality of opportunity in employment and labour relations, in part by strengthening the mechanisms for enforcing Portugal's equal pay legislation, Decree Laws Nos. 392/79 and 426/88, through the Committee for Equality in Labour and Employment (CITE) and the Labour Inspectorate (IGT), whose staff will receive special training for this purpose. The Government is asked to indicate the nature and extent of the training received and to provide information on the enforcement activities undertaken by CITE and the IGT in areas relevant to the Convention.

4. The Government's report also reflects that the Global Plan creates an Observatory within CITE. The Government indicates that the Observatory is a tripartite organization whose function will entail the analysis and identification of discriminatory clauses in collective bargaining agreements, including clauses that provide for gender-based salary differentials. By sensitizing employer and trade union negotiators to gender issues, the Observatory's goal is to provide incentives for positive action in the negotiation process. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep it informed of the Observatory's activities pertinent to the application of the principle of the Convention.

5. The Committee notes that CITE issued 41 opinions during the reporting period, five of which involved findings of wage discrimination against women workers in the context of collective bargaining agreements. The Committee notes that, although the CITE opinions in question were transmitted to the IGT and to the enterprises involved, the situations addressed in the opinions have not yet been corrected. The Government indicates that, apart from the above-referenced cases resulting in CITE opinions, four additional complaints of salary discrimination have been received by CITE, one of which has been corrected. As in its previous comments, the Committee asks the Government to inform it of measures taken to encourage the parties to adhere to the CITE opinions. The Government is also requested to continue to provide information, in future reports, on the number of equal pay complaints brought before CITE, the outcome of those complaints and the opinions rendered, including copies.