Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1993, publiée 80ème session CIT (1993)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's report and attached documentation.

1. The Committee notes that, on 16 May 1990, after discussing the Eighth Report of the federal Government to the federal Diet on the application of the principle of equal remuneration under article 119 of the EEC Treaty, the Labour and Social Affairs Committee of the federal Diet concluded that deficiencies still exist in the application of the principle of equal remuneration and that therefore continued examination of the implementation of this principle is necessary. Noting that the federal Diet has not yet given its final consideration to this matter, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the federal Diet's findings on the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value in collective agreements.

2. The Committee notes the Government's concern that in the evaluation of work as "physically light" or "physically arduous", only muscle demand and the necessary physical strength are considered, and that this criterion corresponds to the lowest and lowest-paid wage groups in collective agreements. Collective agreements having wage groups for light work also refer to "physically arduous" unskilled work, and some collective agreements subdivide the next higher semi-skilled activities into "physically light" and "physically heavy" work. The Committee also observes that for those agreements which take into account mental strain in the description of job activities not dependent on physical strength, the Government indicates that there is an assumption that the mental strain criterion does not apply to "wage groups for light work", since unskilled female activities in comparison to unskilled male activities could be classified more objectively and impartially. Recalling that the previously mentioned Eighth Report concluded that if wage agreements also took into account mental strain and stress, many female activites - specifically those that require little physical but much mental strain - would have to be reclassified at higher wage levels, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on progress achieved in the reclassification of jobs so as to take account of the criteria of mental strain and stress and to eliminate potentially discriminatory factors.

3. The Committee notes the statistical information provided on the employment of men and women in industry indicating that women still predominate in production groups for unskilled workers and that women's average gross hourly earnings continue to remain lower than those of men even when employed in the same production groups. The Committee also notes from the Government's report that under the regional collective agreements in metal trades concluded in 1991, in all occupational categories wage rates in lower wage groups, and thus those in the existing "wage groups for light work", have partially increased as compared with the medium and higher wage groups, with the effect that the wage differentials between "wage groups for light work" and "wage groups for physically arduous work" has decreased. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue supplying information on the employment of women and men in industry, including the metal trades, and on the hourly wage differential between men and women workers, along with information on any measures being taken to reduce this differential.