Women and their working conditions are being given an extra push into the limelight today as several local organisations mark International Women’s Day.

While praising women for their contribution to the country’s social and economic development, the General Workers’ Union pointed out that many were being discriminated against when it came to working conditions and wages.

Many women were forced to work part-time because the labour market still did not cater for women’s needs, the union said.

Moreover, women in care work, the cleaning and retail industry and working as clerks had precarious jobs. The union appealed to the authorities to take all necessary measures to fight precarious work – especially for women.

The union would continue striving to reduce the wage gap between men and women even in places where there were no union members.

Meanwhile, the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations noted that, although the participation rate of Maltese women in the labour market increased to 40 per cent, there was still a long way to go to reach the EU 2020 target of 75 per cent.


Government urged to adopt legislation introducing gender quotas for company boards of directors


It referred to a recent EU report which highlighted that Malta had the lowest percentage of women sitting on boards or directors, three per cent, followed by Cyprus.

The confederation urged the government to take up the challenge and follow in the footsteps of other EU member states such as Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, which had adopted legislation to introduce gender quotas for company boards.

Recent figures from the Labour Force Survey revealed that the number of women in employment increased to 39 per cent in 2010 from 34 per cent in 2003. However, this figure remains significantly lower than that for men whose employment rate stood at 72 per cent in 2010.

The employment rate for women aged between 15 and 24 per cent was 42 per cent compared to 65 per cent of those aged between 25 and 34.

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