Brussels, 19/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The EU Member States must take urgent measures in order: a) to do away with discrimination towards women on the labour market and to tackle the problem of sexual harassment at work; b) eradicate child labour; c) put an end to the use of prisoners' labour for private companies in violation of ILO Convention 29 on forced labour. Such are the conclusions of the report published last week by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on "labour norms within the EU".
Supported by figures, the report notes that women in all EU countries are paid less than men for the same work - on average, 20% less, but even more in Spain (27%) and the Netherlands (24%). Luxembourg has not yet signed the ILO Convention No111 against sexual discrimination in employment.
Several Member States - France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom - still use child labour. In Portugal, 40,000 children under the age of 16 work between 10 and 14 hours a day, in sectors such as metalworking, the clothes industry, tourism, agriculture and on dangerous worksites. In the United Kingdom (non-signatory, like Austria, of the convention on child labour), 40% of children between 13 and 15 have an often illegal part-time job.
Finally, the report points a finger at certain EU countries which use forced labour - France, Germany, Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom. According to ICFTU these countries use prisoners to carry out tasks for private companies. It goes on to underline the case of the UK where prisoners who refuse to work lose the chance of having their sentence reduced.