Union campaign launched on gender pay gap

Budapest, August 15 (MTI) – The Hungarian Association of Trade Unions MaSzSZ has launched a campaign to raise efforts to reduce the wage gap between men and women in Hungary, the association’s president said on Monday.

Addressing a conference titled “Wage gap – not just about money”, László Kordás said that in preparing for wage negotiations with the government usually held in the autumn, the union would like to see the gender wage gap addressed as well.

Head of MaSzSz’s women’s chapter Mária Hercegh said at the conference that women getting paid less for the same work is a violation of the law on two accounts: lower pay also leads to lower pensions for women. She said estimates on the size of the gender wage gap in Hungary are in a range of 3.8 to 31%.

A package of proposals put forward by MaSzSZ includes setting up an online database or wage barometer, where everyone could see the average wage band for that particular job, Hercegh said. At first the data would be provided on a voluntary basis, but the union wants to push for it to be compulsory for employers, at least for companies with 50 employees or more, she added. The union also urges that labor authorities check for pay discrimination when they monitor businesses.

Source: MTI