Published Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 10:01
by
rikkeindenmark 
in In the spotlight (167 views and 0 comments)
Not long ago I learned
about the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions. To be
honest I didn't know about the group's existence until a year ago
(ignorance is not always bliss), but it's a forum for local and
regional politicians to meet and discuss EU politics. It's an
interesting organization because many EU decisions impact greatly
on the local level - and the PES Group is a chance for local and
regional social democrats to meet and work together to influence EU
policies.
I admit that this was a digression from the topic that I actually wanted to address in this post! The reason why I brought up the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions is that the group has its own PES manifesto consultation - and in this consultation there's a fifth point of discussion, in addition to the four 'traditional' themes - namely the gender dimension.
I agree very much with the view-point of the PES Group - that there's a significant gender aspect to all four manifesto themes - and I hope the 'pervasiveness' of gender issues will be taken into consideration when the PES manifesto is drafted over the coming months....
read morePublished Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 15:15
by
Asynjen
in New Social Europe (221 views and 0 comments)
Women's rights - in my view a core socialist issue. So far
there's one particular aspect of the debate on women's rights
which I think deserves a bit more attention here on Yourspace;
namely trafficking.
According to the Coalition against Trafficking in Women
500.000 women are annually trafficked into Western Europe.
Prostitution becomes the "trade" of these smuggled women - and
please notice the inverted comments: these women are slaves,
'money machines' for kingpins without too many moral qualms.
Once in a while I come across arguments in favour of trafficking:
Like the people smuggler himself who says that he's really doing
the women a favour - they get a fair chance for a better life in
Western Europe. They would have been even worse off in their home
country. From this perspective trafficking is understood as a
sort of "development aid" (again a big emphasis on the inverted
commas!) - scary that some people are capable of rationalizing
like this, right?
Luckily, such an attitude towards women and human rights is not
found among Europe's socialists. We often - and loudly - express
our concern about trafficking and the conditions of these
enslaved women. I think it's time for a European-level...
Published Friday, May 30, 2008 at 10:05
by
jose reis santos
in New Social Europe (274 views and 1 comments)
I would like to
share with you some of the ideas that Manuela Augusto, leader of
the Socialist Women Department of the Portuguese Socialist Party,
presented during a conference in Faro on the “New Social Europe”
theme (check the videos here: part
1 and part 2). She kindly accepted my invitation to
write a few lines on the issue which you can read here:
Contributions for the manifesto2009
Bring together personal and professional life affects both men and women. Nevertheless, women are strongly penalized, sometimes even more than men.
This situation results in a higher female unemployment rate, carer progress difficulties and lower incomes, just to mention a few examples.
Let’s look, for instance, at one of the EU reports dating back of 2007. Women account for only 24% of the total number of deputies in the 27 national parliaments. At national government level, 76% of all the ministerial posts are occupied by men and no woman is leading a...
read morePublished Friday, May 23, 2008 at 11:23
by
Zita_Gurmai
in Save our planet (334 views and 0 comments)
I represent the
Hungarian Socialist
Party (MSZP) in the European Parliament. MSZP took the PES
manifesto consultation very seriously. We have had a series of
debates in the country-side of Hungary and invited our activists
for an online consultation in their own language, thanks to
Edit Herczog, a colleague of mine in the European Parliament who
took the leading in the MSZP presidium. I think the Internet is a
very important means for reaching our grassroots. MSZP has also
sent representatives to Brussels to meet and discuss with PES
President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.
In the Hungarian debate one very important topic turned out to
the environment: how can we ensure more commitment in Europe to
make sure that our grandchildren will grow up in a clean and
healthy environment? My colleague in the European Parliament,
Gyula Hegyi, successfully took the lead on the debate on ‘Save
our planet’.
The MSZP also have a number of other recommendations for the PES
manifesto:
Published Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 09:31
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (387 views and 0 comments)
As a Hungarian it is
quite interesting to observe the differences in life expectancy
between European countries: In average men from Scandinavian
countries live six years longer than men from Hungary. In this
respect the Scandinavians offer a role model; it is easier to
reconciliate work and private life for both women and men. If
Hungarian men worked less and had the opportunity to take a fairer
share of the family responsibility they would live longer.Published Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 14:13
by
Zita_Gurmai
in New Social Europe (356 views and 1 comments)
Thanks to PES
activist Martina Preuss for her interesting post about Equal
Pay Day in Germany. I am very glad to know that German colleagues
also have a day of action for equal pay.
The Treaty of Rome from 1957 clearly states equal pay for equal
work. 50 years later we still have the problem: there is 15
percent difference in the wages of European women and men. It is
a very huge gap; it means that women have to work 54 days extra
to earn the same wage as a male colleague.
2007 was the European Year of Equal Opportunities and to bring
attention to the problem of wage inequality PES Women took action
on 22 February: the day where women will have worked 54 days
extra and earned the same salary as men. We launched a campaign,
‘Gender Pay Gap – Shut It!’, and called for
Commissioner Vladimir Spidla (together me in the photo) and
Social Affair ministers across Europe to take action and close
the wage gap.
In my opinion fighting inequality should rank high in the PES
manifesto – not only taking action against discrimination of
women, but also of disabled people and minority groups.
Post cards from the PES Women...
Published Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 17:26
by
Zita_Gurmai
in European democracy & diversity (339 views and 0 comments)
I completely agree
with PES activist Natalia Reyes when she writes that gender equality
should be one of the top priorities of the PES manifesto – as it is
a priority for the Spanish government. Having Zapatero and PSOE in government in
Spain has demonstrated that when women vote for a socialist party
their lives really improve. In many ways we are experiencing the
New Social Europe in Spain: Equal pay, childcare and attention to
violence against women.Published Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:32
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (265 views and 0 comments)
A New Social
Europe calls for solidarity between citizens of all ages.Published Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 14:34
by
uno.aldegren
in New Social Europe (410 views and 0 comments)
Without improving the
position of women in the labour market, it is hard to create a
socially coherent Europe. A fundamental step in this direction is
the inclusion of women in the labour market. Today the employment
level of women differs across the Union, but the level is in
general lower than it is for men. That is why an increased
inclusion of women in the labour market must be an important
principle in the PES manifesto for the 2009 European elections. The
goal should be the elimination of differences in employment level
between women and men. During the last decades women in general
have gained a stronger economic position, but they have not
received the same economic independence as men. The social
environment in our society influences the economic equality between
women and men; this is in particular true when it comes to the
conditions in the labour market and in the educational system. The
design of the transfer system and the allocation of unpaid work (at
home) are other important influences.Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 13:52
by
eromerof
in European democracy & diversity (512 views and 1 comments)
But all this would be just another subjective comment if women were not constantly forced to prove themselves and if they were not there merely out of a simple strategy of political marketing. In addition, women must also prove their worth and show that they are not just puppets. In our society, in most cases, women must adjust...
read morePublished Monday, April 28, 2008 at 14:45
by
eromerof
in New Social Europe (544 views and 2 comments)
Nowadays, the panorama of the left in Europe does not seem to be very tempting. Only 7 out of 27 countries belonging to EU are ruled by socialist parties. These are: United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Cyprus. We could argue that there is a lack of real political leadership, a leadership that in other decades was embodied by politicians such as Francois Mitterrand.
The political victory of Zapatero in Spain last march gives the Spanish socialism a great opportunity to implement and develop politics that can be seen as an example for other European countries. It generates a new opportunity to take the initiative in the European context. Whereas the majority of countries in South America are governed by left parties, sometimes with a strong and questionable populist sense, and whereas United States are given an opportunity to give the power again to the Democratic party, regardless of whether Clinton or Obama wins, the European left movement needs to reshape its political agenda, taking the initiative and dismantling the demagogic and populist discourse of conservative countries, too much focused on very sensitive and easy to be manipulated issues such as security, migration, taxes...
From a Spanish perspective, I would like to introduce some of the main points for a socialist agenda. An...
read morePublished Friday, April 11, 2008 at 16:35
by
martina
in New Social Europe (787 views and 6 comments)
According to Eurostat a woman in Europe earns, in average, 15
percent less than her male colleague. With 22 percent difference
Germany takes a sad lead when it comes to pay inequality – on the
management level it is even worse (33 percent). Only a few
countries have taken action against this inequity.
The purpose of the international action day for equal
opportunities and equal pay, which has already taken place in the
US and Belgium, is to create awareness of this problem – and soon
there will also be actions in Germany. The German Network of
Business and Professional Women has taken the initiative for the
Equal Pay
Day on 15 April 2008 where the network, together with many
other women’s organizations, will organize numerous actions.
One of the activities of the German Equal Pay Day will be
‘Red Bag’
– which was already put into practice last summer in connection
with the European year of equal opportunities. At that time the
initiative went rather unnoticed by the general public - I don’t
remember having heard about it before now.
Every woman can take part in the ‘Red Bag’ action...
Tags: blogger of the week, equality, women, workers
File:
Equal Pay Day_DE.pdf
Published Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 16:46
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (417 views and 0 comments)
See more of his proposals and his debate here:
read more
Published Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 12:35
by
ania_skrzypek
in New Social Europe (621 views and 3 comments)
Thinking about the
next post of the blog – I was actually trying to remind myself what
is that people enjoy reading. Coming from the political school of
manifesto: ‘others want to see true intentions that inspired you at
the first place, to be also inspired’, I decided to use one of my
very peculiar interests while traveling;… women magazines. From
cover to cover – scanning all the pictures, trying to get empathy
for the authors of ‘letters to editor’, looking at some clothes
that are not only strange but absolutely unaffordable for a regular
employee… But above all the most exciting and the most interesting
is what the knowledge these colorful pages give; the portrait of a
woman of today. The last time I did that reading I discovered
something absolutely disturbing; women of my own age (around 30)
are the group with the highest risk of the heart attacks. Even more
terrible, most of us had already some mini-version ones without
noticing that even!Published Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 09:25
by
elwira30
in European democracy & diversity (637 views and 3 comments)
It’s been
100 years since the women of the New York textile factory went on
strike to demand better working conditions and the right to vote.
A whole century had passed since that event. Today we live in a
world where nobody is surprised to see women on the elections
lists. But when news came out that a 25-year-old woman saved an
airplane at the Hamburg airport during the Emma hurricane, there
was disagreement as to what consisted bigger news – that she was
young or that she was a woman? The interviews with famous women –
politicians, chairpersons, directors – often include a question:
how do you manage to reconcile your work with the role of the
mother and wife. Does one ask a man how he reconciles his
professional and family functions?
Today women have a right to vote (although still not everywhere
in the world), study, work in different professions because many
decades ago the most courageous of them challenged the status
quo. Of course they suffered from contempt but today their rights
are an obvious thing.
We, European Socialists, have to fight against further
stereotypes in the perception of women and fight for changes not
only in the law but also in people’s minds. We must do that to
create tools to help women reconcile the professional career with
family life. So that no one would be...
Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:52
by
AnneSofie
in EU in the world (665 views and 0 comments)
The manifesto theme
'EU in the
world' was also on the agenda when PES activists from Denmark, Sweden and Norway met in
Jørlunde, Denmark on March 1st and 2nd. Here are a few
conclusions from this dedicated discussion group:
Published Monday, March 10, 2008 at 14:56
by
heisbo
in New Social Europe (713 views and 5 comments)
Last week Finnish
Minister of Labour introduced a motion that parental leave should
be divided in three: one part for mother, one part for father and
one part to share however the family wants to. In Iceland they
have already implemented this model. I have been demanding it to
be implemented in Finland as well and therefore I've been forced
to answer following questions. Aren't parents capable to decide
what's best for their child and family? Is it really necessary
that society gets involved in family life by telling parents how
to share the parenthood? I think it is. Motherhood is
unfortunately one of the main reasons for inequality on the
labour market. That's why the change begins inside the family. If
we are demanding equal pay, permanent contracts and equal
pension, we need to demand shared parenthood.
Of course the Icelandic model is not the only way to reach the goal. In Sweden it has been introduced a model where family gets tax relieves if they decide to share the parental leave in half. One way is to share costs of parenthood between all employers. The question is not only about equality in the labour market, but also in families. Father should have an equal right to parenthood as mother has. I think it's a win-win situation if fathers would also stay home with their children. As a result we would have more equal...
read morePublished Friday, March 7, 2008 at 09:30
by
Zita_Gurmai
in New Social Europe (815 views and 4 comments)
Why is it that women in Europe are 52% of population & 59% of
university graduates but only 33% of managers, and 23% of
national Members of Parliament and earn 15% less than men? Women
of Europe – we’re all in it together. We should have the same
rights as men. Women should also enjoy the same rights in all EU
countries. I say “the same rights, the same fights”.
International Women’s Day – it’s as important as it has ever
been. It’s a good day to reflect on how we can make progress for
women in Europe through the PES manifesto for the 2009 European
elections.
There have been a lot of posts and good debate so far on
Yourspace relevant to women – below are just a few of my
favorites
How do we shut the gender pay
gap?
European politics is still a
man’s world
EU must say no to
prostitution!
For the emanicipation of women
AND for the economy, stupid!
What can the PES do to promote
women's health?
Dads, what about staying at home
with the children?
What do you think is the best thing we can put in our manifesto
to achieve more equality between women and men? Is there one
commitment we can make that would...
Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 09:46
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (494 views and 0 comments)
Published Friday, February 22, 2008 at 13:49
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (608 views and 1 comments)
On average European
women earn 15 percent less than men. Today is the 22. February –
the day where working women will have earned a wage equal to the
yearly salary of working men. That’s almost two months longer women
need to work to achieve the same income. Read more about the wage
inequalities here and give us your ideas - what can Europe’s
socialists do to shut the gender pay gap?Published Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 16:51
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (760 views and 1 comments)
Published Monday, February 18, 2008 at 15:20
by
maj1991
in New Social Europe (699 views and 3 comments)
Within the borders of
EU thousands of women each day sell their bodies for sexual
pleasures. For some it’s a choice of their own or a last way, but
for 700.000 to 2 million women and children it’s not. They are
victims of trafficking. When it comes to trafficking the message
from EU is very clear: we will not tolerate this!Published Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 21:20
by
Eric
in New Social Europe (697 views and 1 comments)
Published Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 16:54
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (815 views and 0 comments)
Yesterday Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women, signed a Europe-wide petition to stop cervical cancer. The Yourspace team went to the signing ceremony at the European Parliament to ask the participants what they think the PES manifesto should say about women's health:
You can help stop cervical cancer - sign the petition here.
Published Friday, January 18, 2008 at 12:30
by
joelld
in EU in the world (850 views and 0 comments)
Tags: equality, fundamental rights, gay, human rights, LGBT, peace, solidarity, women
File:
Yogyakarta_principles.pdf
Published Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 13:19
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (1243 views and 2 comments)
Why are there so few
women in power at European level?Published Friday, December 7, 2007 at 14:06
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (1146 views and 9 comments)
‘Maternity leave’ is usually the way that we describe the
period of absence that workers are entitled to when they have a
child. But who says that it has to be the mother who takes the
entire leave?
In many European countries parental leave is a ‘woman’s business’. Maternity leave easily becomes a trap for women – in her new role as mother the woman is gradually moved away from the workplace and the labour market. Problems such as women’s lower wages and the fact that women advance less can easily be traced back to maternity leave and being absent from the workplace for many months – in some cases even years!
One of the smaller European countries, Iceland, has taken an active approach to dealing with the ‘dark side’ of maternity leave. By law Icelandic men are obliged to take a part of the leave, giving women the chance to return to their jobs more quickly. At the same time the law ensures fathers the right to spend time and have a closer relationship with their children.
What do you think the PES manifesto should say about parental leave – if anything at all? Should men be forced into taking up and sharing more family responsibilities - or? read morePublished Friday, October 5, 2007 at 10:51
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (1088 views and 3 comments)
Is there a
15 percent discount for European employers when hiring women
instead of men? Recently the European Commission published a
communication highlighting the gender pay gap as one of the
inequalities that women face in Europe. On average working women
earn 15 percent less* than working men. This is due to many women
working in lower paid sectors, the so-called glass ceiling, more
women working part-time than men and plain discrimination. This
15 percent difference could be translated as 15 percent of
working time that women have to work additionally in order to
earn the same as their male colleagues - or that 15 percent of
the time they work, they work for free. We could then say that
women will work for free from the 9th of November until New Year!
What can be done to overcome the gender pay gap? Is this only a women’s issue, or should men join the battle to erase this inequality? The EU has already taken certain steps, but should it receive more competence in this field?
The price tag above is from the PES Women action “Gender Pay Gap, Shut it!”
Read the communication on the gender...
read morePublished Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 12:07
by rikke in New Social Europe ( comments)
Every year in Europe, 50,000 women develop and 25,000 women die from cervical cancer. Effective prevention programmes could prevent almost every case. Sign the cervical cancer petition - raise awareness and call upon the EU to implement more effective cervical cancer prevention programmes! Please forward the petition to your friends!
Published Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 20:08
by Asynjen in European democracy & diversity ( comments)
During the coming 12 months, four politicians will be appointed as leaders of the European Union. For fifty years now, the picture of European political leadership has remained the same. It is time for a change. International top posts should always go to the most competent candidate. There are 250 million women in Europe; it should not be too hard to find qualified candidates among all these.
If you wish to see at least one female appointed as leader of the European Union, sign the petition from social democratic Member of the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose!
More information here!
loading...