"Why women in the EU are still paid less?

On 5th of March 2015 in the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in Vilnius, a round table discussion on the topic of "Women in the Lithuanian labor market" was hosted. It was organized by the Women’s Centre of Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation (LTUC).

Maurizio Mosca, EIGE expert on gender equality issues, presented the activities of the Institute and shared best practices among EU countries in dealing with gender wage inequality. He stressed that the role of trade unions is the most important one, and thus he called for even more activity.

The second speaker, Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tomošaitė, a member of EIGE Gender Equality Index team and researcher talked about women’s inequality in Lithuanian and EU labor markets and presented many studies on the matter.

Umbrasaitė Raminta, Chief Specialist of the Division of Equality between Women and Men of Ministry of Social Security and Labour of Lithuania, talked about current projects in Lithuania and implementation of the National Equal Opportunities Programme and the action plan. According to her, in order to reduce gaps in gender equality, it is necessary to unite the efforts of state institutions, non-governmental organizations, academics and the social partners, among them – trade unions.
Ilze Butkute, the author of the book "Is it possible to fire your boss?" who challenged her own employer, was the final speaker of the discussion. She suggested to destroy stereotypes, like women being weaker sex, and not to be afraid to fight for their rights, of course after reading the Labour Code."