Women’s Committee of the National Trade Union Bloc - Romania organized a conference on the occasion of International Women’s Day

The Women committee and gender networks of the BNS organized a conference with the occasion of International Women’s Day in which were addressed equality issues in the Romanian society in general and the labor market in particular.

Two priority issues that have raised concerns are: the need of ratification by Romania of ILO Convention No. 189 for domestic workers and equal pay for equal work. Regarding the first topic, the National Trade Union Bloc has been lobbying since last year the Government and Parliament to ratify this Convention but there is no significant progress to date. The campaign supported by BNS women’s structures is part of a broader action conducted by the International Trade Union Confederation worldwide.

Equal pay for equal work is a major concern in Europe due to the fact that the difference in pay between men and women has reached in 2010 up to 16.2% on the average hourly earnings in the European Union. Translated into days of work, the difference is 59 days that women have to work extra to get the same income as men.

The agenda was of the conference was :
* International campaign "12 in 12" for ratify ILO Convention 189;
* Violence against women;
* Representation of women in unions;
* Economic crisis and women;
* International priority issues in the field of equal opportunities.

The conference was followed by a press conference.

The conference was moderated by Mariana Kniesner, vice president of BNS, Niculina Freibergher, chairman of BNS women’s committee and Mirela Caravan, coordinator of the Equal Opportunities Department. The conference had as quests Mrs. Andreea Braga, Filia center and Dumitru Costin, president of BNS .