Equal Pay Day draws attention to this every year. Equal Pay DayĮven though it has been illegal from the 1 st of March 1980 to pay different salaries to people who do the same work in the Netherlands, it still happens.

In May 1973 the Dolle Mina’s launch their ‘Werkende Wijvenplan’, which was focussed on equal pay for equal work, equal opportunities in education and vocation, individualisation of taxation, free day-care for children, and communal living facilities. The strike got national attention and union women as well as the Dolle Mina’s declare their solidarity to the strike. This was partly in protest against the unequal pay for work done by men and women. In March 1973, the men and women of the Optilon zipper factory in the place Winschoten laid down their work. 1973: A strike for equal payĭutch history is full of attempts to draw attention to the problem of unequal wages, including the following action. This shows that pointing out wage differences and fighting to get it corrected does bring about change. The plaintiffs found this salary discrepancy unacceptable because the positions in the distribution centre and the store are essentially identical and should be offered the same salary.

The mainly male employees in the distribution centres structurally got paid more than the mainly female employees who worked in the stores. Earlier this year employees of British supermarket chain Tesco won their indictment against the company. It is important to keep on challenging this difference in wages: equal work deserves equal pay.įighting for equal pay does work, however hard this may seem.

The corrected pay gap takes factors into account that make a difference in the position of women and men on the job market, such as a difference in job positions and job sectors. This is called the corrected pay gap, which amounted to a 4% gap in the government sector and a 7% gap in the business sector in 2020. However, there is still a part of the gender pay gap that cannot be explained. This uncorrected pay gap is calculated by comparing the average gross hourly wage of all male and female employees. For example, women often work parttime, men more often have a managerial position, and women work more in sectors that pay lower salaries. There is a gender pay gap in the Netherlands: working women earn around 13,7% less than working men. On average, a Dutch woman loses out on €300.000 during her employed life. Yet, women are paid less and move on to higher positions less frequently than men do. They also work more hours per week than a few years ago. Women in the Netherlands nowadays are generally better educated than men.

Getting Even by Evelyn Murphy