Women’s employment and gender policy in urban public transport companies

On 17-18 October, the European social partners of the Urban Public Sector – UITP (International Association of Public Transport) and ETF (European Transport Workers’ Federation) together with EVA Akademie organised a conference in Brussels aimed at supporting companies and trade unions to achieve a better representation and integration of women in the urban public transport sector.

Good practice examples and the joint recommendations of the European social partners were promoted and key aspects and discussion revolved around topics influencing women’s employment in the urban public transport sector following the results of the WISE II-project (Women Employment in Urban Public Transport Sector) as  part of the work programme of the European Social Dialogue cofunded by the European Commission.

The conference looked at the developments and progress that have been made regarding the overall aim to increase the share of women in the companies from the current average of 17.5% to at least 25% in 2020 with future outlook to at least 40% in 2035. The programme of the conference was organised in a very interactive way with several occasions provided to allow for experience-sharing and to discuss specific issues in small groups in order to come up with innovative ideas and possible solutions, in particular experiences of women in urban public transport companies working as tram and bus drivers, in technical and managerial positions were shared and discussed with the audience.

Member of the Commissioner for Mobility and Transport Cabinet Ms Andreja Kodrin gave a keynote speech on behalf of Commissioner for Transport Ms Violeta Bulc, assuring the audience that the social partners can count on the Commissioner’s personal commitment and persistence. She further noted that DG MOVE is planning to create a unit dealing with gender equality. The Commission will also launch an  conomic study in the next weeks on the benefits of employing more women. In addition, Ms Bulc invited the social partners to sign a sector declaration on combating violence against women. The Commission as well consults experts to enrich and complement initiatives and invites to answer the public consultation by the end of October.

Source:CER Monitor