The European Union and Employment Relations Essay

The European Union and Employment Relations - Essay Example But negotiation of course does not mean the theoretical perspective alone. It requires practical grounds of the policies which shows clear practise of anti discrimination employment policies. Here the EU lacks behind, when it comes to practise the policies. (Amsterdam Treaty, 2007a) The gender equality report no doubt shows that gender employment issues are almost resolved but the gender pay gap has remained. Despite enhancing article 12 of the Amsterdam Treaty which clearly states that no discrimination would be allowed neither on the basis of gender nor on the grounds of nationality between men and women, women's social position in the labour market is relatively weaker than that of men. (Amsterdam Treaty, 2007a) Women lack behind men in exercising bargain power with employers to negotiate for higher wages. Similarly women lack better access to training, and promotions to supervisory positions. No matter to what extent gender inequality has negotiated with EU policies, it is evident that the Amsterdam Treaty has taken only small steps to help forward the construction of European citizenship. Indeed, it still fails to guarantee a basic common standard of fundamental social rights to EU citizens. The social rights recognized in the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, which figure in the Treaty only as not legally binding principles, do not allow for a metamorphosis of economic citizenship into the full social citizenship of the European democratic tradition. Transnational corporations while understanding the discriminatory issue have given significant attention to the women's role in influencing women's economic status. Either in the form of supranational policies or global policies (Desai & Naples, 2002, p. 220), they have realised the way women have contributed in the employment in export-processing zones but then again this realisation has not proved the women worth marginalisation. Therefore the result is nothing but low-paying, dead-end jobs followed with poor working conditions. The new innovations in the Equal Treatment Directive 2000 have outlawed indirect discrimination, discrimination on the basis of sex, ethnicity and race. (Hoskyns, 1996) On the one hand, EU has equipped feminists who possess international relations within the boundaries of EU. With a framework of sex equality laws women have been able to extract reforms from national governments. Beneficial mostly for white women who are subjected to strong employment positions with secure and stable jobs, EU policies have benefited middle class women, but what about those vulnerable groups who are considered as minor or even non existent. What about those black and migrant women who are dependant upon receiving male violence not only at their homes but also at their work places in the form of sexual harassment What about those accidents and injuries in the factories, in which use of toxic chemicals are common, that burn workers and still not take the responsibility for their health problems and illn esses The widespread sexual harassment in the Member States and the role of the EU institutions in devising strategies for dealing with it provides an excellent opportunity to explore some of these issues demonstrates the importance of networking across national