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Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Argentina (RATIFICATION: 1956)

1. The Committee notes that, according to the report, one of the steps taken to reduce the wage gap between men and women has been to ensure the participation of women in negotiating committees for collective labour agreements and other collective agreements. The Government affirms that the social partners’ readiness to negotiate in concrete terms in respect of wage conditions of workers in a wide range of activities has increased and that numerous collective agreements have been concluded. In order to guarantee the effective participation of women, the National Directorate of Labour Relations has issued DNRT No. 32/05, a copy of which was attached to the report, pursuant to which conciliation boards are to verify, prior to a negotiating committee being established, that trade union associations have provided documentation demonstrating compliance with the Female Trade Union Quota Act together with the names of their representatives, from 2001 to 2004. As a result, a 1 per cent increase was recorded in women carrying out executive functions, which included 596 posts for women in executive committees. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on developments concerning female trade union representation and copies of collective agreements promoting the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, as enshrined in Article 1 of the Convention, so that it can examine wage categories in relation to duties and gender, and wage supplements.

2. In relation to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the advisory commission envisaged in section 130 of the General Collective Labour Agreement for the National Public Administration has not yet been established, but that within the framework of equality of collective bargaining in the public sector, wage increases were agreed upon for public administration workers and that this is a step towards the establishment of the corresponding advisory commission. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed regarding the establishment of the advisory commission. Also noting that the activity of promoting equal remuneration in the public sector has been carried out by the Standing Committee for Labour Relations (COPAR), the Committee asks the Government to keep it informed of COPAR’s activities that promote the principle set forth in the Convention and to include information on wage supplements, in particular in the public sector.

3. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep it informed of the activities carried out by the Tripartite Commission for Equality of Treatment and Opportunity between Men and Women in the World of Work (CTIO) to promote the principle set forth in the Convention. Noting that the 2005 action plan envisages the creation of commissions of the same sort in the provinces and the establishment of the Federal Council of CTIOs, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the creation of these commissions at the provincial level and on the activities undertaken by such commissions during the period covered by the next report.