[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 1, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H1697-H1698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED WORKERS' RIGHTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bonior), for organizing this evening's discussion on so 
critical an issue as international workers' rights. The gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bonior) has been a champion for workers' rights at home 
and abroad, and I am proud to join him in this discussion.
  Work is fundamental to our existence. It gives our life meaning, and 
it is necessary so workers can provide for even the most basic human 
needs, like food, shelter and clothing. We say that women and men share 
the same fundamental rights when they are at work. We say that the new 
global economy is creating unprecedented opportunities and new-found 
rights for workers, especially women, including the right to work free 
from gender discrimination, yet clearly we are not doing enough to make 
this a reality.
  Gender wage discrimination is a national and international atrocity 
which continues to hold our global community captive and hinders 
further progress.
  From the United States to Japan, from South Africa to the 
Netherlands, women are paid less than men. What is worse is that there 
is no indication that this will soon change for women worldwide. Across 
the globe, the United States Congress has the ability to protect 
workers' rights, including the right to work free from gender 
discrimination. As the most powerful nation in the world, we have the 
responsibility to influence other governments to defend workers' 
rights, to ensure that women workers are paid a fair wage so they can 
support their families. It is time that we live up to these 
responsibilities.
  For decades women have been fighting for their right to enter the 
labor force, and progress has been made in terms of women in the 
workforce. With the globalization of the economy, women have assumed 
extraordinary responsibilities and have adapted to the duties of 
providing for the security of their families. They have taken on roles 
in the workplace and in their communities, oftentimes to lessen the 
harm from local and national crises, for example, the women that enter 
the agriculture sector in Africa in order to alleviate their families 
from the burdens of famine that have plagued Africa.
  For the past 2 decades, the level of women's participation in the 
labor force has been increasing. In fact, in 1994, approximately 45 
percent of the world's women from the ages of 15 to 64 were 
economically active. The rate at which women are becoming economically 
active is almost twice the rate for men. In the United States, Canada 
and the Scandinavian countries, women now make up nearly half the 
active population, with activity rates of over 70 percent in core age 
groups. Unfortunately, this is only half the story.
  It is simply unacceptable that not all women have been able to choose 
to enter the workforce and those that do encounter additional barriers 
and violations of their rights. Although women have benefited a great 
deal from the changing global economy and newly created jobs, unequal 
pay remains a problem and job equality has declined.
  I cannot believe that the majority of women worldwide continue to 
earn on the average only 50 to 80 percent of what men earn. In Japan, 
the Republic of Korea, women's salaries are roughly half of men's 
salaries. In developed countries, including the United States, the pay 
gap varies between 30 percent to slightly less than 10 percent. 
Worldwide, women earn an average of 75 percent of men's pay in 
nonagricultural work. These are outright violations of workers' rights, 
and the injustices persist despite undeniable success which women have 
achieved in accessing education and vocational and professional

[[Page H1698]]

training. We can no longer assume that the women arriving in the job 
market have fewer skills and less training than men.
  In spite of numerous international conventions and laws guaranteeing 
the quality of opportunity and treatment, discrimination between the 
sexes persists. Women still assume the double burden of family and 
employment obligations. Women's pay remains lower than that of men; and 
women remain in the minority in decision-making and managerial posts.
  The dramatic increase of women in the labor market has driven public 
opinion and the governments of many countries to acknowledge that they 
need to fight against these inequalities.
  The United States Congress needs to be doing more to ensure that our 
government and those across the globe adopt legislation which 
represents the real political will that exists to eliminate inequality 
of opportunity on the basis of gender.
  We need to pass legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act, which I 
introduced in the 107th Congress, to ensure that protections against 
gender discrimination are enforced. It is a matter of human rights, of 
social justice, and sustainable economic development to make sure that 
women are paid in the same way that men in our society are paid.

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