We take care, ladies

SINCE DEMOCRACY is back in the country, the General Workers’ Union (UGT, in its Spanish acronym) has only had two general secretaries: Nicolás Redondo and Cándido Méndez, who has just announced that he will not be a candidate for re-election. Comisiones Obreras (the largest union, known in Spanish as CCOO) has chosen four leaders since 1976: Marcelino Camacho, Antonio Gutiérrez, José María Fidalgo and Ignacio Fernández aka Toxo. All men, even if today women are more than 40% of total members in executive committees of both unions. Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) only includes one woman in six members.

FEMALE EXPERTS who have analysed this phenomenon explain it as the result of a late incorporation of women to the workforce after Franco’s dictatorship, the instability of the jobs that are mainly occupied by women – which makes them invisible – and a low rate of female union membership, but also a male vision of both the work and the unions, among other reasons.

THE SITUATION is not better in business associations: the powerful Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE) only includes seven women in its executive committee formed of 58 members (12%) and has never had a female leader. Apparently, they are not concerned about International Labour Organization’s recommendations for business lobbying groups, which include promoting more women in top positions.