Opening speeches

Georges Dassis

The EESC President, Georges Dassis, noted that equality between men and women was both a cultural and a political issue, and that the EESC had been supporting the Commission's efforts in this domain and had played an active role in the promoting equality, in particular in the transport sector.

MrDassis went on to say that transport was traditionally a male-dominated sector and that employment of women in the transport sector was particularly low (in 2013, 78% of transport workers in the EU were men). He stressed that it was an economic and social imperative to improve gender equality in transport in terms of jobs, innovation, sustainability and EU growth. In this context, he said, it was important to improve not only employment opportunities for women but also working conditions for all. One important field of action was the fight against gender-based violence at the workplace (as shown by an appalling study recently published by the ETF).

MrDassis explained that the Platform to be launched at the conferencewas a tool for facilitatingthe active involvement of all stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Its members would be invited to commit to taking concrete action based on SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound), theimplementation of which would be monitored, evaluated and annually reported.An online database would facilitate the sharing of information.

Finally, MrDassis expressed his hope that the recommendation to setup the Platform – as put forward by an EESC Member –would be successfully turned into reality in order to ensure that equality between men and women came true.

Violeta Bulc

The EU Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc,said she considered gender balance to be a major issuefor the beginning of the 21st century and that she was glad to be part of this transformation.

MsBulc noted that, when she had taken office, she had taken stock of the fact that transport was not a gender-balanced sector (with statistics showingthat only 22% of workers in the transport sector were women, well below the figure of 46% for the economy as a whole). She stressed that,for societies to flourish, all potentials and all talents must be engaged. The establishment of the Platform – an idea put forward by EESC Member Madi Sharma a year ago – was an important milestone on that journey.

MsBulc then proposed 4 topics for discussion during the brainstorming session:

1.The opportunities brought about by innovation and digitalisation:

Innovation and digitalisation are the key driving forces now, and have also brought about a lot of changes in the labour market. Somemale-dominated jobs are disappearing, but women excel in some of the new emerging – non-mobile – professions which provide better working conditions. Unfortunately, women are not always sufficiently aware of these new options. MsBulcsaid she believed that the Platform could help to promote these opportunities.

2.Targets for a balanced workforce:

Although personally in favour of quotas, MsBulc acknowledged that the majority of transport stakeholders and EU Member States were opposed to them. In this context targets,the voluntary version of quotas, offered an interesting alternative that had already been used successfully.

3.Violence:

The recent survey by the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF) shows the seriousness of the violence, harassmentand bullying faced by female workers in the transport sector.The Platform will be a perfect place to spread awareness and to tackle the issue. Having a goal of "zero tolerance"is important for both men and women.

4.Flexible shifts to better work-life balance:

Pointing out that transport professions were very mobile, MsBulcsaid she would welcome more personalised schedules (in particular family-friendly ones). However, clear rules would be needed.

"This tool is not only for women."

Finally, Commissioner Bulc invited all participants to sign the Declaration to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in the transport sectorand to get involved in this initiative ("Together we can make gender equality happen!"). One of thestrengths of the Platform, she said,wasto have different stakeholders joining forces in a comprehensive and systematic manner in order to achieve a more modern, inclusive and cooperative society.

Karima Delli

The Chair ofthe European Parliament'sTRAN Committee,Karima Delli,reminded attendees that the EPhad also held an event on this topic. She was pleased to have women who held key positions in transport next to her on the dais.

The transport sector, she said, was masculine and rough, with difficult and tough working conditions, including sexual harassment. Therefore it was important for the legislators to improve current working conditions (for instance through themobility packagefor the road sector).

The safety of women in public transport should not be forgotten either.

The sector was going through tremendous changes, with new start-ups, the development of collaborative platforms and new digital jobs.This disruption alsorepresented an opportunity for women.

MsDelli stressed that the time had come to act, andencouraged all participants to sign the Declaration.

Kadri Simson

The Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson thanked the EESC and Commission for launching this important initiative which, she believed, would encourage stakeholders to take necessary steps towards gender equality in transport.

Thetransport sector, she said, was currently going through turbulent times. The transition would be uncomfortable but could be usedto increase gender equality.

In addition, MsSimson pointed out that gender segregation in the labour market perpetuated gender inequalities in and beyond the labour market. There was no one single factor that could explain the prevalence of this segregation, though stereotypes and dominant expectationscertainly played a key role.

One of the questions to be discussed was how to ensure that digitalisation would be used in a way that would benefit the whole of society. New forms of work brought about by digitalisation would provide more flexibility and autonomy for women.

Finally, Ms Simson said she hoped the participants would have informative, fruitful and helpful discussionsto set the course for engaging more womenin transport.

Madi Sharma

The initiator of the idea to set up a "Platform for Change", EESC Member Madi Sharma, had been inspired by a similar platform run by DG SANTE, which had achievedimpressive results.

The Platform for Change would gather organisations dedicated to increasing women's entrepreneurship/employment and gender equality in the transport sector.

This tool, contributing to economic and social change,would make the transport sector the most innovative and competitive in the world while, at the same time, addressing inequalities.

Ms Sharma stressed that the Platform for Change was driven by the stakeholders themselves: their ideas were being turned into actions.

The only requirement to be a member of the Platform was to bring concrete actions to drive change, based on SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). The Platform was open to all kinds of stakeholders: industry, trade unions and workers associations, women's organisations, media, academia, think tanks etc. at European and national levels.

Finally, Ms Sharma also encouraged the participants to sign the Declaration: "let's act together!".

Outcome of the brainstorming sessions

(What sort of actions would you like to see which can also be incorporated into the Platform?)

A preliminary wide collection of potential topics was made. The following ideas were put forward by participants:

  • Before recruitment: fight stereotypes, raise awareness and promote transport jobs in schools. Idea of quotas in schools, budget for scholarships, etc.
  • At the moment of recruitment: engage management, use targets, have balanced panels, make CVs anonymous, use inclusive language, advertise whether the company has a gender policy in place ("white list of companies"), etc.;
  • Once in the job: day and night care, adequate maternity leave provisions and support, family-friendly shifts and work flexibility, better sanitary facilities, safe parking facilities, career development, mentoring, training programmes against violence at the workplace, etc.

In addition, participants also stressed the need to collect reliable data.

Participants then worked together on designing possible actions which could be brought to the Platform. The following actions were proposed:

(a)Organising meetings of HR managers of EU ports to develop guidelines for recruitment and HR management, raise awareness and exchange good practices;

(b)Developing a database of gender disaggregated datacovering all transport sectors;

(c)Developing a universal model course to train transport workers to deal with gender differences (after relevant collection of data) and drawing up a white list of companies that promote gender diversity in transport;

(d)Increasing the number of female pilots (currently only 3%) with scholarships and affordable education, specific recruitment campaigns, family-friendly schedules, and balanced maternity and paternity leaves;

(e)Attracting schoolgirls to transport by joining forces to launch awareness campaigns (using role models and testimonials, mentoring), maintaining contact throughout the years using social media, organising open days for girls (mothers);

(f)Designing a European mentoring programme for women in transport (including exchange of best practices in mentoring, annual events, etc.).

Concluding speeches

Maja Bakran

Ms Bakran, deputy director-general in DG MOVE, thanked everyone for their very active participation in the event. She felt that the Platform was a practical step that would bring results, and invited the participants to spread the word about this initiative. In this context, Ms Bakran announced that the Platform's first working meeting was scheduled for the end of January 2018 – all information about the Platform and the Declaration would be made available online on the dedicated Commission website. Another conference would be held on the Platform's first anniversary.

Pierre Jean Coulon

The TEN Section President, Pierre Jean Coulon, pointed out that the EESC had been actively working on the subject ̶ two exploratory opinions by EESC rapporteur Madi Sharma provided a good overview of the current situation and possible solutions.

Stressing that this initiative would have numerous positive effects not only on female employment and the labour market but also on mobility and economic activity in general, Mr Coulon welcomed the very active involvement of the conference participants in the discussions. However, this was only the beginning, and it was now important that all stakeholders continued to "feed" the platform through their actions. As the presence of several high-level representatives in the conference showed, the stakeholders could count on the support of the European institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, European Economic and Social Committee) in this regard.

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