UGT Lanzarote has announced that it will not join the 8-M demonstrations either, "due to the restrictive measures of the situation we are experiencing" due to Covid. Thus, the union will follow the line of Mararía, which has also ruled out taking to the streets, unlike the 8M Feminist Platform of Lanzarote, which will hold a concentration.
However, although UGT will not demonstrate, it will disseminate a manifesto with the demands it proposes. And it is that, for the union, "the consequences of the serious health crisis caused by Covid-19 are being devastating for our society and our economy and make it more difficult to face the difficulties of inequality that this crisis entails."
In addition, UGT considers that "the pandemic has further highlighted the gender imbalances and inequalities between women and men" and "has revealed important deficits in our welfare state and social protection." "This crisis, which has significantly affected the care and service sectors, sectors that are predominant in the employability of women, has served to make the gaps between women and men more evident," he points out, noting that "nine out of 10 women work in the service sector, the hardest hit by the economic effects of the pandemic."
For Blanca Beortegui, Secretary of Equality of UGT Lanzarote, "this crisis has revealed the serious social and especially negative consequences for women, both for those who work in the care sector, and for workers who assume these tasks in the home, having to reconcile work and family care, and which have become especially evident during the most restrictive periods of mobility and home confinement."
In addition, the union refers to the wage gap, "which reaches almost 6,000 euros less on average per year for women, compared to men, for equal work or work of equal value; a gap that extends to pensions and social protection."
Likewise, UGT points to the unemployment figures registered in January 2021, when there were 19,120 unemployed people, of which 10,002 were women. Some data that have even increased, since at the end of February there were already 19,872 unemployed on the island, of which 10,396 were women.
According to the Secretary of Equality of the union in Lanzarote, "crises always have a much more negative effect on the most vulnerable people, and women will continue to be more vulnerable until we achieve real and effective equality between women and men."
In this sense, UGT points out that "achieving effective equality between women and men is a priority objective", and affirms that its commitment to achieving this objective "materializes day by day" in its activity. "Ensuring that equal opportunities between women and men become a reality and that we achieve a more just, inclusive and supportive society is an inalienable principle for our organization," he adds.
Colloquium on the discrimination of women at work
In addition to disseminating a manifesto, UGT has organized a colloquium on 'The discrimination of women in the workplace' for 8-M, which can be seen in 'streaming' through the page www.igualdad.ugtcanarias.org.
Elena Máñez, Minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands; Margarita Ramos, Professor of Labor Law; Magistrate Gloria Poyatos; and Ana Ma Puig, Labor and Social Security Inspector, will participate.
