Women in Iceland, Including PM, Strike for Equal Pay
2023-10-25
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Iceland's prime minister and women across the island nation went on strike Tuesday.
2They are pushing for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.
3Icelanders awoke to all-male news teams announcing shutdowns across the nation.
4Schools closed down, public transportation was delayed, hospitals had fewer workers, and hotel rooms went uncleaned.
5Katrin Jakobsdóttir is Iceland's prime minister.
6She said that she would stay home as part of the women's strike and expected other women on her cabinet to do the same.
7Iceland's trade unions are the main organizers of the strike.
8They called on women and nonbinary, a term to describe those who do not identify as male or female, to strike.
9They refused to do both paid and unpaid work, including household work, for the day.
10About 90 percent of Icelandic workers belong to a union.
11Schools and the health system, which have large female workforces, said they would be heavily affected by the walkout.
12National broadcaster RUV said it was reducing television and radio broadcasts for the day.
13Tuesday's walkout lasts from midnight to midnight.
14It is called the biggest strike since Iceland's first such event on October 24, 1975.
15That was when 90 percent of women refused to work, clean or look after children, to express anger at discrimination in the workplace.
16In 1976, Iceland passed a law guaranteeing equal rights of men and women.
17Since then, there have been several partial-day strikes.
18The most recent one came in 2018, with women walking off the job in the early afternoon.
19That represented the time of day when women, on average, stop earning compared to men.
20Iceland is a country of about 380,000 people.
21It sits just below the Arctic Circle in the North Atlantic Ocean.
22It has been ranked as the world's most gender-equal country 14 years straight by the World Economic Forum, which measures pay, education, health care among others.
23No country has reached full equality, and there remains a gender pay gap in Iceland.
24"We have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023," the prime minster said.
25The cabinet is evenly split between male and female ministers.
26Nearly half of lawmakers in Iceland's parliament are women.
27Many women in Iceland are in high paying and powerful positions.
28But the lowest paying jobs, such as cleaning and child care, are still mostly done by women.
29The work is very important for Iceland's tourism economy.
30It also depends heavily on immigrants, who largely work longer hours and take home the lowest pay.
31Around 22 percent of the female workforce is foreign born, found Statistics Iceland.
32Large parts of the center of the capital, Reykjavík, will be closed to traffic ahead of a protest on Tuesday afternoon.
33Protest signs, posted on social media before the event, hit back at the idea that Iceland is already perfect for women with the slogan, "You call this gender equality?"
34Iceland's 1975 strike led to similar protests in other countries including Poland.
35There, women boycotted jobs and classes in 2016 to protest a proposed abortion ban.
36In Spain, women struck for 24 hours in 2018.
37The country's major unions estimated that 5.3 million people joined the strike.
38Spain's Equality Minister Irene Montero said Tuesday that the 2018 strike was inspired by Iceland's 1975 walkout.
39She expressed full support for the latest protest.
40I'm Gena Bennett.
1Iceland's prime minister and women across the island nation went on strike Tuesday. They are pushing for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence. 2Icelanders awoke to all-male news teams announcing shutdowns across the nation. Schools closed down, public transportation was delayed, hospitals had fewer workers, and hotel rooms went uncleaned. 3Katrin Jakobsdóttir is Iceland's prime minister. She said that she would stay home as part of the women's strike and expected other women on her cabinet to do the same. 4Iceland's trade unions are the main organizers of the strike. They called on women and nonbinary, a term to describe those who do not identify as male or female, to strike. They refused to do both paid and unpaid work, including household work, for the day. About 90 percent of Icelandic workers belong to a union. 5Schools and the health system, which have large female workforces, said they would be heavily affected by the walkout. National broadcaster RUV said it was reducing television and radio broadcasts for the day. 6Tuesday's walkout lasts from midnight to midnight. It is called the biggest strike since Iceland's first such event on October 24, 1975. That was when 90 percent of women refused to work, clean or look after children, to express anger at discrimination in the workplace. 7In 1976, Iceland passed a law guaranteeing equal rights of men and women. Since then, there have been several partial-day strikes. The most recent one came in 2018, with women walking off the job in the early afternoon. That represented the time of day when women, on average, stop earning compared to men. 8Iceland is a country of about 380,000 people. It sits just below the Arctic Circle in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has been ranked as the world's most gender-equal country 14 years straight by the World Economic Forum, which measures pay, education, health care among others. No country has reached full equality, and there remains a gender pay gap in Iceland. 9"We have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023," the prime minster said. 10The cabinet is evenly split between male and female ministers. Nearly half of lawmakers in Iceland's parliament are women. 11Many women in Iceland are in high paying and powerful positions. But the lowest paying jobs, such as cleaning and child care, are still mostly done by women. 12The work is very important for Iceland's tourism economy. It also depends heavily on immigrants, who largely work longer hours and take home the lowest pay. Around 22 percent of the female workforce is foreign born, found Statistics Iceland. 13Large parts of the center of the capital, Reykjavík, will be closed to traffic ahead of a protest on Tuesday afternoon. Protest signs, posted on social media before the event, hit back at the idea that Iceland is already perfect for women with the slogan, "You call this gender equality?" 14Iceland's 1975 strike led to similar protests in other countries including Poland. There, women boycotted jobs and classes in 2016 to protest a proposed abortion ban. 15In Spain, women struck for 24 hours in 2018. The country's major unions estimated that 5.3 million people joined the strike. 16Spain's Equality Minister Irene Montero said Tuesday that the 2018 strike was inspired by Iceland's 1975 walkout. She expressed full support for the latest protest. 17I'm Gena Bennett. 18Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press. 19____________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21gender - n. a person's own sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female 22union - n. an organization of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of its members 23nonbinary - n. not identifying as male or female 24gap - n. a space between two people or things 25tackle - v. to deal with 26tourism - n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure 27slogan - n. a word or phrase that is easy to remember and is used by a group or business to attract attention 28inspire - v. to give an idea about what to do or create