Chester Sambrano
chester.sambrano@guardian.co.tt
Embracing equity is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), but according to Labour Minister Stephen Mc Clashie when it comes to salaries, it is far from equitable.
“Where women suffer is that we still have that glass ceiling in some places, in many places, that they don’t receive equitable pay for the same job as men,” he said.
According to Mc Clashie, this occurs mainly in the private sector as the jobs and pay in the public sector are rated with ranges.
“Whoever obtains the range gets the pay,” he said. “In the private sector, banking and so on might pay you on different things because they figure, well the man has more clout and whatever, but that is mostly in the private sector. In the public sector you would not find much discrimination there.”
However, positive things are happening regarding women in the workplace.
Minister Mc Clashie quoted a recent survey conducted by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) which showed that T&T is leading the way regionally in terms of women in management positions.
“We have a very high percentage of women in our workforce that are managerial in comparison to the rest of Latin America and so on. In fact, our women are over 60 per cent at managerial positions whereas, in the rest of the region, it is more like 30 per cent and so on.”
He added that there isn’t much more related data available to the Ministry.
Minister Mc Clashie said a promising sign is the number of women obtaining advanced degrees now surpasses men.
“The women in Trinidad and Tobago are quickly surpassing men in the workplace given that they now occupy a significantly higher status in terms of education and so on,” he said.
He also highlighted that most permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries are women.
“We have come a long way and our women are showing that they are capable, that they have the experience and that they can manage at all levels and we could look forward to more women in higher spaces making major contributions to our national development,” he said.