Ann Hope, an advisory services officer with the Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), brought a case of sex discrimination against ICTU - with the assistance of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland- when she was unsuccessful in her application for the post of Northern Ireland officer with the trade union body in 1999. Ms Hope also has responsibility for gender equality in NIC-ICTU. ICTU represents an estimated 750,000 workers in the island of Ireland, 543,000 in the Republic of Ireland and 215,000 in Northern Ireland.
In June 2002, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland welcomed the settlement, for around EUR 39,000 and 'other terms', of a sex discrimination case brought against the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) by one of its own staff.
Ann Hope, an advisory services officer with the Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), brought a case of sex discrimination against ICTU - with the assistance of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland- when she was unsuccessful in her application for the post of Northern Ireland officer with the trade union body in 1999. Ms Hope also has responsibility for gender equality in NIC-ICTU. ICTU represents an estimated 750,000 workers in the island of Ireland, 543,000 in the Republic of Ireland and 215,000 in Northern Ireland.
In June 2002, ICTU settled the case. Under the terms of the settlement, in addition to paying Ms Hope EUR 39,000, ICTU acknowledged that its practices and procedures in recruiting a Northern Ireland officer were defective and did not comply with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland’s Code of Practice on removing sex bias from recruitment and selection. ICTU also: expressed regret for any injury to feelings, hurt and distress occasioned to Ms Hope arising from her non-appointment; affirmed its commitment to the principles of equality of opportunity; and agreed to review its existing policies to ensure that they fully comply with the Code of Practice. ICTU is to meet with the Equality Commission to establish the measures necessary to ensure this.
Welcoming the settlement, Petra Sheils, director of legal services at the Commission, said: 'There are still far too few women at senior levels in the trade unions, as elsewhere. The glass ceiling is still in place, but one of the best ways of dismantling it is to use open and objective recruitment and selection procedures. Then good female job applicants can feel sure they are being judged solely on their skills and experience, not on their gender.'
Ms Hope said that she was pleased that the case had reached a successful conclusion: 'I am particularly pleased that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has acknowledged that I was at all times an able candidate who fully met the criteria for the post of Northern Ireland officer.' In bringing the case, Ms Hope said that she was 'conscious of the failure of Congress to operate systematic, objective and transparent selection procedures'. 'I am happy that, as a result of the action I took, Congress will now be working with the Equality Commission to ensure that their policies and practices comply fully with the requirements of the Code of Practice and that sex bias plays no part in their recruitment arrangements,' she concluded.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (2002), ICTU settles sex discrimination case, article.
