International

The SP, the two centre-left parties Green Left and PvdA (Labour) and the seniors' party 50PLUS are calling for an end to inequality between men's and women's pay. The four parties have joined hands to present a legislative proposal to the effect that organisations with more than fifty employees will be required to demonstrate that they pay men and women equal rates for equal work. To that effect a certification system will be introduced, and it will be obligatory to present every three years statistics regarding salaries paid to employees. In the event of unequal pay, the employer will be given the chance to improve the situation. If nothing is done, fines will be imposed.

We were after all clear enough about this: treaties such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the TTIP, are not wanted. Nobody's got anything against trade which is fair, but what we don't want are the sort of measures from the European Commission which mean that it's party time for multinationals. This was shown by the number of signatures on petitions, the number of letters I received from people in all walks of life, the huge numbers of demonstrators who got out on the streets, and the incomparable number of people who took the trouble to participate in the debate. Yet in the new mega-treaties that are on their way – with Mexico (population 124 million), Japan (126 million) and the Mercosur countries of South America (126 million) - there is nothing to suggest that the Commission has listened to what the people want for as much as a second.