Posted on 05/12/2003 1:37:29 AM PDT by sarcasm
GENEVA (AP) -- The most blatant discrimination in the workplace has faded in many nations, but prejudice continues to stop most women, ethnic minorities and other groups realizing their potential, the U.N. labor agency said Monday.
Releasing a report titled ``Time for Equality at Work,'' the International Labor Organization said most governments worldwide have recognized that discrimination -- especially on grounds of race and gender -- is a problem that creates barriers to employment.
``Formal condemnation of discrimination is virtually universal, and action to stop discrimination at work has been taken in many places,'' said ILO chief Juan Somavia.
The 136-page study cites decades of lawmaking in North America and Europe and more recent anti-discrimination rules in developing countries such as India or post-apartheid South Africa.
``Still, discrimination remains a constantly evolving 'moving target,' and we have a long way to go on the road to equality,'' said Somavia.
ILO expert Manuela Tomei, the report's main author, told reporters, ``Nobody has been able to measure discrimination directly.''
She said she relied on ``proxies for discrimination,'' like varying income levels of different groups. The report draws on government data and research by the World Bank, anti-discrimination organizations and universities.
ILO said that many individual members of minority groups -- black Americans, Australian Aborigines, Gypsies in Europe or people at the bottom of the caste system in India and Nepal -- have benefited from affirmative action and other anti-discrimination measures.
Still, when such rules exist, the ILO study says most minority members work in lower-skilled or lower-paid jobs than their majority counterparts -- even when both groups have the same level of education. This reinforces assumptions among recruiters, managers and other employees about the jobs minorities are ``best suited'' for.
Governments should do more to ``convince employers that ending discrimination makes good sense,'' said Tomei.
ILO also cited research in the United States which found that firms with affirmative action programs also had more streamlined and efficient recruitment procedures for all their employees.
In many developing countries, job discrimination undermines social and political stability and hits economic growth, said ILO.
Tomei said that discrimination ``acquires more insidious forms'' as countries pass laws to battle its formal side.
In most nations, companies are no longer allowed to state in job advertisements that they refuse applications because of race or gender, Tomei said.
``Advertisements might now ask for people who look good, or have a pleasant appearance,'' she said, noting that these are often code words meant to exclude minorities -- and older workers -- from the majority.
Women, who currently make up around 67 percent of the world's labor force, are by far the largest group being discriminated against, the report says.
Laws on equal pay have failed to go hand in hand with genuine equality in access to employment.
``No matter the sector, the size of the enterprise or the area of the world, women earn less than men'' because they are more likely than men to work in the lowest-paid and least-secure jobs, said Tomei. Worldwide, they are employed in a narrower range of occupations than men.
In many developing countries they also face barriers to education, land ownership and loans, blocking their economic options.
In rich countries where women are equally or more educated than men, the ``glass ceiling'' often blocks their ultimate rise to the top, the report says.
ILO expert Manuela Tomei, the report's main author, told reporters, ``Nobody has been able to measure discrimination directly.''
She said she relied on ``proxies for discrimination,'' like varying income levels of different groups.
Real science for real people.
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