FIVE THINGS ABOUT WOMEN’S LABOUR IN RUSSIA

1 HEAVY MACHINERY BAN EASED

Russian women are to be allowed to take jobs as truck and train drivers and operate heavy machinery, which were previously banned out of concerns for their health. The jobs are on a list of 456 banned professions in 39 industries that was adopted in 1974 and last revised in 2000. Women in Russia are forbidden from operating heavy machinery in baking, becoming a member of deck or engine crews on ships, driving trains or performing certain types of maintenance work on trains, planes and ships.

2 SIX JOB CATEGORIES FREED UP

Russian Labour Minister Maxim Topilin said Friday that the list is going to be amended so that women will be allowed to take jobs in six out of these 39 categories: bread-making, sea, river, air and railway transport, and driving heavy and specialized vehicles. He did not state which professions will be involved.

3 TIGHTENING JOB MARKET

The minister said it was important to revise the list as the job market tightened for both women and men because of the increasing role of technology and modern equipment in production. At the moment, “Adopting an amended list will give women more job opportunities,” Topilin was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying. “A decree to that effect will be signed in the nearest future.”

4 CONTROVERSY IGNITED BY SAILOR

The issue made headlines in 2016, when the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women sided with 30-year-old Svetlana Medvedeva, who had been trying to become a ship’s captain since 2012. She worked as a sailor, but when she applied to become a captain of a private passenger ship in the southern city of Samara, the employer turned her down, citing the list. She got the promotion in 2016 after the UN ruling.

5 GENDER PAY GAP STILL WIDE

Topilin said the government is still working on closing the gender pay gap, which is almost 30 per cent in Russia. “The gender pay gap shortened from 36.8 per cent in 2001 to 28.3 per cent in 2017. It is necessary to continue working on closing it,” he said.