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WORLD NEWS Saturday 15 June 2019

Women strike in Switzerland for fairer pay, more equality

By JAMEY KEATEN gap” — as of 2016, the lat-
Associated Press est figures available.
GENEVA (AP) — Women Also in Geneva, demon-
across Switzerland walked strators bedecked the stat-
off the job, burned bras ues of four bearded Protes-
and blocked traffic Friday tant reformers with purple-
in a day of demonstra- colored scarves and put
tions to demand fairer pay, up alternative street names
more equality and an end honoring women under-
to sexual harassment and neath the official street
violence. It was the first names, which have been
such protests in the Alpine given to men.
nation in 28 years. Earlier in Lausanne, hun-
Discontent over sexism dreds of women rallied at
and workplace inequality the city’s cathedral around
in prosperous Switzerland midnight Thursday and
underpinned the women’s marched downtown to
strike. Many protesters were set wooden pallets on fire,
also demanding more pay throwing items like neckties
specifically for domes- and bras into the inferno.
tic workers, teachers and A few women scaled the
caregivers — jobs typically cathedral to shout out the
held by women. hour, a Swiss tradition rarely
Swiss female lawmakers — Women protest during a nationwide women’s strike in Lucerne, Switzerland, June 14, 2019. There carried out by women.
mostly decked out in pur- is list of several reasons motivating people to take part in the strike. In Lucerne, hundreds of
ple, the movement’s color Associated Press women staged a sit-down
— streamed out of parlia- Hundreds of marchers also Parc Bertrand hoisted a mestic help jobs. protest in front of the city’s
ment Friday in the capital blocked roads near the banner showing that only The Swiss Federal Statistics theater, according to the
of Bern, where several thou- main train station in Zurich, 8% of jobs in engineering office says women on aver- Tages-Anzeiger newspa-
sand women were demon- the country’s financial cen- were held by women in age earned 12% less than per, and some of the pa-
strating, public broadcast- ter. Switzerland, in contrast to men for similar work — the per’s female reporters
er RTS reported. Demonstrators in Geneva’s 91% of the country’s do- so-called “gender pay joined in.q

Future of left-wing mayors of Madrid, Barcelona in balance

By JOSEPH WILSON ty. “Tomorrow I will present pendent with the backing
Associated Press my candidacy to remain of the center-right Citizens.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — in power as Barcelona’s But Valls and Citizens have
The future of the left-wing mayor for four more years,” fallen out over Citizens’ will-
mayors of Spain’s two big- Colau said after her party ingness to enter into local
gest cities is being decided rejected the alternative and regional governments
as political parties work that would have allowed with the backing of Spain’s
against the clock to deter- the Catalan separatist par- new far-right Vox party,
mine who will govern the ty ERC to take over city hall. which is anti-migrant and
country’s municipal gov- In Madrid, three right-wing wants to roll back domes-
ernments. Ada Colau, a parties are struggling to tic violence laws. Citizens is
former housing activist, is strike a last-minute deal in drawn-out talks with the
poised to stay in charge of they need to oust 75-year- conservative Popular Party
This combination file photo shows Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, Barcelona after her party old former judge Manuela to pick a mayor for Madrid
left, delivering a speech in Paris on Oct. 23, 2017, and Madrid members voted Friday for Carmena. to replace Carmena, but
mayor Manuela Carmena, right, presenting her new book on
Aug. 28, 2015, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. her proposal to join in a co- Valls, who was born in Bar- they will need the votes of
Associated Press alition with the Socialist Par- celona, has run as an inde- Vox to get it done.q