Canada PM talks wages on Mexico visit, amid NAFTA talks

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the issue of Mexico's persistently low wages during a visit Friday, as both countries and the United States continue negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In a speech to the Mexican senate, Trudeau said support for NAFTA "depends on the fruits of this trade being fairly shared."

Accompanied by Mexican Senate President Ernesto Cordero, right, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves upon his arrival to the Mexican Senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Speaking during a state visit Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Trudeau have reaffirmed their commitment to a trilateral renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The fourth round of negotiations began Wednesday in Washington. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

"So we must pursue trade agreements that are win, win, win, helping workers across North America achieve better standards, wages and working conditions," he told lawmakers.

Mexican wages are a key element in NAFTA talks, with Washington pushing to increase labor protections and pay. Auto workers in Mexico, for example, often earn about $2 per hour compared with $30 or more by their counterparts in the other two countries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the Mexican Senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses for a group photo with employees and senators in the Mexican Senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Wages are kept low in Mexico in part because of antiquated labor laws and pro-government unions that often sign contracts behind workers' backs. Some unions are so absent from the workplace that employees sometimes don't even know one exists.

It was not clear whether Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto discussed the wage issue directly during the Thursday and Friday visit.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shows gratitude for the Mexican senate pin that he was given during his visit to senate chambers, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Senate President Ernesto Cordero shake hands in Senate chambers, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Pena Nieto said Thursday night at a dinner for Trudeau that "Mexico sees the renegotiation of NAFTA as a way to ensure that any agreement reached represents an opportunity to improve labor conditions in Mexico."

"Mexico doesn't want to be competitive based on low wages," Pena Nieto said. "Mexico wants to compete on the basis of skilled labor."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives at the Mexican Senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Accompanied by Mexican Senate President Ernesto Cordero, right, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves upon his arrival to the Mexican Senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

However his government has not moved to get rid of thousands of pro-company "protection" contracts that prevent real unions from organizing. And leaders of crooked labor federations are in many cases members of Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Trudeau said improving labor standards may be the only way to protect the 23-year-old trade pact.

"Progressive labor standards are how we ensure that a modernized NAFTA will also bolster not just free and fair trade, but will enjoy long-lasting popular support," Trudeau said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signs the guest book upon his arrival to the Mexican senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau smiles upon his arrival to the Mexican senate, in Mexico City, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Norwegian equality minister said Thursday that she found it “completely unacceptable” that men on average earn 13% more than women as she reacted to a government report stressing that the pay gap in egalitarian Norway persists.

The conclusion of the report, which covers the period 2015-2022, was on par with the figures in the European Union of which Norway isn't a member. According to the European Commission, the gender pay gap in the 27-member EU stood at 12.7 % in 2021 and has only changed minimally over the last decade.

The report, which had been commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality and was published Thursday, said that since 2015, there has been little change in the wage differences between women and men performing the same work.

“I find it completely unacceptable that women and men who have the same job, the same experience and the same competence, end up with different salaries," Culture and Equality Minister Lubna Jaffery told Norwegian news agency NTB.

The report by the Institute for Social Research, concluded that women who work in the same sector, industry and profession, have the same length of education and experience and similar job size, earn 8% less than men. If women also have the same professional title and employer, they earn 6% less than men.

“An important explanation is that men and women work in different parts of the labor market with different wage levels,” the 122-page Norwegian report said.

“We show how the wage gap varies across sectors, industries, education groups, occupations and labor market regions,” it said. “We find that women on average have longer education than men, but within fields of study with lower wages. The gap between men and women with equally long education is therefore larger than between all men and women.”

Norway, a country of 5.6 million, has often been described as at the forefront internationally in terms of gender equality and living standards. According to official Norwegian figures, about 70% of women participate in the workforce.

In October, the annual report from the U.S. Census Bureau said that in 2023, the gender wage gap between men and women working full-time widened year-over-year for the first time in 20 years. It said that women working full time earned 83 cents on the dollar compared to men in 2023, down from a historic high of 84 cents in 2022.

FILE - The sun reflected in the windows of the skyline of the so called 'Barcode Project' neighborhood at dusk in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)