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In Affluent Germany, Women Still Confront Traditional Bias
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A 2006 anti-discrimination law gave the councils the right to sue on behalf of workers. That was a key change, Ihns said, because it made things easier for women reluctant to pursue litigation on their own.
Klaus Bertelsmann, the lawyer who represented Jonik and other women, said Suederelbe Logistik saved "a lot of money over years and years and years" by systematically paying women less.
Just as the lawsuit was about to go to trial, the company settled out of court, giving Jonik a 13 percent pay raise. Now she earns 200 euros a month more, or just over $250 at current exchange rates. She also received a one-time lump-sum payment of 1,500 euros. Thirty-six other female employees involved in the suit won higher salaries, too.
"This is not about men and women," said Hans-Dieter Kirschstein, director of Suederelbe Logistik. In a brief telephone interview, he said that he did not want to discuss the case but that his company did not discriminate against women. He suggested the lawsuit was settled because of concern about adverse publicity. Training, not gender, accounted for any pay differences, he said.
In Germany, employers often explain the gender pay gap by citing qualifications and seniority. They also say men negotiate harder for raises.
Many also argue that women are drawn to "pink-collar" jobs, such as nursing and teaching, that generally pay less than fields dominated by men, such as high-tech and corporate business. But women here are increasingly asking whether women are drawn to low-paying fields, or whether those fields are low-paying because they are predominantly female.
Sitting in her living room, Jonik said the settlement money has made a huge difference. After paying for rent, utilities and food from her salary -- about $26,000 a year -- she has few splurges. But now, she said, she is enjoying the comfort "of being able to save a little each month for retirement."
As she headed back into the warehouse on her bicycle for a late shift that would end at 10 p.m., she said the "waters have smoothed" at work since the lawsuit. Many of her male co-workers are happy for the women, although none would agree to be interviewed as they came or left the loading dock one recent day, or even in calls afterwards.
But Jonik said that a few scars from her little skirmish in the gender wars remain.
"Every once in a while, when there is a heavy box -- before, a man would have said, 'I'll get it.' Now he might say, 'You get it.' "
"Men," she said, shaking her head.
Special correspondent Shannon Smiley contributed to this report.
