Balancing the scales

New law will ban all-women boards in the name of equality

By Simon Hunter

A PROPOSED new equality law could see all-woman company boards banned.

The Spanish Cabinet has approved the second stage of a draft law that seeks to boost the presence of women in politics, business and professional associations.

Once it has been approved by the Congress of Deputies, there will have to be a minimum 40% presence of women in government, on the boards of major companies, the governing boards of professional associations and electoral lists.

The draft law also states, howev- er, that neither gender can have a presence that is below 40% nor above 60%. This means that in practice boards of directors made up exclusively of women will not be permitted. The Equal Representation Law

Cabin Crew Pay Deal

SPANISH airline Air Europa has agreed an 11.9% pay rise over the next three years for cabin crew. The company has reached a pre-agreement with the Sitcpla, Aacefsi and CCOO trade unions. Its approval would mean a 5% wage increase this year, backdated to January 1, followed by rises of 4% and 2.5% in 2024 and 2025.

Although a deal has been reached, the Air Europa conflict with its pilots is still active.

Eight one day strikes have been called, following the four-days stoppage that took place at the start of May.

Across

1 Obstacle (4)

4 If you’re on the Stump here, you’ve got a good view (6)

8 Buffoons (6)

9 Small purple plum (6)

10 Obliterate his model, reconstructed (8)

11 Central part (4)

12 Runs into (5)

13 Foe (5)

17 Vomit (4)

19 Free from evil spirits (8) 20 Dusky? (6)

21 Line on a weather map (6)

22 Of inferior quality (6)

23 Ultimate (4)

Down

2 Aw! Hustles Owen about in Australia (3,5,5)

3 Idle talk (6)

4 Enlightened one, literally (6)

5 Only half knocked out? (4-9)

6 Scent (5)

7 Swindle (6)

14 Lose (6)

15 Well-bred people (6)

16 Kind of climber (6)

18 Rate of expenditure of energy (5)

All solutions are on page 20