Italian Firm Fires Only Women

Call it the Berlusconi-zation of Italy. Italian engineering firm Ma-Vib, faced with a downturn in sales, decided that its women workers didn't need their jobs as much as the men did. The company fired 13 out of 18 women employees while all 12 of its male employees kept their jobs, the Guardian reports. "We are firing the women so they can stay at home and look after the children. In any case, what they bring in is a second income," the company told the local small business association, according to an engineering union official. The union called a strike to protest the sexist jobs cull, but only one of the male workers took part. (More sexism stories.)