A bit prophetic if I say so myself, as we see the key importance of women's jobs in the current Covid-19 crisis.
"Kate
Ramsden delighted to be speaking here on International Women’s Day on behalf of
UNISON.
Because
around three quarters of our members are women, many of them in low paid roles
50 years
on from the Equal Pay Act the gender pay gap is still with us
The gap
between the pay of men and women stands at almost 12% rising to a whopping 38%
in the entertainment industry.
So why is
that? Of course there are situations where men are just paid more than women
even when they do the same job. Samira Ahmed is proof of that.
That’s
illegal and it’s wrong. And if you can afford it, it’s challengeable in court
But mainly
it’s because most of the jobs that women do are just not valued.
Yet they
are amongst the most important roles in our society – roles we just couldn’t do
without
Carers who
look after our older people, our children and those with disabilities, bringing
them dignity and promoting their independence
Pupil
support staff, supporting our most vulnerable children to get the most from
their education,
Pre-fives
workers, preparing our children for education and supporting good parenting
Cleaners, keeping
our schools and hospitals clean and hygienic,
Catering
staff making sure that our children and vulnerable adults get healthy and
nutritious food.
Roles that
are fundamental to a caring and civilised society, yet are not valued and are amongst
the poorest paid jobs
Why is
that? Why is it that so-called “women’s jobs” are seen as having intrinsically
less value than men’s?
If we are
ever to achieve equal pay that needs to change. We need to value women more and
we need to value what we all do.
We need to
make sure that women not only have equality of pay but also equality of
opportunity because at present women are hugely under-represented in higher
paid jobs and in leadership roles
It’s
changing but not quickly enough.
Then
there’s austerity. 10 years of cuts to public services
It has
impacted on us all but there is no doubt it has hit women hardest, as citizens
and as workers
And if you
are a disabled woman, a Black woman, an LGBT+ woman or a young woman then the
impact will have been even greater
Because we
are not all in this together
The past
10 years have seen a mass transfer of wealth to the richest from the rest of
us.
By last year
the 1000 richest people in the UK had a total wealth of £724bn - an increase of
£274bn over the five years since 2014 and a rise of £66bn in the previous year.
And in
Scotland alone, the richest 1% own more wealth than the poorest 50%
Whilst
over 60% of children living in poverty have one or both parents in work. Working
for poverty pay
That just
can’t be right
Now don’t
get me wrong. This affects men as well as women and we need to stand together
against austerity and this massively increasing inequality in our society
But yet
again women are over-represented amongst the poorest groups, as parents, carers
and workers.
But there
is some good news.
Women are
beginning to stand together and fighting back
We only
have to look at the equal pay strike in Glasgow to see the power of the
collective
Women in
solidarity and sisterhood, and supported by men, winning that fight to be paid
for the years of underpayment compared to men doing work of the same value
Some
received life changing sums.
That win
built women’s confidence and now many are involved in developing the new job
evaluation scheme, describing all the important elements of their work to make
sure they are paid properly in the future
Future
proofing it for the women coming after them
And home
carers in Dundee, coming together to challenge changes to their terms and
conditions
They won
their strike ballot and the council backed down without a shot fired
Other
women across the country taking action to prevent outsourcing of their services
Winning
strike ballots and winning the argument – often without taking any action
Standing
together not just for themselves, but for the services they provide and the
people they provide them to
Building
confidence in their power as a sisterhood to create change
Standing
together and making a difference.
So on
International Women’s Day we come together to recognise the challenges but also
the huge potential for change that women can create by standing alongside each
other and the men who support us
But it
can’t just be a one day event
We have to
use today to energise us for the fight ahead
A fight for
equality not just for ourselves but for our daughters and also for our sons
To remind
ourselves that when we stand together we can challenge discrimination of all
sorts
And when
we believe in ourselves we can win.
No comments:
Post a Comment