Unison starts equal pay campaign for women

A campaign aimed at closing the pay gap between men and women
working in local government was launched by trade union Unison last
week.

The organisation, which represents 600,000 women in the area of
local government, criticised the slow progress made in improving
pay and conditions for women since the establishment of the Equal
Pay Act in 1970.

According to Unison, women make up 71 per cent of the local
authority workforce and 84 per cent of social services staff, but
earn only 79 per cent of men’s pay.

The Getting Equal campaign aims to address this imbalance by
calling for an increase in women’s pay and contractual entitlements
in line with equal value principles. It will also campaign to
prevent the reduction of pay and conditions of part-time
workers.

Other aims of the campaign include generating cases and case law
that establish positive precedents, creating a wider awareness of
equal pay laws and issues, and accelerating the successful
implementation of pay and grading reviews.