Tackling the gender pay gap - Usdaw secures role on new commission

John Hannett, Usdaw’s General Secretary, was yesterday named as one of the members of a Government-appointed commission to investigate the pay gap between men and women.

Over the next 12 months, the Women and Work Commission, the creation of which was announced by Tony Blair in July, will investigate the pay gap, before reporting back to the Prime Minister.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said yesterday: “With more women in work than ever before, and more people working flexibly, workplace culture is changing fast. But with women’s pay almost 20 per cent behind men’s - and double that for part-time work - women are rightly demanding a better deal in the workplace. That’s why Tony Blair and I have asked Margaret Prosser to lead a new Commission on Women and Work, to bring the best people and ideas together to tackle the gender pay gap.”

The news of John Hannett’s appointment to the commission comes as Usdaw is set to launch a new training programme for union reps on tackling the gender pay gap. The aim is to raise awareness of the undervaluing of women at work and the role unions can play in helping to tackle the gender pay gap.

The members of the Women and Work Commission are:

• Chair: Baroness Margaret Prosser of Battersea

Members:

• Sarah Anderson (Chief Executive, the Mayday Group)
• Chris Banks (Chair of National Learning and Skills Council)
• Kay Carberry (Assistant General Secretary, TUC)
• Naaz Coker (Chair, Refugee Council & Chair, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust)
• Debbie Coulter (Deputy General Secretary, GMB)
• John Cridland (Deputy Director-General, Confederation of British Industry)
• John Hannett (General Secretary, Usdaw)
• Sally Hopson (Retail and Managing Director (North Division), Asda)
• Adeeba Malik (Deputy Chief Executive of Quest for Economic Development)
• Stella Manzie (Chief Executive, Coventry City Council)
• Julie Mellor (Chair, Equal Opportunities Commission)
• Christine Ray (HR Director, The Rank Group)
• Ruth Silver (Principal, Lewisham College)
• Liz Snape (Head of Policy Development, Unison)

The gender pay gap currently stands at 18 per cent for full-time workers. Although the gap has closed gradually over the last 30 years since the 1975 Equal Pay Act, the Government has decided to investigate the underlying factors which mean that average pay for women is lower than that for men.

DTI research has shown that the pay gap can be attributed to a number of factors including:

• different levels of experience in the labour market

• different skills and education

• occupational segregation – the fact that men and women are concentrated in different types of career

• progression and promotion at work

• women’s experiences in the labour market before and after having children • pay discrimination

The Government is already working to tackle the causes of the pay gap in various ways:

• Encouraging large organisations to do equal pay audits and funding the Equal Opportunities Commission to carry out this work. The Government has also led by example, requiring every department to carry out its own equal pay review. Recent EOC figures show that 45 per cent of large organisations had completed an equal pay review, were in the process of completing one or were planning to do so in 2004.

• Tackling low pay - Three quarters of a million women benefit each year from the National Minimum Wage, which has contributed to a two per cent drop in the pay gap since 1997.

• Making it easier for women to get equal pay - the Government is simplifying existing procedures for tribunals for women who have suffered discrimination. It has also introduced a questionnaire procedure so that women can find out if they are being paid fairly in line with male colleagues.

• New flexible working rights- so that mothers who want to work after having children can. The right was introduced in April 2003, and since then almost four in 10 eligible mothers have requested some form of flexible working arrangement, with employers accepting eight in 10 requests.

• Providing childcare - since 1997 the National Childcare Strategy has created over one million new registered childcare places benefiting over 1.9 million children. The Government has met its target of new childcare places for 1.6 million children by 2004.

The Women and Work Commission’s full terms of reference are as follows:

Women and Work Commission’s Terms of Reference

There are a number of factors influencing the gender pay gap. The DTI’s review of maternity, paternity and flexible working legislation takes account of how caring responsibilities impact upon men and women’s labour market attachment and their earnings. The Women and Work Commission will examine the other key factors shaping the difference in hourly earnings between men and women, including labour market experience, skills and education and discrimination. In investigating the impact of discrimination, the Commission will look at the measures necessary to strengthen equal pay legislation, including the case for equal pay reviews to be mandatory.

Making progress on the gender pay gap is a key priority because in a full employment economy, we have to draw on the skills and talents of all potential workers, men and women, and remove obstacles to women’s greater participation in the labour market. But it is also important because women have the right to expect a fair deal in the labour market.

The aim of the Women and Work Commission will be to look at these wide-ranging influences on the gender pay gap:

How men and women’s educational experience and skills acquisition foreshadows occupational segregation;

• General factors shaping women and men’s labour market experience, including entry into employment, occupational segregation, full-time and part-time work experience, progression in the workplace and the tax and benefit system, as well as discrimination

• Women’s experience in the labour market before and after having children

• As a substantial employer of women, the public sector warrants particular examination.

The Commission will make recommendations to the Prime Minister within twelve months from Autumn 2004, taking account of the importance of promoting employability, the wider benefits to the economy and the impact on employers and public expenditure. The Commission will take account of the DTI review of maternity, paternity and flexible working legislation in shaping its recommendations.

Notes to Editors:

• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fifth largest union, with over 337,000 members. Most Usdaw members are shopworkers, although the union does have many members in other trades including transport, distribution, call centres and food manufacturing.

• For more information about the Women and Work Commission visit www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk.

• The gender pay gap is defined as the percentage difference between the mean hourly earnings of men and women working full time in all careers. The part-time pay gap is defined as the percentage difference between the mean hourly wage for men working full-time and the mean hourly wage for women working part-time. For more information on the gender pay gap, see www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/pay/pay_facts.htm.

• More news releases are available at our online Newsroom.

• Journalists can subscribe to receive Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service.

 Printer Friendly Page

 Email to a Friend

© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
This page: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/equality/news/1096368374_26824.html
Last Modified: Monday, 04-Oct-2004 23:44:14 EST
Proudly designed and programmed by Social Change Online
Site Credits