John Hannett - Usdaw General Secretary says: “On International Women’s Day we celebrate women’s contribution to society, family life and workplaces. We also continue our campaigning for more to be done to better support women by tackling discrimination and promoting equality.
“In the world of work there are still many challenges. It is more than forty years since the Equal Pay Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, yet progress to close the gender pay gap has stalled and some studies suggest it has now started to widen, as women unfairly bear the brunt of austerity.
“Young women are increasingly likely to be working in low paid jobs. The numbers of 16-24 year-old women doing low paid work has tripled over the last 20 years. The proportion of young women working as managerial or supervisory roles has declined.
“Strong employment and equality rights during pregnancy and maternity leave are absolutely necessary, yet the most recent research on pregnancy discrimination found that half of all working pregnant women and new mothers had experienced some form of pregnancy discrimination.
“The basic human right to live a life free from violence is denied to millions of women and girls every day. It is estimated that violence against women internationally is the cause of more death and injury than malaria, cancer, traffic accidents and war put together. In the UK this violence takes many forms including: Domestic violence; rape and sexual violence; sexual harassment; forced marriage, trafficking and sexual exploitation. Although men may experience violence of this kind, these acts are overwhelmingly carried out by men against women.
“Strong trade union organisation is good for women workers. One of the most effective ways to deliver better pay, decent work and fairness for women at work is for employers to recognise and work with trade unions.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion