Amicus MSF Section increases pressure for equal pay

GREAT BRITAIN: "Our little girls won't wait 40 years for women's pay to catch up." Thus, as part of the struggle against pay injustice in the UK, Amicus MSF Section says it is taking its campaign for equal pay straight to the doors of the employers' association, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), when it holds its conference in Manchester this Sunday, November 24. And demonstrating along with the union will be 18 young girls and their families - the 18 girls representing the 18 per cent pay gap which still exists between men and women, even though it has been 31 years since the UK's Equal Pay Act was passed. Amicus MSF Section says that the girls' message to the CBI is that they don't intend to wait a lifetime for equal pay. According to the union, these young women would have to wait approximately 40 years for equal pay with men if the gender pay gap is left to close at its current rate. The union has strongly condemned the CBI for its refusal to endorse the call for mandatory equal pay reviews - which would expose employers with discriminatory pay practices - and says that it is the most effective means for achieving a significant reduction in the pay gap between men and women. Only 10 per cent of employers in the UK have agreed to the union's demand for voluntary equal pay reviews.