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10 January, 2002The gap between men's and women's earnings in the UK is increasing.
GREAT BRITAIN: The Manufacturing Science and Finance union, now called Amicus since its merger with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union on January 1, says it will step up its campaign for equal pay for women in 2002 by demanding equal pay audits from 10,000 employers.
The union has sent letters to a list of companies, and those who refuse to undertake an audit will be published in a "list of shame". The union says that by the end of 2002 it aims to check every company in the UK in the sectors it covers, to find out if women workers are getting a fair deal and to seek justice for women on pay.
A report published in the UK in December 2001 announced that the pay gap between men and women had in fact increased from 18 per cent to 19 per cent. The MSF has been campaigning for equal pay audits to be made mandatory and believes that "without compulsion companies with something to hide will not volunteer to undertake an audit." The MSF's Roger Lyons, who is now joint general secretary of Amicus, said it was a disgrace that 31 years after the UK's Equal Pay Act the pay gap between men and women was increasing.
Remarking on the MSF's campaign, Jenny Holdcroft, equal rights director at the International Metalworkers' Federation, stated that "equal pay audits are a highly visible means of exposing discriminatory pay practices. Companies who refuse to conduct such audits deserve to be publicly shamed and forced to address the issue. We cannot afford to be complacent about equal pay when the gap between men's and women's earnings is again increasing, and the MSF's campaign will expose those companies which are actively discriminating against women."
The union has sent letters to a list of companies, and those who refuse to undertake an audit will be published in a "list of shame". The union says that by the end of 2002 it aims to check every company in the UK in the sectors it covers, to find out if women workers are getting a fair deal and to seek justice for women on pay.
A report published in the UK in December 2001 announced that the pay gap between men and women had in fact increased from 18 per cent to 19 per cent. The MSF has been campaigning for equal pay audits to be made mandatory and believes that "without compulsion companies with something to hide will not volunteer to undertake an audit." The MSF's Roger Lyons, who is now joint general secretary of Amicus, said it was a disgrace that 31 years after the UK's Equal Pay Act the pay gap between men and women was increasing.
Remarking on the MSF's campaign, Jenny Holdcroft, equal rights director at the International Metalworkers' Federation, stated that "equal pay audits are a highly visible means of exposing discriminatory pay practices. Companies who refuse to conduct such audits deserve to be publicly shamed and forced to address the issue. We cannot afford to be complacent about equal pay when the gap between men's and women's earnings is again increasing, and the MSF's campaign will expose those companies which are actively discriminating against women."