The next time people say what have the unions done for us lately? Well, THIS.
Some bosses have argued the main difference was because women worked at less skilled jobs, for fewer years and in different industries but feminists have argued for years that much of the difference is because skills that are associated with women, are undervalued vis-a-vis equivalently qualified male types of skills.
Why, I often ask, is a base level child care worker paid less than a car park attendant?
There have been a variety of cases and some slow changes but essentially the gap has not closed at all in over 30 years and in fact has recently widened.
The decision this week by Fair Work Australia to recognise the gender-factor in the current case is the first national decision on equal pay in the past 30 years.
A lot of people stuck their necks out to achieve this, thank you Australian Services Union, and it has taken years and years to get this one over the line. Some of the campaign’s most meaningful supporters might surprise you – some of them have been hard men from the Labor Party’s right and they’ve put significant resources behind this over the years to keep the momentum going. No, really. A lot of the key supporters aren’t men from the Labor right, but just so you know, it is not all as we may expect. As ratshit as the Australian Labor Party has been at times over the last little while, you have to be thankful that they get behind stuff like this. Of course, the test now will be how governments across Australia, including Labor governments, respond to the increased level of funding for these sectors that will be required to implement decent pay increases for workers. We’re waiting.
