September 12th has been declared "Equal Pay Day" by the National Joint Action Campaign for Women's Equal Rights, whose slogan is "Equal Pay - Now!" But if equal pay came tomorrow, it would be about 136 years too late. In 1833 women spinners and power loom weavers combined and raised funds in order to fight for equal pay with the men, Even before that, unions had occasionally tried to fix a rate for the job, without reference to the sex of the person doing it.
When the New Model Unions came into existence in the 1850's the weaving sections of the Lancashire cotton unions were the only industrial organisations of that time to make any real effort to recruit women, An important issue was that of wages; the union fought for district lists of prices which had as their basic feature direct piecework rates under which both men and women received the same rate of pay, Within the unions, too, men and women had the same responsibilities and rights, including that of election to any position in the union, By 1896 about half the total membership was women,
The TUC in 1874 resolved "to promote the self-relying trade union movement among women" but not until 1882 did Congress resolve "where women do the same work as men they shall receive equal pay". During the latter part of the 19th century many new fields opened up to women, at all levels of skill - as dockers, engineers, post office clerks, typists, sanitary officers, shop assistants, brick makers, electricians, etc. Trade union activity increased rapidly, small unions catering only for women coming into existence often only for a brief time,
Wages in the years before the first world war were appalling low. In 1900 unorganised women making packing cases earned from 13d-2½d an hour, whilst the male TU rate was 74d-83d. Only after the Federation of Women Workers organised the women did the National Union of Packing Case Workers amend their rules to take in women - in 1913. Many women hollow ware workers in 1912 were earning only 1d an hour - about 4s weekly. After a strike they obtained ten shillings for a 54-hour week,
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
During the first world war women took over many of the men's jobs, Only because of vigorous TU activity was the attempt to pay "women's rates" for traditional men's jobs stopped, but the rate was still fixed at 4/5 of the men's rate, because of the latter's war bonus, Because of the huge demand for their labour, women's wages rose generally and by 1918 the minimum time rate was £2 3s 6d for a 47-hour week in the munitions industry. Women doing traditional men's jobs could earn much more, but employers did their best to alter jobs in some way to make them "women's work" - a process which goes on up to the present day.
After the war the men returned to their old jobs and many women were displaced, but though wages fell, not all the benefits gained during the war were lost, In the following years the number of women entering employment increased much more rapidly than the numbers for men, Only a few women in industry did exactly the same work as men, except in the textile industry; however, many did similar work to men or took over traditionally men's jobs when new machinery was brought in, In industries covered by trade boards the average rate for men in 1950 was 48s 10d and for women 27s 8d, In a few trades there was equal pay for equal work - shoe repairing, pieceworkers in the fur trade and sugar confectionery, etc.
The excuses given by employers in the 30's strike a very familiar note today, Many jobs excluded married women and this - although imposed by the employer - was cited as a drawback to employing women; in fact, only 50% of women were married and many spinsters had family responsibilities, aggravated by the deaths of their fathers and brothers in the war, The 30% of men who were bachelors naturally got the same as the married men, After the second world war there was a big move back to the home at first, for a number of reasons, but in recent years the trend has again been for married women to work; one reason for this is simply that now most women of employable age are married,
CIVIL SERVANTS WIN EQUAL PAY
After the second world war the gap between the wages of men and women varied from 20% in the teaching and public services, to 50% in many industrial occupations, Equal pay in the civil service and teaching came into force in 1957, after seven years, proving that the principle of equal pay for equal work could be conceded if enough pressure is applied. Unfortunately, the mainly middle-class women concerned, having gained their point, tended to retire from union affairs, and, in the case of teaching especially, pay levels became low in comparison to industry in the following years, This has lent weight to the argument that the achievement of equal pay, especially in predominantly female jobs, would keep down wages for the men and that women would not play their full part in the union, However, an increasing number of militant girls are entering nursing, for example, and showing that this need not be the case, Certainly, working class women will be as militant as the men,
In the past year or so, the agitation for equal pay has increased dramatically. Many factors are involved. Girls are getting a better education, but still not being allowed to utilise it fully, The widespread use of birth control means that now women can contemplate a real career, perhaps broken for only a few years, whilst increasing divorce rates, plus the fact that men die younger means that women can no longer regard marriage as "security", The continuing use of percentage wage increases, highlighted by the incomes policy, has actually increased the gap between male and female rates, New machinery means that most jobs are now within the capacity of women as much as men. In addition, the widespread use of agitation against the incomes policy and the anti-trade union legislation has made all workers that much more politically aware,
In 1967 a committee to fight for equal pay for industrial women workers was formed in Paisley, Scotland, and similar committees have since been set up elsewhere, The strike of women machinists at Fords in 1968 for equal grading made a qualitative difference to the struggle and led to the formation of the National Joint Action Campaign for Women's Equal Rights, In the same year the TUC pledged active support to any union taking action for equal pay, and in November there was a conference of unions with women membership to discuss progress towards equal pay, among other subjects. Since then the unions have adopted a more militant stance on the matter, especially the TGWU and AEF, Women have struck, not just for more equal payment, but also for the basic right to join unions - employers have always favoured women as being more conservative and harder to organise, so this hurts. A recent strike at Ramsgate for recognition and equal pay lasted ten weeks and ended in partial victory for the women, Many unions try to get progress towards equal pay agreements, with varying degrees of success - the shipworkers, clerical workers, etc,
What progress is actually being made towards equal pay? The latest figures, from April 1969, show a fairly encouraging trend, Men's weekly wages, including overtime and bonus, were £23 18s 5d, a 7.4% increase over the previous year, whilst women's, at £11 14s 8d, had only a 7.2% increase, but the hourly rates show a different picture, Men got 10.35d, a 6.8% increase and women got 6.15d, a 7.5% rise. So women's hourly earnings are rising just a little faster than men's, though I believe this is due more to a few agreements made by unions fighting for equal pay than by a general rise,
LABOUR'S PLANS
Latest news reports are that the Government proposes to introduce equal pay legislation to make equal pay a reality by 1975, and to sign at last ILO Convention 100, However, the Government acknowledges that meantime the unions are going to try to secure equal pay agreements for their members. The pressure that organisations such as NJACWER and the unions have been putting on is bearing fruit, but remembering what has happened in the past to so many Government promises this pressure must be intensified. The Government and some employers have acknowledged that equal pay is right and just, not to mention possible, so why should it be delayed? If anyone screams "Costs" let them look at the profits British capitalism is making. In spite of all the Government statements the only sure way for women to get equal pay is to fight for it - with the help of their male colleagues, Remember, girls, when the boss squeals, it is not up to you to solve his problems for him - just think how many years he has been exploiting you and push him harder,
On the 18th May this year NJACWER held a demonstration in Trafalgar Square, which was disappointingly small in number, but the high proportion of women workers displayed a militant spirit, However, NJACWER seems to have run out of such steam as it had, Composed of many diverse elements, from the Fawcett Society to Mothers in Action, as well as labour organisations, it seems unable to take decisive action, A resolution at the last General Committee, calling for NJACWER to take the initiative in helping to organise women and to fight for equal pay, although criticised by CPers, was accepted and if acted upon, should make NJACWER wage a much more militant campaign,
NOT THE ONLY FIGHT
Equal pay is only one battle in the war women are waging against injustice and exploitation, It will mean nothing as long as the present extensive division of labour in industry continues. Women must also demand equal opportunities, promotion and training, as well as a better deal for their children, But there is no doubt that the application of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, if applied throughout industry, would have far-reaching effects, We live in a society in which people's "status" is largely defined by their economic "value", Women are underpaid, therefore undervalued (and vice versa, of course). Equal pay would only be a tiny step towards women's full liberation, but none-the-less a vital step. In the fight for it women's political education and consciousness would be developed, making them better fighters for the socialist society which alone will eventually see men and women as free and equal partners in all aspects of life,