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As reported in the last issue of Scottish Socialist, the Edinburgh Working Women's Charter campaign has called a Scottish Rally to mark the first anniversary of the Labour Government's Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts. This rally, which is being organised by a broad delegate planning committee, will take place at the Strathelyde University Union on Saturday May 7th. JOANNA HAYNES explains the purpose and importance of the Scottish Rally and SUE JESSUP reports on a similar rally held in London's Alexandra Palace on February 26th.
The Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) arosc out of the commitment in Labour's 1974 election manifesto to "a charter for women". When the Act came into force on December 29th 1975 it proclaimed equality for women in the fields of employment, pay and education. It was to end discrimination in the provision of housing, goods, facilities and services and in advertising.
What Labour gave with the SDA it took away with the introduction of the social contracti a package of cuts in social spending affecting nursery facilities, abortion and contraception services and education. pushing the responsibility for the care of children and the family back on to the woman, tying her securely back to the home. greater unemployment with women more often than not the first out of the gate on the grounds that they are not the real breadwinners.
continuously rising prices which place an increasing burden on the housewife who normally does the weekly shopping. a drastic decline in real wages. While the Equal Pay Act has brought some exceptional increases in pay, it has been powerless to confront the general low pay situation of working women. In fact, the SDA provides a good front for Labour's continued attacks on women. Like the Equal Pay Act (EPA) it does not confront the position of women at its roots by dealing with the responsibility she has as a wife and mother.
No real choice will exist for women in the fields of employment and education and social life until they are guaranteed fulltime nursery facilities, free contraception and abortion on request, and paid maternity Icave. Such choices can only be sustained by the social provision of child care, by breaking financial dependence on the male *breadwinner* through quality in the areas of social sccurity and pensions, and by securing increased financial responsibility by the state for the upkeep of children.
The May 7th rally in Glasgow aims to examine the position of women in Scotland by assessing the extent to which the SDA and EPA have been implemented and investigating the areas not covered by either act. It will allow the pooling of experiences of fighting around issues concerning women through contributions from a wide range of organisations and indriduals. Finally, it can lay the basis for a serious campaien in the Scottish Labour and trade union movement to fight for equality in all areas of life at work and in the home.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1. Get your trade union branch, trades council, political organisation, women's group, tenant's committee etc., to invite a speaker from the rally planning committee. 2. Commit these bodies to support for the rally; elect delegates to the planning committee; make a financial contribution to the costs of organising the rally. 3. Set up a local committee to assess the effects of the legislation in your area. Have there been any disputes around equal pay? How are the cuts affecting women in particular? Send this information to the planning committee so a dossier can be compiled for the rally: 4. Write to the planning committee informing them of your interest, asking to be put on their mailing list, asking for further information. The address to write to is: SDA Rally Planning Ctte.. c/o Glasgow Women's Centre, 57 Miller Street, Glasgow.