Equal pay still long way off

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33066, 6 November 1972, Page 7

Equal pay still long way off

(By

ANTHONY WINNING,

N.Z.P.A.-Reuter

Correspondent)

BRUSSELS, Nov. 5., The oldest and most expensive wage claim in the history of the international trade union movement still looks a long way from settlement, and much of the problem stems from the attitude of the unions themselves. The claim is equal pay for women workers, a well-worn demand that has been gaining ground ever since the women’s liberation movement began getting headlines. On a world-wide basis, women are reckoned to earn, on average, 27 per cent less than men. But a fundamental problem is that the vast majority of rank-and-file trade unionists are men, many of whom are not likely to down tools and strike to support their women comrades.

This key problem became clear at a recent three-day international conference in Brussels, organised with the express purpose of bringing the equal-pay problem home to the public.

The meeting was organised by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which for years has been campaigning to get support for the principle of equal pay for men and women doing work of equal value.

TWO GLOOMY VIEWS But the head of the I.C.F.T.U. (Mr Otto Kersten) conceded after the conference that he did not forsee any strike action in support of the women’s demand. He said that one of the main problems is opposition from within the unions themselves; he doubted whether they would be prepared yet to strike at national, let alone European, level.

This view, a gloomy one for the feminists, was echoed in a detailed report drawn up for the Brussels conference by I.C.F.T.U. experts.

“There are still too many men who find it hard to accept that women can receive the same pay for work of equal value, and this sometimes complicates the task of the trade unions, where men are usually in the majority,’’ said the report. Women had to become more aware of their own strength in the trade unions, aware that they needed the solidarity of all workers to achieve their demands. REPORT TO E.E.C.

The hesitancy of the unions to fight for women workers was also pinpointed in a report to the Common Market Commission which caused a stir in Brussels earlier this year. A Parisian sociologist, Dr Evelyne Sullerot, in a study of the situation of women

workers in Common Market countries, said that unions were not anti-feminist, but often feared antagonism from their rank-and-file. Her view is that if women really want an effective application of Article 119 of the foundation stone of the Common Market, the Treaty of Rome, which enshrines the principle of equal pay, then they will have to fight for it. UNWILLING WOMEN

This was the feeling also at the Brussels Equal Pay Conference, where the consensus was that not enough women were willing to become really involved in the trade union movement, even in those industries like textiles where they had the majority. The reasons for this reluctance varied from country to country, but it was clear to delegates that society’s traditional attitude to the working woman is still the key factor. “If equal pay is to be achieved, mental attitudes towards the work of women must be changed,” said a statement issued at the end of the Brussels conference, attended by about 100 delegates, from more than 20 countries.

“The idea that a women’s wage is just a supplement to the household income should be forgotten once and for all,” it said. “Men are paid for the work performed. The same principle must apply to women.”

Stirring words, but unlikely to have concrete results until union leaders can persuade their mainly male membership to support the women’s case. MORE DISCUSSION

The I.C.F.T.U. executive committee, with only three women out of more than 20 members, will discuss the results of the Brussels conference late in November.

The hope among conference delegates was that the committee, an executive of an organisation which claims 50 million members in affiliated bodies all over the Western world, would come up with a plan for concerted national and international action to back the equal pay battle. This remains to be seen.