It was a strike about pay. It was at the ford car factory in Dagenham. It was about sewing car seat covers for Zephyrs and Cortinas. It was about getting the work recognised as skilled. It was a time of men’s work and women’s work. It was when men worked to support a family and women worked to earn a bit extra. It was the summer of 1968.
The strike by the women who sewed car seat covers at Dagenham is now recognised as paving the way for the Equal Pay Act two years later. It has been made into a feel good film about the women. As trade unionist the men support the strike but as husbands some were unhappy when meals weren’t on the table and shirts weren’t ironed because their wives spent all day on the picket line.
Forty two years later despite changes in attitudes and the law women are still paid less for the same or equal value jobs.
The latest evidence of this comes from the City. A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commissions states women working fulltime in the finance sector earn 55% less a year on average than male counter parts. Before we dismiss this as the further evidence of Sexism in the City, the land where time stood still, remember that Local Authorities who have always consider themselves model employers are struggling to rectify years of paying women less. The school dinner ladies were paid less than the refuse disposal men because women went out to work for pin money whereas men were the bread winners. This stereotype was used to justify not only differentials in pay but in bonus schemes, over time and holiday pay entitlement. Equal Pay reviews are set to address this. So the good news is staff in predominantly female areas of work like home helps, residential care workers and day centre workers will see their pay and conditions improve. The bad news is in the current financial climate the resulting increased costs could mean that cash strapped Local Authorities could transfer these services to the private sector who pay little above minimum wage.
Blair McPherson is author of An Elephant in the Room an equality and diversity manual and People management in a harsh financial climate both published by www.russellhouse.co.uk