Women's Views on News |
| Labour remarks on Equal Pay Day Posted: 11 Nov 2016 02:02 PM PST
Remarking on Equal Pay Day – 10 November 2016 this year – Jeremy Corbyn said:” … we mark this day at the point Britain's gender pay gap will leave women effectively working for free until the end of the year. “Because of the gender pay gap, men could go unpaid from now until the end of the year and still earn the same as a woman working the whole year. “The Equal Pay Act, passed 46 years ago, made it illegal to value a woman's work less than a man's for the same role. However, the gender pay gap persists and last year we marked this day on 9th November, meaning we have only progressed by one day. “The Labour Party will not tolerate such slow progress. At this rate it will be another 51 years until we have pay equality. “The Labour Party, when we form the next government, will tackle the gender pay gap,” he continued. “We will introduce a Real Living Wage which will disproportionately benefit women who are all too often working in jobs that are under-valued. “It currently costs women £1,200 to take an equal pay claim to an employment tribunal thanks to Tory tribunal fees. Labour would scrap tribunal fees and strengthen trade union rights to help stamp out pay discrimination. “I have also committed to establishing a high level, strategic Women's Advisory Board supporting the work of the Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, Sarah Champion MP, and I will be working directly with Sarah to ensure gender equality is at the heart of all our policies. “The Labour Party passed the Equal Pay Act and it is the Labour Party that will make sure we finally bring about pay equality between men and women.” Writing in the New Stateman, Champion said: ‘Too often the work undertaken by women is low paid, undervalued, with limited progression and training opportunities. ‘Several key sectors with a predominantly female work force continue to be subject to chronic low pay and poor working conditions. ‘And it should shame us that those we trust to look after the most precious and vulnerable people in our lives – our young, elderly and disabled family members – are some of the lowest paid and poorly valued members of society. ‘The issue of the lack of value we place on the work women do was raised during the Women and Equalities Select Committee Inquiry into the gender pay gap earlier this year.’ ‘The contribution of women to our economy,’ she continued, ‘is underestimated and undervalued in a number of key ways that we must reflect on today: 1 – Women are more likely to earn less for doing the same job; 2 – Women are concentrated in low pay, low progression sectors of the economy; 3 – The unpaid care work, predominately undertaken by women, is not counted as a contribution to the economy; and 4 – Part time jobs pay less per hour than full time jobs per hour. ‘Delivering economic justice and equality for women in our country will need to involve a strategy for tackling all of these factors and most importantly, a shift in terms of the kind of work and activities we value as a society,’ she continued. ‘Focusing on part time pay, with 41 per cent of female employees working part-time compared to 12 per cent of male employees, creating parity in pay per hour for part time and full time workers would improve the situation for thousands of women and their families. ‘Almost every major piece of legislation that has improved the lives of working women has been introduced by a Labour Government – from the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equality Act to the creation of Sure Start centres and the introduction of the minimum wage. But there is so much further for us to go.’ ‘It is,’ she said, ‘up to Labour to push for true economic equality for men and women once and for all and to insist that we properly capture and value the contribution all women make to our economy and society.’  |
| MP launches sanctions consultation Posted: 11 Nov 2016 01:51 PM PST
SNP MP Mhairi Black has launched a public consultation on her Private Member's Bill which seeks to make the UK government's punitive sanctions regime 'a little bit fairer' by establishing a code of conduct. The bill – which will be debated in the Houses of Commons on 2 December 2016 – would require Jobcentre advisers across the UK to take into account an individual's circumstances before issuing a sanction and therefore cutting off their financial support. Mhairi Black, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, chose to introduce the Benefit Claimants Sanctions (Required Assessment) Bill 2016-17 after hearing from many of her constituents who had suffered hardship as a result of an unfair sanction and through her experiences on the Work and Pensions committee of the differing ways that Jobcentres across the UK implement sanctions. Black said: "If I could eradicate benefits sanctions entirely so that no-one would have to endure the misery of having their financial support unfairly or suddenly cut off, I would. "But unfortunately I can't do that and I'm determined to really make a difference with this bill and not to waste this important opportunity by staging a protest. "Sanctions are when an individual's support is suddenly withdrawn because one of a number of strict and ludicrous conditions are not met – if a parent misses an appointment at the Jobcentre because they were at a child's sick bed it doesn't matter, they will still have their support withdrawn. "Evidence shows this leads to increased use of foodbanks, as well as huge amounts of stress on individuals and their families, and that is simply not acceptable. "My bill will introduce a process of assessing a person's circumstances such as their caring commitments, whether they are at risk of homelessness or whether they suffer from a mental ill-health condition that could be exacerbated by a sanction. "But I know my bill may not be perfect and so I want to hear from you – about whether you agree that there should be a code of conduct for all Jobcentres to adhere to and should those with particular vulnerabilities, at the very least be shielded from this punitive regime? "Please go to the SNP's website or use the links on the SNP's Facebook and Twitter accounts to fill out the survey on my bill so that together – if the UK government's sanctions regime has to exist – we can make it a little bit fairer for everyone." The survey is available on the SNP's website here.  |
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