EQUAL PAY ACT SERIES

So, for example at the Ford Motor Company, before a new pay structure was introduced in 1967, there were four grades for production workers:

Before 1970, it was common practice in the private sector and some parts of the public sector for there to be separate, and lower, women's rates of pay. The first effect of the Equal Pay Act 1970 was to remove separate lower women's rates of pay. The Equal Pay Act has now become part of the 2010 Equality Act. work that is proved to be of equal value.work rated as equivalent under an analytical job evaluation study or.The Equal Pay Act 1970 gives an individual a right to the same contractual pay and benefits as a person of the opposite sex in the same employment, where the man and the woman are doing: They include oral history interviews with women and union representatives involved in some of the major equal pay cases since 1968 including the film 'A Woman's Worth: the Story of the Ford Sewing Machinists'.

EQUAL PAY ACT SERIES

The TUC has produced a series of films about the fight for equal pay. The Film Education charity has produced digital teaching materials exploring the film Made in Dagenham. You might want to look at both equal pay and the position and status of British women in the late 1960s. The demands of these women paved the way for the enactment of equal pay legislation in 1970. On 7th June 1968, 850 women machinists working at the Ford Factory in Dagenham went on strike for equal pay after discovering they were being paid 15 per cent less than men for doing the same work. Mary Macarthur's story, and her dedication to improving conditions for working women, form an ideal route into a study of past campaigns for equal pay. Women's low pay is rooted in long standing assumptions about a woman's place. This increased the wages of the poorest workers by some 150 per cent and remains today one of the most inspiring tales of workers' struggle. In 1910 the Women Chainmakers of Cradley Heath formed a trade union and won the first minimum wage agreement after a strike battle lasting for 10 weeks. The story of the Women Chainmakers' fight for a living wage, provide ideal opportunities for challenging traditional attitudes about women's place in society. Women were often a marginalised sector of the workforce and were effectively excluded from many unions until the latter part of the 19th century. The campaign for equal pay has a long history one which is still ongoing.

The TUC backed 'Union Makes Us Strong' website includes a historical introduction to the campaign for equal pay covering the 1830s, to the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1970. The struggle for equal pay lies at the heart of exploring women's campaign for fair and equal rights in the workplace.

Equal pay act