![]() In August 1969 It was estimated that of 8.5 million female workers, only 1.5 million had equal pay 6.Ĭabinet papers show some of the conversations that were happening at the heart of government. In the aftermath of the Ford machinist strikes Castle noted that, of the seven items listed in the chapter on workers’ rights in the Labour 1964 manifesto, equal pay was the only one on which ‘no move had yet been made’ 5. The following years saw union membership grow fast among women and the government feared further industrial action around pay. While they did not win their specific demands, they had succeeded in putting huge pressure on the government and giving equal pay a spotlight. ![]() The women workers settled for this agreement. Through a process of negotiation, it was decided the women’s rate was to be increased from 85% to 90-92% of the men’s rate. Three weeks into the strike Barbara Castle, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Employment, was sent to intervene in person, which was significant in itself. Government telegrams show the fraught behind-the-scenes conversations. Correspondence concerning the outcome of the strike of women workers at Ford Motor plant, Dagenham, 1968. The actions of these women was having a vast impact on the motor industry and the economy. Prime Minister’s office files describe how the strike threatened complete closure of all Ford plants in Britain affecting 40,000 men 4. As the strike continued, production of the seat covers stopped. Frustrated with the situation, the women withdrew their labour. In a regrading exercise at the motor plant, the women’s work had been graded as less-skilled than the men’s, and therefore they were paid less. However, the strike by women at Ford Motor Company’s Dagenham plant in 1968 added to the pressure on government and acted as a significant catalyst for greater change. Momentum had been slowly building and in 1964, the Labour government had been elected on a manifesto that included equal pay. Catalogue ref: RG 54/5 So why the change? Punching machine cards at the Census Office, Acton, 1931. In the 1930s, the Six Point Group, a women’s rights organisation, lobbied the government around six principle issues, one of which was ‘equal pay for men and women teachers’ 3. Indeed, in the First World War equal pay for equal work was promised, if not actually realised, to female munitions workers, in part to protect post-war male wages 2. There have been constant demands for equal pay throughout the 20 th century. We feel that very keenly in our Trades Union, because many of our women do exactly the same work as the men and we claim we ought to have exactly the same pay.’ From the testimony of Alice Hawkins. ![]() ‘The wages of women are very much less than the wages of men. In her testimony to Lloyd George she spoke about her experience in the boot and shoe trade in Leicester: When Suffragette Alice Hawkins went to the Treasury as part of a deputation of suffrage supporters in 1913, she said, ‘Women have been trying to get the vote in order to alter their status in life’ 1. Pay equality was key, especially to working class women. Women had long been campaigning for equal pay in the suffrage era, many women saw the vote not as an end in itself, but as a way of influencing the government on issues that were important to their lives. ‘to prevent discrimination, as regards terms and conditions of employment, between men and women.’ The Equal Pay Act 1970 – Įssentially the right to equal pay for equal work. This was the first piece of UK legislation: While the battle for equality continues, this was a defining moment. ![]() Today marks 50 years since the 1970 Equal Pay Act received royal assent – a significant moment in the history of women’s rights in the UK. ![]()
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