EQUAL PAY DAY PUSHED BACKTO SEPT 2 AS PAY GAP WIDENS
Equal Pay Day, initiated by EOWA in 2008, is an annual event to highlight the serious issue of gender pay inequity. The date is calculated on the average number of extra days a woman would have to work until she earns the same amount as men do in a financial year ending the 30 June 2012.
Last year Equal pay Day was Sept 1st; disappointingly this year's Equal Pay Day will be held on Sunday 2nd September 2012, indicating that we have again lost ground on gender equity in Australia.
Unfortunately this reflects a trend as efforts to narrow the pay gap in recent years have not been successful. This year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that male weekly ordinary time earnings are $1,437.40 and women’s weekly ordinary time earnings are $1,186.80, a difference of $250.60 less pay for women.
When translated over the full year, the gap means that the average full time earnings for women are 17.5% less than that of men. Even worse, when taking into account the part-time and casual work, the pay gaps climbs to a shocking 35%.
Thus, in order to close the gender pay gap, women would have to work an extra 64 days to match what men earn; and almost double that if they are part-time and casual.
Join the fight for equal pay justice!!!!
The ACTU / Victorian Trades Hall will hold their Equal Pay Day Morning Tea in Melbourne at the Bella Union Bar at Trades Hall, at 10am on Tuesday 4 September 2012.
The guest speakers are:
- Ged Kearney, President – ACTU
- Ingrid Stitt, Secretary – ASU Private Sector/VTHC President
- Noni Sproule, National Women’s Officer – National Union of Students
To highlight the pay gap of 64 days in the red, please wear something red on the day. Light refreshments will be served.
Numbers are limited so RSVP cfruscalzo@vthc.org.au by Wednesday, 29 August 2012.
Comments
[ +2 ] The pay divide continues and is especially damaging for baby boomer women. Baby boom women were forced to resign from their jobs once they had their first child; compulsory superannuation only came into Australia in the early 1990s; employment discrimination against mature aged workers still persists. On Equal Pay Day remember your baby boomer sisters, mothers and grandmothers who fought and sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy the rights we have today. Thanks Melanie, Workforce Diversity (Gender) commentator
Like • Dislike •