Trades Hall

Deirdre Mahoney on Equal Pay 30 Years On

A group of union women and supporters from every stage of Australia's equal pay battles will gather at the State Library of NSW next Wednesday, 11 August, to celebrate the wins so far and concentrate on future strategies.

	Deirdre Mahoney

The party marks the 30th anniversary of the 1969 case, where ACTU advocate Bob Hawke was successful in getting equal pay for equal work. He was helped by activists like Zelda d'Aprano, who chained herself to the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to get her point across. Unfortunately, however, very few women did the same jobs as men, so that decision was only the first in a long march.

Probably the most landmark decision was that taken in 1972, where union advocate Ralph Willis won a new case, guaranteeing equal pay for work of equal value. However, the full bench didn't make a general ruling on how that principle was to be implemented, so it was up to individual unions to run their own cases.

The third federal decision, taken in 1985, was a disappointment. It followed a fantastic campaign, with women boarding Melbourne buses and trams bound for the Commission and paying only 67 cents of the $1 fare, because they were only making 67% of the male wage. The conductors (the Rail, Bus and Tram Union was one of the first to pay women and men equal wages) accepted the two-thirds fare! The campaigning women also followed activist d'Aprano's 1969 lead and chained themselves to the Commission.

In this third case, the ACTU used the nurses as the test for comparable worth (what is now called pay equity). It was a blow for advocate Jenny Acton and all her supporters when the Commission affirmed the 1972 equal pay for work of equal value principles, but rejected the idea of comparable worth (comparing nurses' work and working conditions with traditionally male-dominated workplaces like fire fighters and ambulance officers).

It took another 13 years before a similar case happened again, this time in the NSW IRC, instigated by IR Minister Jeff Shaw and run under Justice Leone Glynn. The inquiry worked as the ACTU's 1985 case did, by comparing the work value of traditionally female-dominated occupations like hairdressers, nurses and childcare workers with male-dominated workplaces like geology and mining. Its report, released just before Christmas, found that parties should work towards legislative change and come up with principles to ensure equal remuneration (pay plus other entitlements) for work of equal or comparable worth.

Wednesday night's celebrations will include IR Minister Jeff Shaw, Neville Wran QC who was the advocate on the first State Case to follow the 1972 decision (using the NSW Clerks Award), and Betty Spears, then deputy-president of the FCU and head of the Labor Council's equal pay committee at the time. Zelda d'Aprano and Bob Hawke are unable to attend but have sent messages of congratulations.

The event is a cocktail party, running from 6-8pm. Guests can wander through the Sydney Eccentrics and Ivor Hele exhibitions, and look at posters and film of the fight for equal pay, as well as mix with all their comrades on the fight.

Enquiries re tickets ($35 each, food and drinks from 6-8pm) to Ros Aldridge, 02-9286 1611, no later than midday, Monday, 9 August (cut-off is set by caterers).

  View entire issue - print all of the articles!

  Issue 25 contents

»	Unions Embrace Open Shop
»	Council Sets Benchmarks for Vizard Deal
»	Steggles Treats Workers Like Chooks
»	Rail Workers on Collision Course with Carr
»	Reith Shamed Into Talk On Entitlement Fund
»	Unionists Asked to Defer NRMA Vote
»	Fire Fighters Use Net
»	Crew of Convenience Behind Sydney Oil Spill?
»	Sixty Junkets Join Currawong Hit Squad
»	Workers Table Petition for Gay Reform
»	Indonesian Trade Union Leaders to Visit Australia
»	International And Community Groups Oppose Reith�s Bill

»	Guest Report
»	Sport
»	Trades Hall
»	Piers Watch

»	Country Labor Asks Question
»	The Ombudsman Replies
»	Confessions of a German Call Centre Agent
»	WorkCover Off the Track

Notice Board
- Check out the latest events

Latest Issue

View entire latest issue
- print all of the articles!

Previous Issues

Subject index

Search all issues

© 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW

LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW

[ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ]

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW