Saturday the 4th of September marks Equal Pay Day. This date is representative of the extra 66 days women workers in Australian have to work after the end of the financial year to receive the same average pay check as men.

Pay equity is currently going backwards - in WA the pay gap between men and women is currently a staggering 23%. For information on ways you can recognise Equal Pay Day see the fact sheet below or visit the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workforce Agency website here.

  equal_pay_day_factsheet.pdf  

Also see below for an article on the pay gap by UnionsWA Secretary, Simone McGurk.

Women in Australia won ‘equal pay for work of equal value’ in 1969. Federal legislation to ban discrimination on the basis of sex was introduced in 1984. Despite both these hard-fought for achievements the pay gap between men and women is now higher than it was at the height of the women's liberation movement. It is also growing.

A big THANK YOU to the many union activists and supporters who assisted with the WorkChoices – whatever the name never again campaign during the federal election.

Between us we letter-boxed over 80,000 WorkChoices leaflets, spoke to thousands of voters, handed out thousands of flyers at train stations, distributed 350 No WorkChoices signs in marginal Perth electorates, held numerous street stalls and staffed a large number of polling booths.

The message given to all parties was loud and clear:  working people expect a decent safety net, protection from unfair dismissal, collective bargaining and an independent umpire.

While we wait to see who will form government, we can feel proud that our message was a strong element of the campaign ….