Glasgow - 18 Months On!
The Cherry Blossom is in full bloom down at the western entrance to Glasgow Green where the Equal Pay strikers and their supporters gathered 18 months ago this week - for an historic march and rally to George Square.
Glasgow - Women's Power on Display (25/10/20)
The Times editorial on Glasgow's historic equal pay strike concludes that it was a "formidable display of women's power" before going on to explain:
"The demonstration may ultimately have been organised by trade unions, but it would never have drawn such numbers without a huge network of support and enthusiasm, energised by the women themselves."
The strike certainly has hit home and now it's time for Scotland's largest council to be seen to act on the women's demands for equal pay.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/strike-hits-home-8gx25m7b8
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the equal pay strike in Glasgow, this was a formidable display of women’s power. The demonstration may ultimately have been organised by trade unions, but it would never have drawn such numbers without a huge network of support and enthusiasm, energised by the women themselves.
Through social media, local meetings and action groups, they built up a head of steam that ensured that the resulting strike was the largest on the issue of equal pay held in Britain.
Their protest was fuelled as much by frustration as a demand for justice. Over more than a decade female workers sought to have their case for fair and equal pay heard properly. The unions had initially backed off, fearing that the cost of adjusting women’s wages would put jobs at risk. The previous Labour administration in Glasgow had managed to postpone a solution. The present SNP council had proposed a scheme of its own but, according to the women’s campaigning group, ten months of talks and 21 meetings had made little or no progress. Hence the call for action.
The case for equality is as much a moral as a practical one. Many of the women are involved in services such as home care, catering and cleaning, which since the introduction of free care for the elderly have become an essential part of the way that social welfare is administered. But they are often paid £3 an hour less than male-dominated jobs such as refuse workers or gravediggers.
The council’s efforts to negotiate an affordable settlement are understandable. The cost of implementing equal pay would land the city with a bill that could reach £1 billion, according to some reports. The women who voiced their anger argued that whatever the final reckoning their demands would have to be met. As other cities have found, is not a cause that can be ignored.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/strike-hits-home-8gx25m7b8
Strike Hits Home
It will be costly, but Glasgow must act on women’s demands for equal pay
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the equal pay strike in Glasgow, this was a formidable display of women’s power. The demonstration may ultimately have been organised by trade unions, but it would never have drawn such numbers without a huge network of support and enthusiasm, energised by the women themselves.
Through social media, local meetings and action groups, they built up a head of steam that ensured that the resulting strike was the largest on the issue of equal pay held in Britain.
Their protest was fuelled as much by frustration as a demand for justice. Over more than a decade female workers sought to have their case for fair and equal pay heard properly. The unions had initially backed off, fearing that the cost of adjusting women’s wages would put jobs at risk. The previous Labour administration in Glasgow had managed to postpone a solution. The present SNP council had proposed a scheme of its own but, according to the women’s campaigning group, ten months of talks and 21 meetings had made little or no progress. Hence the call for action.
The case for equality is as much a moral as a practical one. Many of the women are involved in services such as home care, catering and cleaning, which since the introduction of free care for the elderly have become an essential part of the way that social welfare is administered. But they are often paid £3 an hour less than male-dominated jobs such as refuse workers or gravediggers.
The council’s efforts to negotiate an affordable settlement are understandable. The cost of implementing equal pay would land the city with a bill that could reach £1 billion, according to some reports. The women who voiced their anger argued that whatever the final reckoning their demands would have to be met. As other cities have found, is not a cause that can be ignored.
