GMB London welcomes new bill to break the secrecy of pay discrimination
GMB London welcomes the introduction by Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow of her Equal Pay Implementation and Claims Bill in Parliament on 20 October 2020. The bill gives women the right to know how much their male co-workers are paid.
GMB London welcomes the introduction by Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow of her Equal Pay Implementation and Claims Bill in Parliament on 20 October 2020. The bill gives women the right to know how much their male co-workers are paid.
Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow introduced her Equal Pay Implementation and Claims Bill in Parliament yesterday. The bill gives women the right to know how much their co-workers are paid.
The bill will receive a second reading in November if passed the bill will enable women to know what their male counterparts are being paid which should end the discrimination so often present in companies that operate under a cloak of secrecy.
In the Commons yesterday Stella Creasy said:
"Pay discrimination becomes so prevalent because it’s hard to get pay transparency.
"Unless a woman knows that a man who is doing equal work to her is being paid more she cannot know if she is being paid equally.
"At present, getting that information all too often requires going to court because it’s not available.”
Millions of women in this country are paid less than their male counterparts because of this injustice.
The Covid pandemic led to the government’s decision to suspend the annual gender pay gap reporting. demonstrating clearly that equal pay is not a concern of government.
The gender pay gap in 2019 stood at 17.3 per cent. On average, women earn approximately 83p for every £1 men are paid.
The bill has been drafted by the Fawcett Society with a panel of legal and HR experts, and chaired by Daphne Romney QC. It implements a ‘right to know’ and would give women the right to request the pay data of their male counterparts.
Penny Robinson, GMB London Region President said:
"GMB London welcomes the introduction of Stella Creasy’s bill. GMB supports our members with equal pay discrimination campaigns, all too often a lengthy and exhausting battle ensues with sometimes the only option being legal action. Equal pay tribunals make up 12 per cent of the total of all employment claims in England and Wales, with 29,000 being put forward last year alone.
"Taking an employer to tribunal is a very daunting and stressful time for women and BAME workers who are seeking pay parity with their work counterparts. A reason why so many withdraw their tribunal cases and which also provides some employers the opportunity to exploit this probability.
"London will continue to fight for equal pay for our members discriminated against because of their gender or ethnicity. I sincerely hope the bill is successful because it will make a huge difference to the inequality experienced by so many women and BAME workers.
"The government must restore gender pay gap reporting and expand the reporting to include the ethnicity pay gap if we are to ever to achieve pay parity in this country.”
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Contact:
GMB London Region Press Office 079 7001 6943
