Low pay and women

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Conference
2015 Local Government Service Group Conference
Date
18 February 2015
Decision
Carried as Amended

Conference notes that the erosion of pay in local government has had a particularly detrimental effect on women workers.

1)Women now make up the vast majority of staff in local government, but are disproportionately represented in the lower grades;

2)The majority of staff on zero hours contracts are women, with many of those women receiving below the minimum wage, as highlighted in the Ethical Care campaign;

3)Childcare costs have escalated in recent years, with the Childcare Trust estimating that the average cost of childcare in the UK for a family with one school age and one pre-school child is £11,700 – more than many of our members earn;

4)Reorganisation and privatisation of services forces women into lower paid jobs, simply to remain in employment;

5)Increasingly local agreements are taking precedence over national agreements, with a detrimental impact on many hard won rights.

Conference calls upon the service group executive to:-

a)work with all relevant bodies to raise awareness of the harm which this government’s policies and employers’ actions are having on women workers in local government;

b)continue to campaign against cuts and for decent and equal pay in local government;

c)issue guidance to branches on defending local agreements.