- 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.