Covid-19 and the Continued Impact on Women working in Local Government

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Conference
2022 Local Government Service Group Conference
Date
16 February 2022
Decision
Carried

Covid-19 has had an enormous impact on women. Women are over-represented in jobs providing essential services and do a greater share of unpaid care than men.

Women not only form the majority of workers in local government but are also the majority of key workers who are paid less than £10 an hour, face limited childcare options and form the majority of part-time workers.

Many of these women have jobs such as carers, cleaners, catering workers, early learning and teaching assistants. As key workers they were exposed to a higher risk of infection. Some were furloughed and some had to reduce their hours or even give up their jobs during the lockdowns because of the difficulty of balancing caring commitments with work.

There is a widening gender gap in unpaid work as women are expected to pick up the slack created by widespread reduction in social care packages, made even more difficult by the persistent inadequacy of social security provision.

The recent £20 cut in Universal Credit has impacted this group of low-paid women workers particularly hard. The economic impact is becoming worse as inflation rises and energy costs increase. But they also need fair pay. They should be valued and paid properly and not have to rely on Universal Credit.

Women working in the local government service group need policies that support them economically and socially including a strong social security safety net if they are to contribute in turn to the recovery from the pandemic.

Conference asks the Service Group Executive to:

1)Continue to campaign for fair pay for workers in the local government service group, focussing on low paid women in particular;

2)Work with the NEC, National Women’s Committee and other appropriate parts of the union to lobby the government and campaign for improved funding for childcare so it is affordable and accessible for key workers;

3)Include demands for flexible working arrangements and carer’s leave appropriate to the post-Covid world of work in the bargaining agenda and encourage branches to raise these issues with employers;

4)Work with regions, branches and the National Women’s Committee to encourage women in the service group to become activists and particularly health and safety and/or equality reps.