UNISON is supporting International Women’s Day this Sunday 8 March.
As a union with over one million female members, UNISON knows how much women have suffered during the economic crisis and how they still struggle for equality in the workplace with male colleagues.
At UNISON’s Women’s Conference in Southport last month, general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Over the past five years the growing crisis in our communities has hit women the hardest. Cuts in tax credits are costing women four times as much as men. The child benefit freeze, five times as much and cuts in childcare support, seven times as much.
“In Britain, there are women fleeing domestic violence who cannot find the financial support to stay in a women’s refuge thanks to the government’s spending cuts.
“It is disgraceful that the gender gap is widening again after painfully slow progress over the past 40 years. There are a huge number of women workers who desperately want and need to work full-time but are forced to take part-time jobs – or declare themselves self-employed – just so they can make ends meet.
“Let’s not forget that unions are the voice of working people. They stand up to the powerful and challenge discrimination, and negotiate for fairness in workplaces across the country.”
International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900’s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements.