Women's No Pay Day (From Somerset County Gazette)

Women's No Pay Day

11:44am Monday 22nd October 2007

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WOMEN in Somerset are being undervalued and underpaid. The national scandal that is the pay gap between women and men still exists. Across the UK, women working full time earn on average 17% less an hour than men working full time - that's around £4,000 less a year on the average salary.

This is the equivalent of men getting paid all year and women working for free from October 30. In response to this appalling situation the Fawcett Society, the UK's leading campaign for equality between men and women, has joined forces with trade union UNISON and declared October 30 Women's No Pay Day. On this day equal pay supporters all over the country are sending a strong message to Government that it needs to take more action to close the pay gap.

In Somerset women working full time earn on average 16.3% less an hour than their male counterparts. This means the problem in our area is slightly better than the national average.

As a supporter of Fawcett and UNISON's campaign I am supporting the campaign and I know Jeremy Browne MP will also do so. I urge Gazette readers to support the campaign too. You can find out how by going to www.fawcettsociety.co.uk Join the Women's No Pay Day campaign to demand fairer pay for women.

JO ANGLEZARKE TDBC Unison Branch Communications Secretary, Kilkenny Avenue, Taunton

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