Channel 4 News last night ran a feature on the Equality & Human Rights Commission report ‘How fair is Britain’. UNISON national official Bronwyn McKenna told the programme that gender and pay divisions were a "disgrace": http://www.channel4.com/news/equality-report-exposes-a-divided-britain
"More than 40 years after laws were passed to protect women, it is a disgrace that mothers without qualifications can still expect a 58 per cent loss of earnings over their lifetime. Women need action to stamp out stubborn pay discrimination. Boosting transparency, having regular gender pay audits, and updating the law to make it easier for women to challenge their pay, would be giant leaps towards fairness.
"But just as women need more protection, the coalition government is consulting on watering down existing equality rules. This would be a huge step backwards. The state of fairness in the UK will nosedive as the effects of public spending cuts hit home. Women will bear the brunt of the cuts, as the main groups of people working in, and making use of, public services.”
