So you think you can… be paid properly?

On 8 June 2011 Women's Health West staff gathered at Trades Hall with 2,000 health and community services workers as part of a national day of action in support of equal pay for the community sector.

Regular readers will be aware of the various stages of this campaign, particularly here in Victoria: four rallies over two years, submissions, case studies, court attendance and funky dance moves; but here's a short summary for those new to the action.

The 'gender pay gap' refers to the number of extra days per year that women would need to work to earn the same amount of money as men. In the 2010/11 financial year the average gender pay gap was 17.2 percent or a staggering 63 days.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) campaign for equal pay has shone a spotlight on the gender pay gap in the social and community service (SACS) sector - 87 percent of whose workers are women. The centrepiece of the campaign involved a landmark pay equity case in which Fair Work Australia found that SACS workers are not receiving equal pay and that gender is a significant cause of that pay gap.

So why the national day of action? A finding like that means we're heading toward equity, right? Not yet. To quote Lisa Darminan, ASU Assistant Secretary, 'We've won the moral argument, we've won the legal argument, but we still haven't won the money.'

Which brings our summary up to the present question on everyone's lips, where will the money come from?

Fair Work Australia is reviewing submissions on the rates community workers should be paid. One of those submissions, released as this newsletter goes to press, announced the Federal Government's commitment to 'provide fair and appropriate supplementation to help support any phased-in pay increase Fair Work Australia may award.' This is a fantastic start but it's not the end of the story. The Baillieu Government previously said they would provide $200 million over four years to fund the wage increase but hinted that any funding gaps would most likely lead to cuts to jobs and services.

We do not want to face losing staff or cutting programs because the state government has not committed to fair and equitable funding that reflects job worth. Neither do we want Fair Work Australia to award negligible rises out of fear that the government's lack of commitment to funding equal pay could lead to these outcomes.

Women's Health West are continuing to take part in ASU and VCOSS-organised campaigns and have written to the Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten as our local federal members, requesting a meeting. Following the federal submission, we will also approach our state members of parliament.

What can you do to help?

We encourage you to contact your local state member of parliament and urge them to commit to funding this vital move toward improving the status and health outcomes of all women. You can also write to Premier Ted Baillieu directly via this link: http://www.asuvic.asn.au/atlobby.cgi?ID=12

Keep an eye out for actions you can get involved in, practise the dance routine and get ready to rumble - Women's Health West are considering some other innovative ideas for drawing attention to this vital matter and will be in touch with our members seeking your support for an action on Equal Pay Day, which falls on 1 September this year.

Check www.eowa.gov.au/Pay_Equity/Equal_Pay_Day.asp for resources to run an Equal Pay Day event in your workplace.

The upcoming events section of www.payup.org.au/news/ lists details of the equal pay case decision.

Join the ASU if you haven't already, you'll receive regular updates about the case and strengthen the campaign with your voice! www.asuvic.asn.au/sacs_brochure_4pgs_1.pdf

One speaker at the Melbourne rally was the feisty campaigner Zelda D'Aprano, 83, who chained herself to government buildings in an equal pay protest in 1969. 'The gap is still there and all because our work is under-valued,' she said. 'If the women of Australia all refused to sell their skills... if we withdrew our skills all over Australia, our country would close down. It would close down precisely because of the importance of the work we do.'

The feisty baton has passed from Zelda and her 70's cohort to today's ASU organisers; in place of chains we're using music and flash mob-style dance moves. A hilarious instructional video is available on YouTube to the tune of Donna Summer's She Works Hard for the Money; you can learn the crumping, lasso, air saxophone packed routine at www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1wQxIAnKeg

MEDIA:For more information please contact Nicola Harte, Communications Co-ordinator on 9689 9588 or email nicolah@whwest.org.au