embargo: 00:01h Thursday 27 December 2001

Attention: industrial and social affairs correspondents

TUC to train 500 reps to tackle gender pay gap

The TUC is set to embark on a programme of training to create 500 equal pay reps to tackle the gap between men and women’s pay. After more than thirty years of the Equal Pay Act, women working full time still earn just 82p for every pound men working full time earn, while part-time workers get just 61p ^[1] . Union reps will be trained at 22 courses from Falkirk to Southampton, starting in Bristol on 7^th January, and 500 will be ready to start negotiating by the end of August.

The TUC backed the Equal Opportunity Commission’s Independent Equal Pay Taskforce that recommended statutory pay reviews. Training equal pay reps to work with employers on pay reviews is much like the training of health and safety reps to work with employers on risk assessments.

TUC General Secretary, John Monks,said: 'The long campaign for equal pay has made progress down the years but we still have more to do. The efforts of these reps is going to make a real difference to individual women’s pay and their collective efforts are going to make a real difference to tackling discrimination at work.'

The TUC’s training will take place:

In Bristol 7^th - 9^th January

In Southampton 14^th - 16^th January & 12^th - 14^th March

In North London 15^th - 17^th January, 20^th - 22^nd February & 27^th - 29^th March

In Bridgend 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th January

In Liverpool 22^nd - 24^th January

In Carlisle 22^nd - 24^th January

In Leeds 22^nd, 29^th January & 5^th February

In Ipswich 30^th January - 1^st February

In Bradford 30^th January - 1^st February & 25^th March - 27^th March

In Glasgow 13^th - 15^th February

In Dunstable 13^th - 15^th February

In Birmingham 20^th - 22^nd February

In Manchester 25^th - 27^th February

In Norwich 27^th February - 1^st March

In Cambridge 6^th March - 8^th March

In Falkirk 14^th, 21^st, and 28^th March

In Newcastle 25^th - 27^th March

How many women work?

In 2000, women accounted for 47% of people employed in the UK (this includes HM forces), or 11.5 million out of a total of 24.4 million people employed. The latest figures ( Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, May - July 2001.) show that 69% of women of working age in the UK are in employment.

What kind of work do women do?

Women’s employment is highly concentrated by occupation; over 60% of women work in 10 occupations (out of 77 recognised occupations). Of all women workers:

Sales assistants and checkout operators 10.2%

Other sales and services 7.5%

Numerical clerks 6.8%

Secretaries, personal assistants, typists 6.3%

Health related occupations 6.0%

Teaching professionals 5.8%

Health associate professionals 5.4%

Clerks not classified elsewhere 4.7%

Childcare and related occupations 4.2%

Catering occupations 3.6%

(Kingsmill Report 2001)

How much do women get paid?

Full-timers in these ten occupations earned 78% of the average hourly pay of male full-timers while part-timers earned 57% (Kingsmill Report 2001).

Overall, women working full-time earn 82 per cent of full-time male earnings, a pay gap of 18 per cent. Women working part-time earned only 61 per cent of the male full-time wage, a pay gap of some 39 per cent (New Earnings Survey).

Is the pay gap the same, all across the country?

On average, the gender pay gap in the South West is the largest (women earn 73% of men’s wages), while Wales (79%) and London (80%) have the smallest gap. The rest of the UK is a follows:

Scotland 77%

North East 75%

North West 78%

Yorkshire and Humberside 78%

East Midlands 78%

West Midlands 78%

East of England 74%

South East 74%

South West 73%

(Labour Force Survey 2000)

Workplace equal pay representatives will be drawn from across the unions and their training accredited through TUC education awarding body, the national Open College Network. By the end of their course they will be capable of furthering pay parity in their own workplaces, particularly through the use of pay reviews in partnership with employers.

The Equal Opportunities Commission have set a target for fifty per cent of large employers (those with more than 500 workers) to have carried out a pay review by the end of 2003, and 25% of the remaining employers (those with fewer than 500 workers) should have done so by the end of 2005.

Notes to Editors:

All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

For more on the TUC’s equality work see:

http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/

For more on the TUC’s union learning work see:

http://www.learningservices.org.uk

Also see:

Equal Opportunities Commission

http://www.eoc.org.uk/advice/equalpay/

Cabinet Office

http://www.womens-unit.gov.uk/pay%20gap/introduction.htm

A series of TUC rights leaflets, including advice rights to parental and maternity leave, are available on our website and from the know your rights line 0870 600 4 882. Lines are open every day from 8am-10pm. Calls are charged at the national rate.

Contacts:

Media enquiries: 020 7467 1248 or email media@tuc.org.uk before Friday 21 December 2001 or after Wednesday January 3^rd 2002

Sat 22, Sun 23, Mon 24 - Philip Taylor, pager 07699 744 115

Tues 25, Weds 26, Thus 27 - Nigel Stanley pager 07699 755 102

Fri 28, Sat 29, Sun 30, Mon 31, Tues 1 - Richard Darlington, pager 07654 589 780

Other enquiries: Mary Myles, TUC Equal Pay Project Coordinator, 020 7467 1311 or email mmyles@tuc.org.uk before Friday 21 December 2001 or after Wednesday January 3^rd 2002

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[1] Mean gross hourly earnings from the New Earnings Survey, 2000

Press release (1,000 words) issued 26 Dec 2001