The
head of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has urged the trade union
movement to help close Britain’s pay gap and promote equality.
Last
night, the EOC chair, Julie Mellor, addressed a summit meeting with trade union
leaders and told them to put sex equality issues at the heart of the agenda.
"The
unions have done more than anyone else to help the lowest paid workers in this
country. However, there is still a long way to go. We need to act together on
several fronts if we are to close the pay gap, which actually got wider last
year," she said.
Mellor
argued that even more action was needed as just 18 per cent of employers have
carried out a pay review, while the pay gap between men and women has widened
to 41 per cent.
She
also set out the organisation’s priorities for the next 12 months, which
included tackling occupational segregation, improving work-life balance and
campaigning for better pension provision for women.
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