Women in equal pay protest at CBI conference

Hundreds of women and girls protested outside the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) annual conference in Manchester last week demanding organisations carry out mandatory equal pay audits. The demonstration was organised by trade union Amicus which claimed it will take 40 years before women are guaranteed equal pay without government intervention to make pay audits compulsory. The protesters argued that the CBI is effectively endorsing sex discrimination by failing to back mandatory audits. Amicus joint general secretary Roger Lyons said: "The CBI is aiding and abetting the theft of women's wages by sexist employers." A CBI spokesman agreed the pay gap must be tackled but said it opposed statutory pay audits as they would create an administrative burden for employers.