Need For Active, Strong Unions

Another person at the seminar said that the battle for equal pay was "a shining example" of the need for strong trade unions. Large numbers of women workers will only gain the confidence necessary to negotiate for equal pay with their employers if they know they have the backing of their fellow workers. A well organised delegate system can provide this backing and assistance on the lob in negotiating for equal pay. Union officials simply don't have the time to provide this sort of support.

Graeme Kelly told the seminar about the struggle of 50-women meat packers in Wellington last year to get their employers to agree to a "notional male rate" for their job. These women had to go on strike to win their battle, but by their determination and collective strength they eventually won.

It is a sad fact that few trade unions have been actively involved in the struggle (the NZ Retail Grocery and Supermarket Employees' Collective Agreement, dated December 11, 1974; and the NZ Butchers' Collective Agreement, dated March 3, 1975) the determinations of equal pay should be on a regional basis, i.e. a single determinatio should apply to all the workers covered by these agreements in the Wellington region, for equal pay. For example, only five of the thirty-one unions invited bothered to turn up to the Equal Pay seminar. The Federation of Labour and the Employers' Federation both declined to send representatives to take part in a panel discussion. As I, as chairman of the seminar pointed out to those present, while NYC and NZUSA are happy to convene such a seminar, it seems that we are doing what rightly seems the Government's job. The almost non-existent publicity there has been about Equal Pay looks rather sick when compared to the huge Think Metric" campaign or the $195,000 spent on "Come Alive". The area of equal pay is one which is of concern, not only to university women who work in vacations, but to all women. By informing people about equal pay, a valuable contribution is being made. Anyone wishing to know more about this should contact me at NZUSA, P.O. Box 6368 Te Aro, Wellington.