Give women their worth

Jul 5 2005 By Helen Logan Evening Gazette

Thirty years on since equal pay laws came into being and women are still losing out to men in the wages stakes.

This is the claim of Jackie Woodall, a GMB union official based in Middlesbrough.

Her comments come on the back of a report on low pay.

She said: "If you look at the positions the survey highlighted, they are predominantly staffed by women - and they are paid less because they are women.

"The GMB continues to campaign for equal pay.

"Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1975, we still have not achieved equality in pay for women."

It really is quite shocking that women are still the underdogs in many cases when it comes to pay.

Where they are doing the same type of work as men they should be paid the same.

But there is one instance where I believe women do not deserve to be paid the same amount of money as the men.

And that is at the Wimbledon tennis championships.

Every time the event is held, a call is made for the women players to be given parity when it comes to the winnings. But the female competitors do not compete on an equal footing with their male counterparts.

Their matches only comprise a maximum of three sets, compared to five for the men.

If women want the same money as the men, they should have to play five-setters.