![]() ![]() For instance, women who held office jobs in the same abattoir would earn less than their male colleagues. For example, women who worked on an abattoir floor handling meat were now paid the same wage as the men they worked with.Īll other women received the nationally instituted 85 per cent. The 1969 decision did, however, secure equal pay for women in instances where they were assessed as doing exactly the same work as men in traditionally male roles. ![]() The ruling stipulated that in cases where men were performing work usually reserved for females, they were entitled to a higher wage than their female colleagues. This was in recognition of the ‘breadwinner’ component of male pay rates, which assumed that men needed to be paid extra to provide for their family as married women generally did not work outside of the home. The ruling of the commission, which applied nationally, established the general female award minimum wage at 85 per cent of the male wage. In that year, the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union and other workers’ groups brought a case to the ACAC against the Meat and Allied Trades Federation (and others) arguing for equal pay for all employees. It wasn’t until 1969 that any real progress was made. The United Nations also included a demand for wage equality and equal pay in Article 7 of the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1954.ĭuring the 1950s and 60s both men and women in Australia participated in protests calling on the government to ratify the 1951 convention and make equal pay the law in Australia.Įqual pay protest, Melbourne Town Hall, 20 February 1969 Workers from other nations, including Australia, cited the convention when lobbying for more equal wage distribution between the sexes. Some countries had already legislated for equal pay before the release of the convention, like France (1946) and Germany (1949). In other words, it recommended that jobs (and their remuneration) be classified according to the nature of the work rather than who performed it. This convention stated that both sexes were entitled to ‘equal remuneration … for work of equal value … with a view to providing a classification of jobs without regard to sex’. In 1951 the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency, released the Equal Remuneration Convention. This had an impact on the wages of women as many returned to lower-paying jobs with fewer benefits and stricter working conditions, including the requirement that women resign on getting married. Female participation in the workforce greatly decreased after the war, when men returned from serving and resumed their old positions. This was considered an excellent outcome and many women were happy to be working and earning money while also aiding the war effort. Prior to this, women had been receiving around two-thirds (or less) of the male wage. In 1943 their lobbying led the Australian Government to establish the Women’s Employment Board and secured women 75 per cent of the male wage for performing the same jobs. These workers formed women’s employment organisations to fight for their working conditions and rights. ![]() In doing so, they performed duties that were usually considered part of the male domain, including farming, building and manufacturing. During the Second World War, many Australian women joined the workforce, filling essential industry positions left vacant by men who had gone overseas to serve. ![]()
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