JOURNAL WEEK- 16/WOMEN'S STUDIES 1/WOMEN AND WORK

PART 1

The issues that could be faced in the work place in future in my imagination could be sexual harrassment, being offered casual work instead of permanent ones,equal opportunity,pregnancy discrimination,lack of access of to promotional opportunities and lower pay rates.


PART 2.

1)Women being paid less than men is attributed to the traditional belief that men worked to provide for their families, whiles, women only worked if they did not have either their husband or father to support them.

2)The significant achievements by Unions regarding Equal Pay in the following years is as follows;

-In 1960,equal pay for work for equal value was awarded ,although specifically female work was not included and the issue of eual pay for women remained a hot debate throughout the 1960's

- In 1969, the ACTU mounted a test case to get rid of the 25% difference that existed between pay rates for women and those for men. The court ruled that as of 1st October women would get at least 85% of the male wage; their pay would then go up in steps until 1st January 1972 when they would be rewarded with equal pay - 100% of the male wage.

-In 1972, the equal pay case was reopened,the agurement presented by Barister Mary Gaudron was in line with the principles of the 1951 ILO Convention;equal pay for work of equal value.Finally on the 15th December 1972, the Arbitration Commission ruled that women performing predominantly women's work will get the same pay as men.

In 1973,the Commission set a minimum wage for all adults and then in 1974 it dropped the concept of family support as part of the wage system.

3(a)Women still earn less than men because more women work part-time and therefore earn only a proportion of full-time earnings.

(b)Women are less likely to get bonuses and benefits added to wages.

(C) More men than women work overtime because they work in areas where overtime is an option and women generally have more responsibilities in the home.

4)The strategy to ahieve equaal pay that will be more effective is to Join unions: female union members earn more money on average than females who don't belong to a union.

5)The Fact sheet that was of interest to me was ,"Equal Opportunity"(getting a fair go).
The fact that I discorvered was
Affirmative action
Affirmative action is positive action taken in the workplace to promote equal opportunity.

Affirmative action involves:

identifying and removing all of the barriers confronting women in employment;
putting in place programs and strategies that ensure women and men have the ability to compete on equal terms for jobs and promotions;
encouraging women to enter jobs traditionally seen as unsuitable for them; and
promoting equal access to higher wages and increased prospects of job advancement