Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, has issued a call for true equality in the workplace ahead of International Women’s Day this Sunday, March 8.
Jean Lambert MEP, a longstanding campaigner for employment rights and equality, is calling for greater recognition of the difficulties which women in particular are facing during the recession. International Women’s Day, first observed in 1911, is a global day of celebration and campaigning. [1]
Jean Lambert MEP said:
"International Women’s Day is about thinking globally, celebrating the achievements of women and reflecting on the injustice that remains. We have much to be grateful for in the UK, but we must not be complacent about the situation for women here. We must not use the weak economy as an excuse to ignore inequality.
For women at work, the recession is already making a bad situation worse. As recent TUC figures have shown, women are disproportionately vulnerable to unemployment: the redundancy rate among women is rising twice as fast as it is among men. They are far more likely to be in the sorts of low-paid, part-time or temporary positions which are the first to go when employers need to make cuts. There is still a shocking gender pay gap in Britain, as wide as 36.6 per cent for part-time employment. Women often face difficulty in accessing Jobseeker’s Allowance, and the greater need for fewer jobs is making it even harder for women returning to work after maternity leave. [2]
This International Women’s Day, when the recession is on everybody’s mind, presents an opportunity to consider where we’ve been getting things wrong, and to pledge to put things right, so that when we emerge from the downturn our workplaces are fairer for us all."
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[1] For more information on International Women’s Day, this year’s events and its history, visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp.
[2] The TUC warned in January that women will be hit harder during this recession than any previous downturn with the publication of a report, Women and Recession. For more details and the full report, visit http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-15872-f0.cfm.