Made in Dagenham: Equal rights?
By Philippa Silverman - 1st October 2010
On the day a film is released to celebrate 30 years of the Equal Pay Act, the government has announced new equality rights aimed at stamping out pay discrimination.
The Home Office is highlighting the fact that the Equality Act 2010 is coming into effect on the same day as the release of 'Made in Dagenham', a film about women at the Ford plant fighting for equal pay in 1968.
But campaigners have warned that the government has failed to implement the Equality Act in full, undermining the pledge to create a "fairer Britain".
The factory girls' plight took them all the way to a meeting with the then employment secretary Barbara Castle and they ended up winning 92 per cent of their male counterparts' pay. More significantly, their actions led to the creation of the Equal Pay Act in 1970.
The Equality Act 2010 was one of shadow equalities minister Harriet Harman's key achievements and fulfilled a 2005 Labour party manifesto commitment.
However, the Fawcett Society is accusing the coalition government of undermining the 2010 Act by leaving out what they describe as key areas.
The group said in a statement today: "Forty years after the Dagenham machinists first striked for equal pay, women working in Dagenham earn an average 30 per cent less than men and nationally the pay gap between the average man and woman's pay is a staggering 16.4 per cent."
Last week home secretary and minister for women and equality Theresa May met with four of the original strikers (Youtube video).
Other changes coming into force today include extra protection for disabled people and new powers for employment tribunals.
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