ACTU ramps up bid for equal pay

2 Sep 2012, 12:06 am   -   Source: AAP

The ACTU is using "equal pay day" to call on the federal government to make sure women have the same opportunity to earn as much as men.

Australia's peak union body is using "equal pay day" to call on the federal government to make sure women have the same opportunity to earn as much as men.

The day falls on the date beyond the end of the financial year on June 30 when women catch up to men's annual earnings.

This year it's on Sunday - which just happens to be Father's Day - because, on average, women had to work 64 extra days to match the 2011-12 male pay packet.

That's a day longer than in the previous two years when they had to do an additional 63 days of work.

"That's a blight on corporate Australia, and it is time they were made to change their ways," ACTU president Ged Kearney said in a statement.

The ACTU wants Labor to take action through its review of the Fair Work Act to amend the right to request flexible working arrangements so that employers are obliged to seriously consider requests from women who are also carers at home.

Many women are now forced to leave well-paid full-time jobs after having children to secure flexible hours via casual or part-time work, Ms Kearney said.

"Another thing the government could look at is introducing quotas in which companies have to take reasonable steps to ensure an equal number of women sit in leadership roles as men," she said.

Federal Minister for the Status of Women, Julie Collins, says equal pay day is an important reminder that, on average, Australian women will work an extra 64 days to earn what a man would in a year.

But Ms Collins insists the government is committed to closing the gender pay gap which is why it supported a Fair Work Australia case that delivered a wage increase for low-paid workers - the majority of whom are women.

"We have also introduced major reforms on equal opportunity in the workplace, which set out a contemporary response to the challenges women face today," the minister said in a statement.

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