Equal pay rally mark's Vic woman's battle

A union rally demanding equal pay for women will commemorate a Melbourne woman's iconic equal pay protest 46 years ago today.

On this day 46 years ago, Zelda D'Aprano chained herself to the front of Melbourne's Commonwealth Building demanding equal pay for women.

A Trades Hall Council rally at Melbourne University on Wednesday morning will remind everyone that Zelda's fight is far from won.

Outraged at the failure of an equal pay case before the then Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, Ms D'Aprano, joined later by two other women, chained herself to the doors of the building.

She grew up in poverty in Depression-era Carlton and went to work in a shortbread factory at 14, becoming a qualified dental nurse in the mid-1950s and devoting herself to unionism.

By 1969, she was working for the Meatworkers Union, and the meat industry was the test case for equal pay in the arbitration commission.

When it failed to deliver anything but a token pay increase for women, Ms D'Aprano started her protest.

It cost her job but she became a champion of the women's liberation movement.

Victorian Trades Hall Council spokeswoman Wil Stracke says women's average pay remains just 82.1 per cent of men's - a difference of about $300 a week.

"I've seen over the past decade that gender pay inequality won't fix itself," she said.

"We only achieve pay justice for women when we stand up together and demand it - like the social and community services sector has done, and like workers in early childhood education are doing right now.

"One woman alone has very little power to address that sort of disadvantage, but together we have a strong voice."

Women from a range of industries will remember Zelda D'Aprano's protest by pulling a three-tonne truck by a chain through the grounds of the University of Melbourne.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world