In recognition of the history and origin of International Womens Day (IWD) as a protest movement by working women, Unions Tasmania will be holding a rally on IWD tomorrow that will focus on the work we need to do to lift the wages of working women.

This years rally is focused on how we can encourage women to speak up about pay. Unions have won new rights that will help us close the gender pay gap companies will soon have to publish pay gap data and, importantly, multi-employer bargaining will open up the opportunities for women to bargain together especially in low paid, women-dominated sectors to lift their pay, said Unions Tasmania Secretary, Jessica Munday.

The persistent gender pay gap has exacerbated the current cost-of-living crisis and is cutting deeper into the wages and savings of working women. We want to make sure women feel supported and encouraged to talk about their pay because thats the first step in taking action to improve it, said Ms Munday.

Nicole McPherson, the Victoria/Tasmania Branch Secretary of the Finance Sector Union will be coming to Hobart to address the rally and talk about how her union won a ban on pay secrecy clauses in contracts and agreements.

The financial services sector has one of the highest gender pay gaps in Australia. Our union has been campaigning to outlaw pay secrecy clauses that have prevented women from calling out the pay differentials in our industry. We can work now to expose those large gaps and pressure organisations to make equal pay a reality, said Ms McPherson.

Details
When: Tomorrow, Wednesday 8 March
Where: Franklin Square, Hobart
Time: 12:30pm

Media are invited to obtain comment from speakers at 12:15pm before speeches commence at 12:30pm.

PDF Copy available here: Media release - International Women's Day (IWD) rally focussed on lifting women's wages.pdf