Jago
el oh el donkaments
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2004
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- HSC
- 2005
i have to do a seminar on Trade Unions with a focus on women, which goes for roughly 7-8 minutes. Now, i have trade union membership rates and stats but it is not nearly enough for a half decent speech. Can anyone suggest some focus areas i should be looking at and if possible links to those areas?
P.S. this is a collection of unedited notes i have so far (not including the statistics and graphs)
In general, women workers continue to earn only two-thirds as much as men when you take into account all wages, including overtime and considering many more women than men work part-time.
Since 1980, the participation of all women in the workforce has risen 14% - a little bit more among women in their peak child bearing years of 25-34, but the overall share of income has risen only by 5%. This is because most of the increase in work over those two decades has been in part time, not full-time work.
For many years the law has required that women and men be remunerated equally for work of equal value, yet the average weekly earnings of full time women workers is still 84.6% of that of men's. If over-award and over-time payments are included this figure drops to 80%, as these types of payments are on average lower for women than for men. As the gap narrows, the rate of narrowing also slows.
There are several reasons suggested for this: first, there aren't many women in professional or managerial positions and even fewer in the relatively well paid trades areas. Women remain clustered in the lower paid professions or sectors; only 26% of managers and administrators are women. On the other hand, 88% of advanced clerical and service workers and 73% of intermediate clerical and service workers are women. Only 10% of trades-persons and related workers are women.
Even when women are in managerial positions, equality of opportunity and pay equity is not guaranteed.
Another factor contributing to the lower overall salary rates for women is part-time work. Five years ago 73% of part-time workers (including casuals who work less than full-time hours) were women. This represented 46% of women in the workforce. There is nothing to suggest this has fallen since.
The fact that so many women workers work part-time while the majority of male workers continue to work full-time clearly affects the size of the pay gap. When all wages income is included, the pay equity gap widens to 67%.
Male union membership has declined at a faster rate than that of female workers, although male union members have always been a larger proportion of overall membership. Nevertheless, potential for future growth continues to be in female-dominated industries.
Between 1988-1992 female union membership across Australia remained steady, at 35% while male membership figures fell from 46% to 43% density
Since 1992, there has been a marked decline in union membership density for both sexes
The highest incidence of union membership in Australia for women, by industry occurs in:
1. Communication Services (50.1%)
2. Education (49.1%)
3. Government Admin. & Defence (39.1%)
The lowest rate of female union membership density is in industries such as property and business, (9% of females) and Wholesale Trade (9%), and advanced clerical and services workers occupations, where 11% of females are members
Casual workers are far less likely to be union members - at August 1996, 13% of casuals and 37% of permanent employees were union members
There is less discrepancy between permanent full-time and permanent part-time workers, with 37% and 38% members respectively (ABS Catalogue 6325, August, 1996).
Though evidence suggests that many part-time workers would like more work, the new flexibility in working hours can be problematic. When combined with changeable working time arrangements, casual and part-time work can be detrimental to both income security and workers' leisure time.
The deregulation of part-time work through the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act will mean less certainty for women workers, who are in danger of becoming de facto casuals with less secure income and guaranteed hours of employment.
Despite the achievements of award restructuring, enterprise bargaining and successful work value and equal pay cases, women continue to earn less than men. According to DIR, the Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) for full-time female adult non-managerial employees was 91.% of the male earnings, in May 1995. The major disparity in earnings continues to occur in overaward payments, with women earning only 54% of the overaward payments of men
Where equal pay cannot be achieved as part of union activities, the Industrial Relations Commission continues to be the most appropriate forum for addressing inequity in wages on a collective basis. Orders made by the Industrial Relations Commission are the most effective means of addressing discrimination in the application of overaward payments.
Hours of work continue to be the issue most likely to be bargained over (DIR, 1996). Independent research and figures from the DIR suggest that women are being adversely affected by increased working hours, without commensurate pay increases. Though family leave provisions are on the increase, their potential benefits are often "cancelled-out" by increased hours of work and flexible working arrangements.
The ACTU Women's Committee is in the process of surveying unions to determine the regulation of workers in precarious jobs. Unions are also being encouraged to survey the needs of workers in specific industries in order to evaluate industrial priorities
P.S. this is a collection of unedited notes i have so far (not including the statistics and graphs)
In general, women workers continue to earn only two-thirds as much as men when you take into account all wages, including overtime and considering many more women than men work part-time.
Since 1980, the participation of all women in the workforce has risen 14% - a little bit more among women in their peak child bearing years of 25-34, but the overall share of income has risen only by 5%. This is because most of the increase in work over those two decades has been in part time, not full-time work.
For many years the law has required that women and men be remunerated equally for work of equal value, yet the average weekly earnings of full time women workers is still 84.6% of that of men's. If over-award and over-time payments are included this figure drops to 80%, as these types of payments are on average lower for women than for men. As the gap narrows, the rate of narrowing also slows.
There are several reasons suggested for this: first, there aren't many women in professional or managerial positions and even fewer in the relatively well paid trades areas. Women remain clustered in the lower paid professions or sectors; only 26% of managers and administrators are women. On the other hand, 88% of advanced clerical and service workers and 73% of intermediate clerical and service workers are women. Only 10% of trades-persons and related workers are women.
Even when women are in managerial positions, equality of opportunity and pay equity is not guaranteed.
Another factor contributing to the lower overall salary rates for women is part-time work. Five years ago 73% of part-time workers (including casuals who work less than full-time hours) were women. This represented 46% of women in the workforce. There is nothing to suggest this has fallen since.
The fact that so many women workers work part-time while the majority of male workers continue to work full-time clearly affects the size of the pay gap. When all wages income is included, the pay equity gap widens to 67%.
Male union membership has declined at a faster rate than that of female workers, although male union members have always been a larger proportion of overall membership. Nevertheless, potential for future growth continues to be in female-dominated industries.
Between 1988-1992 female union membership across Australia remained steady, at 35% while male membership figures fell from 46% to 43% density
Since 1992, there has been a marked decline in union membership density for both sexes
The highest incidence of union membership in Australia for women, by industry occurs in:
1. Communication Services (50.1%)
2. Education (49.1%)
3. Government Admin. & Defence (39.1%)
The lowest rate of female union membership density is in industries such as property and business, (9% of females) and Wholesale Trade (9%), and advanced clerical and services workers occupations, where 11% of females are members
Casual workers are far less likely to be union members - at August 1996, 13% of casuals and 37% of permanent employees were union members
There is less discrepancy between permanent full-time and permanent part-time workers, with 37% and 38% members respectively (ABS Catalogue 6325, August, 1996).
Though evidence suggests that many part-time workers would like more work, the new flexibility in working hours can be problematic. When combined with changeable working time arrangements, casual and part-time work can be detrimental to both income security and workers' leisure time.
The deregulation of part-time work through the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act will mean less certainty for women workers, who are in danger of becoming de facto casuals with less secure income and guaranteed hours of employment.
Despite the achievements of award restructuring, enterprise bargaining and successful work value and equal pay cases, women continue to earn less than men. According to DIR, the Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) for full-time female adult non-managerial employees was 91.% of the male earnings, in May 1995. The major disparity in earnings continues to occur in overaward payments, with women earning only 54% of the overaward payments of men
Where equal pay cannot be achieved as part of union activities, the Industrial Relations Commission continues to be the most appropriate forum for addressing inequity in wages on a collective basis. Orders made by the Industrial Relations Commission are the most effective means of addressing discrimination in the application of overaward payments.
Hours of work continue to be the issue most likely to be bargained over (DIR, 1996). Independent research and figures from the DIR suggest that women are being adversely affected by increased working hours, without commensurate pay increases. Though family leave provisions are on the increase, their potential benefits are often "cancelled-out" by increased hours of work and flexible working arrangements.
The ACTU Women's Committee is in the process of surveying unions to determine the regulation of workers in precarious jobs. Unions are also being encouraged to survey the needs of workers in specific industries in order to evaluate industrial priorities
