The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched the Valuing Women campaign on 26 October 1999.  The background to the campaign was outlined in a Report on Equal Pay authored by Sheila Wild.  The report and the campaign it launched stemmed from dissatisfaction with the operation of the Equal Pay Act. Section 1.3 of the report states:

“The legal framework drawn up 30 years ago is inadequate in addressing the complexity of current pay systems. It focuses on individual litigation, which rarely results in the examination of the pay system of an individual employer or sector, as a whole.  In addition, the principle of equal value, which is a difficult concept in itself, is particularly difficult to apply in complex and diverse systems. To do so successfully requires investment of time, money and a considerable expertise.”

Section 3 of the report lists the key objectives of the campaign:

“The key objective is to put an end to the undervaluing of women’s work. A major effort is needed if women are not to continue to receive unequal pay. The EOC is therefore embarking upon a three-year campaign aimed at:

  • moving equal pay up the political agenda
  • promoting the case for legal reform
  • engaging leaders in finding solutions to the problem of unequal pay
  • getting employers to use the EOC’s Code of Practice on Equal Pay
  • getting good employers to set an example to others
  • making equal pay central to pay negotiations
  • raising public awareness of the pay gap
  • raising employees awareness of their rights under equal pay law”

The main activities of the campaign included commissioning empirical research on attitudes to equal pay and statistical analysis of national pay data; working with employers and trade unions; lobbying the government on legislative reform; setting up a helpline for women; developing a code of practice on equal pay and promotional activities.

It is interesting to note that, although the document primarily concerns individual rights of women to equal pay, the concept of pay gaps, an aggregated figure of the average difference between men and women’s pay nationally, is introduced.

 

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Image credit: Anon, From when I worked for the organisation, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61315464