Why I despair

[SerendipityJane]

Someone tried to tell me recently how the UK sorted out equal pay in the 1970s.

The fuck we did. 50 years later. Fifty fucking years. People have been born, had kids, seen their kids have kids, and possibly seen those kids have kids - 3 potential generation of women - and in 2021 we still have headlines like this.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56534988

Thousands of Asda supermarket workers have won a major victory at the Supreme Court in their battle for equal pay.

The court upheld an earlier court ruling that lower-paid shop staff, who are mostly women, can compare themselves with higher paid warehouse workers, who are mostly men.

Trouble is when people think of equal pay they think it means between two people doing exactly the same job, well of course there shouldn't be a male pay scale and a female pay scale.

Women being paid less /men being paid more for equivalent jobs is alive and kicking. The general reluctance of people to discuss their earnings / pay scale means this goes on largely unchecked.

Also alive and kicking are the attitudes and expectations that mean women don't seem to make it up the hierarchy

Trouble is when people think of equal pay they think it means between two people doing exactly the same job, well of course there shouldn't be a male pay scale and a female pay scale.

Fair enough. 50 years isn't really long enough to tell. I guess like the Chinese waiting to see the outcome of the French Revolution, we need at least 500 years.

It isn’t helpful that it’s still described as equal pay when really it’s about the gender pay gap. That leaves it open for those who want to deny it’s still happening to shout ‘but, but equal pay act’. It also leaves women like these women in the position of having to prove the jobs are of equivalent value. If any one really wanted to sort out the gender pay gap, they’d properly examine the reason why it’s, overwhelming, women who are in these ‘lesser value jobs’ in the first place, and there are many reasons. I’m not that familiar with these particular roles in Asda but, some reasons might be the hours - women are more likely to be caring for school age children or in other unpaid caring roles - possibly the physical strength required for the warehousing jobs? etc etc. Does that mean the retail jobs are of lesser value to Asda? Seems ridiculous to suggest they are but the way the law works, these women have to prove that they are not lesser value in order to actively benefit from what the equal pay law was supposed to address.

I listened to a woman speaking about this on the news this morning. She worked in the warehouse and described the conditions, working in -20C, walking miles each day, lifting heavy loads. She said that if they introduce equal pay for till workers, then many of the warehouse staff would leave or get a till job.

-20?

I suspect not

The frozen food storage area may well be -20.

Asda apparently makes much of the jobs being on different sites etc. It shows that employers don't really understand equal pay themselves and have been allowed to get away with it for years.

Someone working on the frontline in store is capable of losing more customers than someone working in the warehouse. They are just as valuable to the company and the job is as challenging.

Asda apparently makes much of the jobs being on different sites etc

ASDA can say whatever they like. But they can also now follow the law.

She said that if they introduce equal pay for till workers, then many of the warehouse staff would leave or get a till job.

When I worked at Asda you couldn't have persuaded the warehouse staff to work on a till - they know exactly how miserable it is to be glued to the spot, forced to make small talk with customers (yes, it is required) whilst meeting scanning speeds, being on the sharp end of complaints, also lifting heavy goods (6 pack of 2 litre fizzy bottles? Cat litter?) across the scanner, unable to just pop to the toilet.

My brother worked warehouse (funnily enough, in the chillers), and much preferred it - in fact they had to offer incentives to get them to till train for busy times as no-one was taking it up.

Of course the primo job in my store was shelf-staking - it was done while the store was closed, you wore your own clothes, and could wear headphones, plus you got a higher rate of pay because it was after 10pm.

Working with customers requires a lot more skill than working in a warehouse (I have done both). Those women should have been paid more not less.

The problem is that working in the distribution centre is considered 'hard' work because it is manual and involves heavy lifting. Working on the shop floor/till involves 'soft' skills like good customer service etc. Traditionally women have better 'soft' skills and men, being physically stronger, have the 'hard' skills. Actually in any job it is about maximising someones skills.

Additionally men have been, and still are in many cases, considered the bread winner so therefore society has the attitude that they should earn more. It wasn't long ago that a woman was expected to give up work when she got married/had a baby.

The narrative that physical work is 'hard' and should attract a higher rate of pay suits men. Notice how caring roles where you are dealing with people are generally much lower paid and viewed unskilled, whereas more physical roles or those involving using machinery/driving are considered more skilled and paid better. This is true even if a job is quite physical i.e. being a carer and having to lift people is physical.

The next stage I believe is for both parties to look at the roles and 'prove' whether they are equal or not. The fact is that society needs to start valuing the 'soft' skills because often whilst women cannot do the heavy lifting equally men cannot do the caring/customer service either and would rather be in the 'back office' than in front of people all the time. It will be interesting to see the criteria they use.

Whilst I hope the women win this case, I sincerely hope that this does not see a reduction in pay for the distribution/warehouse staff rather a pay rise for the staff/women on the shop floor.