Unionists celebrate a proud International Womens Day

On International Women’s Day 2023, mainstream media features stories of jaded women bemoaning “corporatised” and tokenistic IWD events featuring stale cupcakes and platitudes.

Age columnist Jacqueline Maley wrote that there is a “backlash against the cupcakes-and-girlboss version of IWD”.

SMH columnist Parnell Palme McGuinness claimed “the sisterhood is angry and bored” with IWD, labelling it “so well-intentioned and patronising”.

The cynicism is understandable about hollow company events don’t address the ugly facts still confronting female workers.

But Australian Unions had a much more encouraging picture to project on 8 March 2023.

“During the 12 months since last IWD, union members have kicked goals to improve the lives of working women.”

They list eight significant changes for the better that have occurred in the past year.

The most important was the introduction of 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave into the National Employment Standards, finally delivered after 10 years of union-led campaigning.

“With $18,000 as the average cost of fleeing a domestic violence situation, the leave provides crucial support to victim-survivors. The leave is already available to all employees, except for those in businesses with less than 15 employees.”

The other steps forward:

• Expanded of paid parental leave from 20 weeks to 26 weeks by 2026

• Strengthened Equal Pay laws

• Strengthening of the right to request flexible work

• Abolition of pay secrecy clauses in contracts

• Employers being obliged to take all reasonable steps to eliminate sexual harassment

• Improved gender pay gap reporting

• Winning the right to bargain for special measures to achieve substantive equality.

The next targets?

The big one is the campaign for super on paid parental leave, which is supported by ASFA. A lack of super payments on parental leave affects parents of all genders, but women make up 99.5% of recipients of the government’s Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme, meaning it’s mainly women who miss out on super when a child is born.

Mainstream media chose to highlight stale cupcakes ennui.

But Australian Unions is upbeat because in just one year, there were eight real advances on women’s rights, practical improvements to the lives of working women. These wins should be celebrated so reduction of the gender pay gap and the payment of super on PPL are looked upon as achievable challenges, not insurmountable problems.

“All those eight moments of progress have come about because union members have come together to create fairer workplaces. It’s the same reason why we have rights today like sick leave, annual leave, penalty rates and even weekends.” 

ACTU President Michele O’Neil says the gains for women in the workplace had been “huge” over the past year.

“These changes will have a practical and positive impact on the lives of working women and their families.

“Changes such as these don’t happen on their own – union members have stood together and campaigned to win them.”

She says that with the gender pay gap still at 13.3%, there is more to be done. And when women have the power to negotiate collectively, “they win better pay, conditions and protections”.

IWD has a special meaning for the IEU; of its 75,000 members, 72% are women.

Our teachers and school support staff have a unique role to play in the education of girls and our collective commitment to deliver greater gender equality in education, in our workplaces and in the broader community.

Like Michele O Neill, your union recognises that while there has been welcome progress, significant challenges remain.

The gender pay gap is a national disgrace – on average women earn $26,000 less per year. Women will retire with 24% less super in retirement. Female dominated industries, such as aged care and early childhood education, have been left behind. We also need to push for super on unpaid parental leave.

And the family and domestic leave changes reminds us that one in six Australian women have experienced sexual violence and a woman is murdered every week by a partner or ex-partner. Men must speak out, protect and act if they witness gendered violence.

The Guardian confirmed that women in Australia “earn $1m less on average over their lifetimes than men and retire with $136,000 less in superannuation”.

Eliza Littleton, a senior economist with the Centre for Future Work said, “Australian women continue to be paid less than men on average across all industries and occupations, costing us more than $3bn across the economy each week.”

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) senior policy adviser, Helena Gibson, called for “long overdue action to protect the retirement outcomes of women who take time out of the workforce”, including a $5,000 bonus payment into a mother’s super account per child.

Super fund Hesta estimated that Australian mothers “have missed out on more than $2.8bn in super savings at retirement from taking time out of the workforce to have children”.

For unionists, and especially for the IEU, International Women’s Day celebrates the achievement of women across the world and the significant social, economic and political gains made by women in the last 12 months.

The day is also a call to action, as unions continue to fight for equality and a faster rate of change to create a safer and fairer world for women and girls.