Despite the Equal Pay Act in 1970, women still earn less than men in Britain today. The current gender pay gap means women effectively stop earning relative to men on a day in November. This day is referred to as Equal Pay Day and varies according to the actual pay gap each year. In 2017, Equal Pay Day is on Friday 10th November - the same day as last year.

This year, the Students' Union will be hosting a walk out for all female students and staff in order to stand together and show solidarity in the numbered shape of the gender pay gap of West Yorkshire of 17%*. That figure has risen since 2013 from 15.2% to 17.1%

Join the Students’ Union on Friday 10^th November at 3:30pm on University Plaza.

Here’s what Chief Executive Officer of Huddersfield Students’ Union, Rebekah Smith, has to say:

“I’m very proud that my appointment as the first female CEO of Huddersfield Students’ Union means that we now have a gender pay gap tipped in favour of women, but also sad that this is still a rarity in one of the richest, and supposedly progressive, countries in the world.  As part of the Students’ Union movement, we will continue to highlight this inequality for the sake of all the female students in higher education.  More females now go to university than males and perform better academically in subject areas such as law and business, yet they continue to earn less money in equivalent jobs.  The fact that the gap hasn’t narrowed since 2013, shows that this is a problem that needs to be continually challenged.”

Not only will we be hosting a walkout at 3:30pm on Friday 10^th November, we aim to:

• Publicly release our own results on our Gender Pay Gap by the end of November along with our Gender Pay Gap Briefing.
• Start a conversation with student leaders at local organisations about holding their institutions to account.
• To encourage the University of Huddersfield to publish their gender pay gap data early through Big Ideas.
• To continue to encourage the University to work towards its stated aim in its Equality and Diversity in Employment 2015-2018 statement to “increase the number and proportion of female staff who are employed on senior staff contracts” and “increase the number and proportion of female staff in the top 4% of earners to match the sector median” and work in partnership with the university to identify new aims in its future Equality and Diversity in Employment paper.

*The Gender Pay Gap of West Yorkshire as of 2016 is 17.1% asked in April 2017

Source: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-04-13/70578/

A message from your Equalities Officer following today's walkout.

Dear Students,

It is 2017 and we are still fighting the Gender Pay Gap, in my view, this is not acceptable. There should be no place in our society for discrimination of any kind and we should all stand against it. No group in society should be looked down on, be that for gender, race or any other factor.

We should campaign every day for equal pay, let's all stand-up against inequality and discrimination in the workplace.

Please take some time to read the BBC report on the Gender Pay Gap.

BRIGHT JUSTICE

SU EQUALITIES OFFICER