GMB Scotland Women's Campaign Unit Blog

Our famous City of Discovery has a sex discrimination problem. That should sting anyone who takes pride in Dundee’s historical matriarchal status, and it should shame anyone who claims Scotland is a land a fair work. And whether it’s around the negotiating table or in the courts, Dundee City Council can’t ignore this.

Today marks 10 years since the Equality Act became law. An incredibly important piece of legislation that looked to tackle the many and varied guises discrimination takes but the reality is that any one law will struggle to cover the complicated nature of discrimination.

As society starts to wake up to its failure to recognise the value of women’s work, paid and unpaid, do we need to revisit the laws that should provide the foundation to our legal and industrial battles?

We can be sure that against the backdrop of cuts to public services and a subsequent downturn in consumer spending in retail, the pressure will be on women to sustain services and to put up with our lot. It is never popular to demand what is right when the budget is tight but in fact it is absolutely essential, now more than ever, to fight for equal pay and pay justice.