EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
Snt,—May I be permitted to comment on your opening article in The Spectator of March 31st on the defeat of the Government? While many will deplore with you the situation which arose, this surely could have been avoided had the Government shown any appreciation of the strong fed- ing in the House on this matter which had been made quite clear to them. It will no doubt be recollected that the principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work in the Civil Service was accepted by the House in 1920, but that this was not put into operation on grounds of financial stringency, and that the subsequent enquiry which was promised within three years was not carried out. In 1936 the House again signified its acceptance of this principle, but a reversal of the decision then reached was obtained by a similar expedient to that of last week by allying this question to one of confidence.
The position now is that women, having waited already some 23 years for what they consider to be their due' are determined that a decision shall be reached and that, as in the case of equal compensation, no oppor- tunity shall be missed to bring the matter before Parliament and Public— hence the motion on the Education Bill. Mr. Butler's suggestion that this question is one for the Burnham Committee is contrary to the view expressed by the Government on an earlier occasion regarding Equal Pay in the Civil Service which, it laid down, was not a subject for dis- cussion on the Civil Service National Whitley Council (a comparable body to the Burnham Committee) because it was a matter of Government policy. It is to be hoped that it has now been made clear to the Government that this is one of the problems which- has to be faced immediately and that while the women of the country will continue to work unceasingly for victory, and to devote their utmost energy to the common cause, there is, in their_ view, no logical reason against paying women equally with men where they are doing equal work, and they expect and demand fair treatment on this issue.—Yours faithfully,
zo Salisbury Road, Wimbledon, S.W. zg.
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