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Women lose out in the workplace
Young women on the national anti-austerity demo, June 2015, photo Socialist Party (Click to enlarge)
'Karen Smith', care worker
Pregnant women and mums are "losing out" in the workplace, according to Citizens Advice.
Employers use pregnancy to cheat women out of promotions, pay and leave. The rise in cost of employment tribunals is a major factor.
But working in the care sector, you might think women have it better. After all, it is dominated by women.
Further studies show women are still at a disadvantage in female-dominated workplaces. In the US, for example, the Journal of the American Medical Association found in 2015 that women nurses are paid $5,200 a year less than men.
I work in men's mental health. A harmful culture of macho masculinity is evident around every corner. Men can't show their feelings, men can't cry, that's what 'girls' do. So instead some men show their emotions in the more 'accepted' form of aggression.
These are vulnerable men dealing with a history of mental health issues, abuse and neglect.
So when I challenged colleagues who said "man up" and called abuse survivors "pussies" for crying or "fairies" for complaining of ill health, I was not supported. My job is now at risk. Not because I am a woman, but because I am a woman who spoke out.
With more funding and attention given to mental health, the whole sector could be transformed.
Proper training, support and democratic control of the health service can help overcome bad practice damaging workplace cultures.
For now, cuts, insecurity and the profit motive of greedy outsourcers stand in the way of that.
I am grateful to have a job and a union rep to back me up. But the unions need to step up the action - coordinate strikes - to kick out the Tory cutters.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
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