are doing different, 'unlike jobs, the TUC has put out one little booklet!
This agitational masterpiece places the emphasis on women pursuing equal pay as fodividumir, by going to their shop steward, their employer, and the industrial tribunals! The record of the unions in waging strug gles for equal pay is little better. The AUEW, representing just under 200,000 women workers, has put forward a demand for equal pay for the past four years. In cach case it on continuing economic growth, an assumption which now appears more and loave the workers' strugeles to the trade own domain", They say that they do not seck to unity the struggles into ones for political objectives, At for the trade unions, the CFDT (the second biggest unico federation in Francer is not ried to the politics of the SPin exactly the same way that the OGT (the biggest union federation in France) is tied to the politics of the CP. In many strugales the CFDT appears to tbe left of the CGT.
This is shown most clearly in the present negotiations concerning senior sochnicians. This is led by the CGT Ingether with the COC (Confederlion Generate des Cadres-organisations of lower managers and senior tachnicams this problem. The way, to ensure that women are in a position.to. safeguard their jobs is not to wait until the threat of redundancies actually emerges full-blown, but to go on the offensive now to fight for job equality.
More than half of all married women work, and they make up over two-thirds of all women workers: The budgets of a majority of working class families are therefore dependent on the contributions made by women. Any threat to women's jobs is an attack on the living standards of the entire working ciass.
UNION MEMBERS
While women still represent the largest section of non-unionised workers, in recent times they have been joining unions at twice the rate of men. In NUPE, for example, the number of women members increased by an astonishing 86% between 1969. and 1972. In part, this level of recruitment is a result of the fact that women have increasingly been drawn into struggles simply to defend their living standards. I also shows that male trude unionists are beginning to recognise that women tepresent an unparded flank.
In the bitter ten-weeks strike at Salford Electrical Instruments, part of the GEC combine, one of the women clerical workers remarked that she was appalled that GEC was not even prepared to pay the Food, thus tatter orgarasanon is ica ny Malterre-an old supporter of Algerie Francaise loontinued French rule over fierce strugge to maintain pay differen tials. The CCT has more or less openly supported this latter policy on the repelling the middle class by any moves to reduce differentials. It is oniy against its will that the CGT puts forward the demands of aqual salaty rises for all while within the CFDT the conlitarion the maintenaner workers and technicians they are recruiting.
DIFFERENCES
Coramon actions between the CGT and the CHIFF hose been ma named. bor al the same one differenpos have cinereod between them, Without examining in the work in the home.
RESPONSIBILITIES
failure if it assumes that in capitalist Women are not equal as long as they are expected to shoulder as individuals