should oppose this war in the Falkland Islands.
Eighty per cent of schooi leavers are unemployed. We have no financial independence.
In September, the Tebbit proposals we'll have to wait till we're seventeen before getting security. When you leave school have to go on a slave labour scheme to get £15 per week. Most of which will have to be /our mum dad.
foung people get rough deal out of this government. This war Went give te anything. After We might end up with this Tory government for another five years if they win.
It's like Ireland - Britain has no automatic right to these places. And the Falkland slands are 8,000 miles away. Britain gone into this war just to show its strength as anim. perialist power.
I'm against this war but people being killed there's a difference you re fighting for you very existence, like in Salvador. People have got the right to determine their own lives. The Tories don't allow anyone to determine anything.
There are a lot of women in Youth CND, but it's not because are the peaceful as women. women like us in Nicaragua and El Salvador that are fighting to the death in the war against American imperialism. throughout our history have been determined fighters against oppression - not has but when YOUI Pat Arrowsmith that you would know that from reading school history more books. The reason is that we've got less to lose than men.
The women's movement should oppose Women suffragettes supported the first world war. They gave
women BR guards, tion in law and practice.
British Rail is an equal opportunities employer, What does this mean?
I don't think it's made very much difference at all. Women still do the low paid jobs they still work catering, cleaning, secretarial and office work. work as a guard with two other women guards and over 200 men in my depot. According to BR there are only about 40 women guards in the wnoic county. seven years after the Sex DISCH COACE I don't think being an equal opportunities has made any difference to BRa all. Jobs in BR are still divided along sex lines with men taking the highly paid, skilled jobs and women in general taking the low paid, unskilled jobs.
Why do you think it is that women don't take these jobs? Surely in many cases they don't apply?
Many women don't know they can get these jobs. How many women know they could become a train driver guard? Working as a guard, you get some very startled looks rom passengers. The industry doesn't advertise the jobs. London Transport ads, for example, SHOW WOLICE SEVE OUSES CILE this encourages women — but this is not the normal practice.
Also, there's prejudice at the point of hiring. For examBRITISH RAIL is supposed to be an equal opportunities employer giving women a chance to take jobs that up to now have been open to men only. JUDITH ARKWRIGHT spoke to ROSE KNIGHT, one of the few about working in rail and the broader questions involved in fighting for positive acple when I wanted to get a job as a guard, I signed my name without putting Mrs and I got letters back to Mr Knight. I finally got offered a job and it wasn't until I got to the interview that they realised I was a woman they felt too embarrassed to turn me away.
But I did this because 1 knew they wouldn't offer me this job - they would offer me a job in the office or a cleaning job. That's the sort of prejudice that exists. Then there's the question of training. I was treated very well and every ef fort was made to make sure I kept up with everybody else.
But there are certain things in training to make ONCT CEOT VOICE CHEE take the job. For example we had to lift a very heavy piece of metal called a buck-eye. The inSLEUCUOLS training and showed techniques but since I've been a guard I haven't had to lift one because modern trains don't use them.
I found out that women had lent because of it. This example exists in many jobs along with height qualifications which are often totally chest expansion requirements.
Things which are our were to cut women out A lot of it has to do with confidence as well because even very heavy metal bars can be lifted if you feel confident and you're taught the technique.
Over the next 10 weeks we will be publishing further extracts from Labour's Programme Make sure of your copy or Miss sure that clear us the many the course But there are jobs women simply do? deliberately I don't accept this. If you look round the do agricultural work. you ve got over 3000 womer miners. the war period in Britain when women every job that had to be done.
The training school at the depot where I work was set up during the war in order to train women guards in fact.
You have to say that there are certain requirements need. ed for a certain job and that joc then and women. What should be born in mind is that women, they've only done certain jobs may need special training order to get over some of the hurdles — particularly in jobs * BRITISH RAIL = Unions should fight for positive discrimination at the point of hiring which could point of hiring. can world you see that YOT heavy taken on.
In the USA anywhere.
You only have to look did just about fact, could be taken to because discrimination. in IGE SCU STRIKE BULLET advertising and in training. Bu it doesn't allow any form of positive discrimination at the It doesn't say that union.
demand that a certain percentage of women must be So in that sense it doesn't go the Sex Discrimination Act did was to terms try to remove certain obstacles needs. but it didn't force employers to radically change their employment practices by forcing them to mire women and tram caci to take on 50 per cent of women apply across the whole range of jobs to make up for past discrimination, under the present law they court by man and accused of sex So what you're arguing for favouritism towards pay up children on their own.
1 realit! even if women vage is made up of the wage o ›oth people. It's quite imposs ble now for most tamilies live on the wages carned by the average man. The woman has to go to work and her work is as equally important as his work of their economic But in the present situation where there's only a certain amount of jobs to go round is this policy practicable By in for that because an jobs because unemployment, you're tackling the basic issue, which is that more jobs should be provided. What you're doing is discriminating against one section of the lahour force.
What needs to be recognised is that women have a right to permanent working women because it's only about getting more women newscasters more women MS. good will that do us?
Working •divided because segregation exists The employers use this to their own advantage to lower everybody's For example, if you're a carriage cleaner in BR - and carriage cleaners work much harder than I do - and take home around 255 per week. that's seen by the employer as the basic rate and all other wages are determined by this They only get away with thi because most of the cleaner are women and because of th threat of unemployment I don't think that socialist hould stand back and acce his situation. I think that you fight to get women yay and equal access to all job as a campaign every worker, and you're doing away with the idea that it's possible in the 1980s to pay people question, I can't understand it, because it's precisely working class women that have the rot ten jobs - - who work part time — who work in non-unionised, sweated industries. So positive action is more relevant to them, not less.
What can be done?
We have to take the issue up in the unions and Labour Party has a very radica policy which calls for positiv discrimination at the point o hiring. It wants the law to b changed to allow employers to only actually means amending section 48 of the Sex Discrimination Act.
This would make a very b particularly dustries like heavy engineering where there are women at all Some forn of mandatory procedure needs to be implemented. We need very heavy fines and methods of en forcement. don't want another situation like the Equa Pay Act where employers spent five years getting out of it.
The Labour Party should
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deaths and killing young perle will end up worse
I'm not a pacifist. I don't think most people like to see
because Thatcher is waging war on women too. Seventy
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