Women discriminated against in pay stakes: ACTU
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WA women earn almost 30 per cent less than men. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin)
Unions are calling for greater scrutiny of the pay gap between male and female employees.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) wants all employers to report any gender based pay disparity. It also wants the Federal Government to appoint a pay equity commissioner.
UnionsWA secretary Dave Robinson says figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show Western Australian women earn nearly 30 per cent less than men.
He says this can be explained by the prevalence of male dominated, lucrative jobs like mining.
However Mr Robinson says there are other factors including discrimination.
"Women don't get the opportunities as men do still for promotion, for career advancement, for acting in higher level jobs," he said.
"We still hear about women being asked whether they intend to have a family when they go for a job at interview, they are still being asked those types of questions and it is of course discriminatory and highly illegal."
