Social Context / Legislation |
| • |
EQUAL
PAY ACT is passed, specifying equal pay
for equal work. Employers have five years
to comply with the new legislation which does
not go into effect until 1975. |
| • |
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS BILL |
Conferences |
| • |
National |
| |
~
|
"It was really
from the Oxford conference in February 1970
that a movement could be said to exist "
(Rowbotham
1972).
The April issue of Shrew
reports on the press coverage of the Oxford
conference. Misunderstanding, omissions
and misrepresentation by the media will
plague the movement throughout the decade:
"It is difficult
to get a clear picture of what actually
happened [at the Oxford Conference] when
all available reports are inaccurate, interpretative
and similarly biased [ ... ] This emphasizes
once again our need to develop our own channels
of communication, and to establish our own
credibility as a movement, so that people
no longer look to establishment media for
news about us." (Tufnell
Park Women's Liberation Group, 1970:
4). |
Organisations / Campaigns |
| • |
WERC
(Campaign against discrimination in education)
|
| • |
WOMEN'S NATIONAL CO-ORDINATING
COMMITTEE (WNCC) is created at the Oxford
conference. It meets again in Sheffield
in June 1970 and adopts a Terms of Reference
for its functioning. It is devised as a
loose co ordinating body for the WLM, to
which WLM groups can choose to affiliate.
The WNCC consists of bi-monthly meetings
to which each affiliated group is to send
two voting delegates. Issues arise relating
to the contrasts between women affiliated
to Left groups, their goals and methods
of organisation and the women from the 'structureless'
groups created by localised consciousness
raising:
"It was felt
that the movement had already grown sufficiently
to need a national structure in order to
co ordinate the increasingly diverse activities
of women's groups around the country. Women
in left groups saw this as an opportunity
to influence the political development of
the WLM and managed to dominate the national
committee. This women's national co ordinating
committee formulated four demands which
were adopted by the WLM [...] however, the
WNCC degenerated into sectarian squabbles
between the different left factors represented
and was disbanded by the Skegness WLM conference
in 197l." (Scarlet
Women Collective 1977: 5) |
| • |
WOMEN
IN MEDIA, London |
| • |
WLM
RALLY and march, London |
| • |
|
| • |
Demonstrations/meetings
against the harmful effects of the Industrial
Relations Bill for women. |
Bradford / Leeds
|
| • |
A strike by Leeds
women clothing workers occurs after
the union accepts a low wage rise that discriminates
against women. 20,000 women march from 45
factories (James
1976). This event was later made into the
Play for Today film Leeds
- United!
|
| • |
Women's groups are set up in Bradford,
including a university Women's group and
another group which started in the university
but spread to the city (Allen, OFT Interview
No. 11) |
|
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