Grazia & Gemma Arterton Hit Parliament To Campaign For Equal Pay
They’re joined by the original Dagenham strikers
Grazia hit The House of Commons today with Gemma Arterton and the original Dagenham ladies to give their backing to a pivotal parliamentary debate on equal pay for women.
Back in June, the glossy magazine launched its Mind The Pay Gap campaign urging MPs to debate the implementation of Section 78 of the Equality Act.
Over 10,000 signatures later and Section 78, which forces companies with more than 250 employees to anonymously reveal the difference in hourly pay between men and women, was voted for via a Ten Minute Rule motion proposed by Labour backbencher Sarah Champion.
Shortly before 3pm the vote was successfully passed with MPs voting 258 to 8 in favour of implementing Section 78! The incredible result is the first step to closing the gender pay gap!
To pledge their support, earlier on Grazia and trade union UNITE joined forces for a special reception at the House of Commons.
They were joined by the Ford sewing machinist strikers of 1968, who were the inspiration for 2010 movie Made In Dagenham, Labour MP Gloria de Piero and James Bond actress Gemma Arterton who stars in the Made In Dagenham musical.
Labour leader Ed Miliband also showed his support for the pay gap campaign, making a speech at the Grazia reception and posing for photos with the Dagenham ladies.
Gemma Arterton said at the rally: "I hope today we can shine a light on this issue and more people can be more confident about speaking up about it."
! Ed Miliband, Grazia editor Jane Bruton, MP Gloria de Piero & the Dagenham ladies
Addressing those gathered at the reception, Grazia’s editor-in-chief Jane Bruton said: "In 2014 women are still only earning 81p for every male pound.
“Yes there were some promising figures out last month – but we should not have to wait another 44 years (52 according to The Fawcett Society) for the gap to disappear.
“I don’t want to wait that long. We shouldn’t have to wait that long. This is not a time to rest on our laurels."
! Grazia's editor-in-chief Jane Bruton
While ONS (Office for Nation Statistics) statistics revealed a decrease in the gender pay gap at the beginning of November, men are paid nearly 20 per cent more than women as a whole.
Follow the #equalpay hashtag on Twitter for live updates!