By Lucy Caulkett-
Journalists at the Financial Times have agreed to stage an industrial action to address a gender pay gap.At a full meeting of the FT National Union of Journalist chapel today, concerned journalists gathered to challenge a gender pay gap that has women earning 13% less than men.
The Financial Times which has over 550 journalists protest the continued gender gap between male and female employees. They insist that senior managers are doing nothing about it. A staement from the FT NUJ chapel reads:journalists at the FT are increasingly concerned that the gender pay gap at the Financial Times is worsening and that senior mangement are not taking this seriously. Data provided by the managing editor shows that the gender gap for most FT journalists is nearly 13%, the widest it has been in a decade, and worse than the previous year.
So far, FT managers appear to have prioritized commercial initiatives over real steps towards pay parity. And targets for action including increasing numbers of women in senior jobs and improving female averages have become recast as ‘The government’s ambitions’. The company’s recently stated aim for equalising gender pay is 2022. This is five year away and three years after the BBC’S much criticised deadlin of 2020
”As employees of a media group that hold other organisations to account over transparency and high standards, we male and female journalists at the FT want the company to commit to ending the pay gap as soon as possible, and to provide detailed averages showing that the gap is closing for all, not just those in more serious roles. These should include reference to financial incentives and bonuses for senior and executive staff, including the CEO”
”we are asking the FT to share details of mean and median gross annual earnings of men and women by job title( reporter, correspondent, senior correspondent, assistant editor, deputy editor, and editor0 and by age, following the example of the Wall Street Journal.
”we also ask the management to release information on pay gaps on grounds of ethnicity, social background/education and disability in similar fashion. Chapel rep will organise an independent survey on pay
“We also ask the management to release information on pay gaps on grounds of ethnicity, social background/education and disability in a similar fashion. Chapel reps will also organise an independent survey on pay.
SHOCK
After the BBC was widely exposed for huge gender gaps in their payments, it comes as a shock that another media organisation has also been demonstrating sexism through gender pay gaps, and have shown no willingness to address this as a matter of urgency. The statement from the press group accurately hit home the point that an organisation that holds others to account, loses a chunk of its own credibility where clear and undisputed levels of sexism has been evidenced, with no immediate end in sight.
Internal pay audits show that women mainly earn between £30,000 and £50,000, whilst most earners of £60,000 plus are men. The ratio of men to women earning over £80,000 is 70- 20, highlighting the huge gender disparity in payment. Financial Times bosses say they are evenly split between men and women in their workforce, with more women in senior roles across newsrooms and commercial teams than ever before. Senior bosses say they are working hard towards the promotion of female roles, but there has so far been no explanation to expalin why the gender gap is embarassingly high, and why there are no immediate plans to rectify it.
Serious questions that must be on the lips of every decent citizen.If sexual discrimination can be so brazenly practised in the media, where do the boundaries of discrimination lie? Wages differentials between men and women of comparable ability and duties open and easy to confirm. However, the more frightning question is what other subtle forms of sexual or other types of discrimination exists in these supposedly respected organisations.