The culture of the country in which I am adopted? 18 1 22 ( 17) 25 2 18

The year was 1968 and on the 28th May the 58 women who worked at the Ford's Dagenham Car plant in England walked out of their sewing machine plant over a labour dispute and before they walked back in to resume working permanently they would bring the whole plant with its 55000 male employees out also because they were unable to continue building cars without seats with covers...

In 2010 the Brits made a film or movie about it for the women exacted the promise from the then Labour Government Minister Barbara Castle that Harold Wilson's Government would enact an Equal Pay Law to the effect that equal pay with men would become law in cases where women were similarly skilled, or similarly unskilled, etc., instead of the situation which obtained at the time where skilled women were being paid less than unskilled men... With the complicity of the US Ford’s Management in order to break the strike the women agreed to go back to work provided their demands were met in part, and when the Minister suggested they return to work for 75% parity of pay with the men, when they held out for 90% and in the event were awarded 92%. The Equal Pay Act passed into UK Law in 1970 and thereafter many more countries followed suit, so the film claimed..?

An interesting aside was that the film was made in Britain not Hollywood and when it was released in the USA it was given an “R” rating for restricted to anyone under the age of 17 needing to be accompanied by an adult, though there was little violence, etc., to justify such an action..?

At the time I was only vaguely aware of these events because my wife was pregnant and 1968 marked the year I was applying to and being accepted as a mature student at a northern University where after 10 years working in industry I should be awarded a student grant based on all the taxes I had paid since leaving school aged 15 for a grant that would provide for our small family of 3 members in the sum of £809 per academic year when at the time my salary in industry as a Project Leader was £1392 and when my company offered me a Senior Project Leadership with another £200 pa or thereabouts if I would forgo my University 2 year course to Honours level Chemistry... In the following summer I would work 3 months during the vacation at a salary of FIM 1000, say £100 per month, which all told meant we enjoyed a better standard of living that first year than when I too was underpaid in industry..?   

It is lamentable that only this last year female presenters at the BBC were still being paid a fraction of the salaries of their male counterparts to the extent that the highest paid woman were being paid no more than £500 000 when the highest paid man was receiving £2,2 Million but in a list of the 96 top earners the average for men was £295 000 compared to £210 000 for women with some small progress towards parity now that the lists are being revealed but again only 34 women as against 62 males comprised the makeup of the list…

Happily in Finland where I live the disparity between the sexes is much less than in UK which in part is possibly due to the fact that all salaries are annually published so that the secrecy practised in UK has not been permitted for many a long year…

But the Finns are the people in my view who have the most sensible attitude to the way in which they bring up their children which is not to burden them with a lot of dos and don’ts and just this last year I have got to know of two young couples whose relationships came about when the girl in at least one of the cases persuaded her class mate to partner her in the school dance in their final year and a year on they appear to be continuing to enjoy each other’s company… voilà! Have a good day everyone as I hope you too favour parity in all things? 

A comment about sexual equality 50 years on..?18 1 22 (17 hits so far)
Yesterday before she left my wife and i had had a vexed word when i got to reflect on the fact of my visiting the local take-away for my Monday luncheon snack of Finnish Pyttipanu a dish comprising short lengths of grill sausage French fried potatoes salad with dressing and a fried egg presented in a polystyrene package which also contained mustard and tomatoe sauses plus salt.
But as i arrived there and parked my car with its engine still running since i use it so little and in the winter months i live in fear of the battery or accumualtor running down if i start and stop to frequently. When two guys were already waiting either to be served or to give their order at the Take-away's outside hatch, the lady owner busy getting someone's food ready while now three men waited in the cold outside air. The tall young guy to the right kept eye-balling me as he waited, the older guy much shorter standing further away to my left, and not so interested to eye ball anyone: me awaiting the lady at the hatch. So of course i get to thinking perhaps keeping my engine going they may find iritating an unnecessary burden on an already burdened planet?
Then the young guy gets his order of maybe 1/2 dozen different packages as i move nearer to the hatch to place my order when he stops me in my tracks with the words "He's before you!", only for the other guy to enjoin with the words "I have already placed my order!" leaving mesomewhat surprised with his timerity.
Relating this incident to my Finnish wife later she observed that maybe he was showing his displeasure at your keeping your engine running...an observation which would never have occured to me but since i have begun to study Finland's different cultures more i find totally likely! Finns sense of community is said to go a good way to explaining why its people are so happy..?