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A woman's right to shoes - UCU delegate to contest high heels motion at TUC Congress

15 September 2009

UCU said today (Tuesday) that a motion at the TUC Congress in Liverpool calling for high heels in the workplace to be replaced by sensible and comfortable shoes may be well-intended, but risked unions being portrayed as killjoys in the media.

Loraine Monk, a UCU delegate from Nescot College in Epsom, Surrey, will speak in the debate just before lunch where she will say: 'This well-meant motion will see the union movement portrayed in the media as the killjoy fashion police. Why is it only aimed at women? Hasn't anyone heard of Berlusconi?
 
'Who decides what is appropriate when it comes to dress codes? My union previously fought a successful campaign against a college that demanded women lecturers had to have their arms covered at all times. Who thought that one up? A man.
 
'We should list all inappropriate dress in the workplace; not pick on something that is symbolic of a much wider debate about gender roles and is something that many women have a particular view about – both for and against.
 
'Let's debate the women's charter with the same enthusiasm as this debate. Let's demand mandatory pay audits to redress pay inequality. Let's stop telling women what to do.'
Last updated: 11 December 2015

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