WORKING women can win together under a Labour government, shadow women and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds told the TUC women’s conference today.
Ms Dodds thanked the TUC women’s committee for inviting her to speak on International Women’s Day, describing it as a “time where we reflect on the many injustices and inequalities that scar our society and how we could deliver greater equality for women in this country and abroad.”
She said: “Unfortunately, those inequalities don’t seem to be something that our current government has been interested in.
“This year, [Prime Minister Rishi Sunak] faces a reckoning on his failures [affecting women workers].
“Because this year, women will deliver their verdict on Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives’ record [on] women and they’ll get a chance to vote for a Labour Party that will put women at the heart of our missions.”
Ms Dodds told the conference that Labour in government would “take the next step” for women, with the first ever secretary of state for women and equalities drawing “inspiration from your achievements.”
She added that “working women deserve better than this government that is out of ideas.”
The shadow minister highlighted the Tories’ “deprioritising” of women’s needs, including specific medical treatments, accusing ministers of making them pay the price for economic failure and the gender pay gap.
“Women being held back from participation in our economy is holding back our economic outlook,” Ms Dodds said.
“That’s why the government should be addressing the exorbitant cost of childcare and the problems with flexible work, which mean so many women with young children find it pretty hard to stay in employment.
“And this is why the government should be taking action today on our hundreds of thousands of women who want to stay in work but are having to manage their menopausal symptoms with the outdated terms and conditions at work.”
A modern, high-growth economy needs good, secure jobs, Ms Dodds said, adding that this requirement had prompted her party to develop a new deal for workers with trade unions.
“This is Labour’s vision for working women — not stagnation and inaction, but bold, transformative change,” she stressed. “Not division and bluster we’ve seen by this government, but solidarity and support for working women.
“With your help this election year, we can make history for women [and] together we can win for women.”
