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Council of Action for Equal Pay (1937 - 1948)

From
July 1937
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
To
1948
Occupations
Social action organisation

Summary

The Council of Action for Equal Pay (CAEP) functioned as a single issue pressure group with affiliates from trade unions and women's organisations. Its primary aim was to agitate for the implementation of equal pay through the dissemination of information and to support individual organisations in their fight for equal pay. Its formation marked the first conscious movement for equal pay in Australia. Muriel Heagney, a strong advocate of 'the rate for the job' was influential in its establishment and was the driving force of the organisation as its honorary secretary-treasurer from 1939 until its demise.

Sources used to compile this entry: Johnson, Penny, 'Gender, class and work: the Council of Action for Equal Pay Campaign in Australia during World War 11', Labour History, May 1986, 1986, pp. 132-46.

Related entries

Archival resources

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • Heagney, Muriel A. (Muriel Agnes) papers [manuscript] 1885-1974, 1936 - 1968, MS 9106; Heagney, Muriel Agnes (1885 - 1974); State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Ranald, Patricia, 'Feminism and class: the United Associations of Women and the Council of Action for Equal Pay in the Depression', in Bevege, Margaret, James, Margaret and Shute, Carmel, (eds), Worth her salt: women at work in Australia, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1982, pp. 270-85. Details

Journal Articles

  • Johnson, Penny, 'Gender, class and work: the Council of Action for Equal Pay Campaign in Australia during World War 11', Labour History, May 1986, 1986, pp. 132-46. Details

Theses

  • Francis, Rosemary, 'Muriel Heagney and the Council of Action for Equal Pay 1937-1948', MA thesis, The University of Melbourne, 1989, 147 pp. Details
  • Ranald, Patricia, 'Feminism and class: a study of two Sydney women's organisations during the Great Depression and Second World War', MA thesis, University of Adelaide, 1981. Details

Online Resources

Rosemary Francis

Created: 21 August 2003, Last modified: 30 April 2009

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