Equal Pay petition

This petition presented to the House of Commons asked 'That the House may establish equal pay for equal work as between men and women in the public services.' It was signed by more than 80,000 people, as can be seen from the pencilled note at the top. The first four signatures are Muriel Pierotti, Ethel Watts, Philippa Strachey and Gertrude Horton from the Equal Pay Campaign Committee, which organised the committee. The petition was brought to the Commons amid great publicity by a cross-party group of women MPs: Patricia Ford (Ulster Unionist), Irene Ward (Conservative), Edith Summerskill and Barbara Castle (Labour). Following the petition, equal pay was introduced in the civil service on a phased basis between 1955 and 1961. For more, see: https://ukvote100.org/2017/11/09/women-demand-equal-pay/