FT Journalists demand equal pay

Journalists at the Financial Times have voted unanimously to back union demands to fix the gender pay gap at the newspaper.

Journalists are concerned that woman working at the financial title are paid some 13% less than male colleagues and are willing to resort to industrial action if the publisher does not address the problem.

A statement released by the FT NUJ chapel says: ‘Journalists at the FT are increasingly concerned that the gender pay gap at the Financial Times is worsening and that senior managers are not taking this seriously.

‘Data provided by the managing editor show that the gender gap for most UK FT journalists is nearly 13%, the widest it has been in a decade, and worse than the previous year.

‘So far, FT managers appear to have prioritised commercial initiatives over real steps towards pay parity. And targets for action – including increasing numbers of women in senior jobs and improving female pay averages – have become recast as “ambitions”. The company’s recently stated aim for equalising gender pay is 2022.’

NUJ members at the FT are keen to highlight the publisher’s editorial stance on the problem of the gender pay gap with the statement: ‘As employees of a media group that holds other businesses to account over transparency and high standards, we, male and female journalists at the FT at every level, want the company to commit to a deadline for ending the gender pay gap as soon as possible and to provide detailed averages showing that the gap is closing for all, not just those in more senior roles.’

The statement continued: ‘After a recent leader in the paper argued that “women are right to be angry at the pay gap”, it’s time for the Financial Times to put its money where its mouth is.’

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