Wainwright Trust Evening 2006

A hugely successful Wainwright Trust Evening took place on 5 June 2006 at the Royal Society of Medicine, London. The question and answer session was chaired by René Carayol, the business consultant and broadcaster, seen most recently presenting Pay off your mortgage in two years on BBC2. In fact, chaired is the wrong word, because for most of the time he stood up, engaging the audience fully in the proceedings and conveying to them his own enthusiasm.

The panel is shown in the picture and, from left to right, they are Mike Fairey, Deputy Chief Executive of the Lloyds TSB Group and Deputy Chairman of Race for Opportunity; Loraine Martins, Head of Equality and Diversity, Audit Commission; Caroline Gooding, Special Advisor and Director, Disability Rights Commission and Frances O'Grady, Deputy General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress. René Carayol, "chairing" the meeting is shown below.

The discussion ranged over the many aspects of discrimination. Progress in his own organisation was illustrated with telling statistics by Mike Fairey, although some in the audience felt that underlying racist attitudes still persisted in society and in organisations. Caroline Gooding felt strongly that improvements had been made, not only in her specialist field of disability but also on sexual orientation. Loraine Martins saw the Audit Commission as a powerful influence on local and central government employers, whilst Frances O'Grady made a strong case for the key role of trade unions in achieving improvements. She also made an impassioned call for real equality, "not just equality of opportunity".

After the panel session, Lorraine Paddison, one of the trustees, gave a brief outline of a project to create an archive on equal pay. This is now beginning with a pilot to record on film some of the major cases, beginning with the Ford sewing machinists' dispute in 1968, which led quickly to the passing of the Equal Pay Act. The pilot is being jointly funded by the TUC and the Trust. Jo Morris of the TUC is in charge of the project. Lorraine made an appeal for donations to the Trust to enable it to play a role in the subsequent work on this project, which relates closely to the work of David Wainwright who was involved as an equal pay expert in many of these early cases.

She introduced a short clip from the first archive film of interviews with the sewing machinists and their trade union convenor. After the film clip, she announced the presentation of a special Breakthrough Award to the sewing machinists and to Bernie Passingham, who was the convenor at Ford's River Plant where the machinists worked. René Carayol then presented the Breakthrough trophy to Bernie Passingham, who accepted it on behalf of the sewing machinists as well as himself. There were two of the 1968 strikers present and four who took part in the subsequent 1984 strike, which finally achieved the equal pay for which they had struggled. A very emotional occasion! There were just over 100 people in the audience, including a large contingent from the Transport and General Workers' Union, their deputy general secretary amongst them. Click here for more information on the winners of the Breakthrough Award.

The panel session was followed by a buffet supper served in the Atrium of the Royal Society of Medicine, enabling discussion to continue.

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Wainwright Trust Evening 2004

The 2004 Wainwright Trust Evening took place on 15 June 2004 at the Royal College of Physicians, Regent's Park, London NW.1. The audience of 120 equalled the record attendance of two years previously.

The question and answer session was chaired by Jenni Murray OBE, who has been the regular presenter of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour since 1987. The panel consisted of Lord Ouseley, former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, who is a member of the Appeal Committee of the Trust, discrimination lawyer Jennifer Eady, Ford Europe's diversity director Surinder Sharma and David McFarlane from the National Black Police Association.

The picture shows the panel answering questions. They are, from left to right, Surinder Sharma, Lord Ouseley, Jenni Murray, David McFarlane and Jennifer Eady.

The discussion as usual ranged over a wide range of equality and diversity topics. Unsurprisingly, there was discussion of a single commission: this extended also to discussion of consolidating the various laws, so that all aspects of diversity and equality were treated in similar ways. Naturally, with David McFarlane on the panel, racism in the police figured in the exchanges of view. Strong views were expressed on the need to enforce the law and on the need to ensure that policies were not kept "in a glass case", but were really put into practice. It was thought that there had been progress, but that the progress for white middle class women outstripped progress elsewhere. The question "how do you recognise progress?" was left hanging in the air.

Summary of Earlier Events

Annual Lectures

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Trust in 1997, Usha Prashar CBE (now Baroness Prashar), who was then a trustee, delivered a lecture before an invited audience in the Old Hall of Lincoln's Inn. Prof. (now Sir) Bob Hepple QC took the chair. Her subject was Equal Opportunities: from wings to centre stage? The text of this lecture is available from the Trust.

This was so successful, that another lecture was arranged in 1998, again at Lincoln's Inn. This lecture was given by Baroness (Valerie) Amos (now Leader of the House of Lords and President of the Council), with Baroness (Helena) Kennedy QC in the chair. Her subject was Equality at Work: an Ethical Investment? Again, the text of this lecture is available from the Trust.

Wainwright Trust Evenings

Both lectures were followed by a buffet supper, enabling those present to continue the discussion amongst themselves. However, the trustees felt that there needed to be more opportunity for those present to participate and, as a result, in 1999 they mounted the first of a series of brains trusts.

This took place at the Royal Society of Arts, with Janet Street-Porter, who is a member of the Appeal Committee of the Trust, in the chair. The panel was Fitzroy Andrew, who was then the chief executive of the Windsor Fellowship; Julie Hayward, a youth worker with Streetwise and well-known as the first successful claimant under the equal pay for work of equal value legislation; Karon Monaghan, barrister; Jo Morris from the equal rights department of the Trades Union Congress; and Lorraine Paddison, a trustee and director of TMS Equality and Diversity Consultants.

In 2000, another evening was held at the Royal Society of Arts. Baroness Kennedy QC was in the chair and the panel was Andrea Callender, director of Race for Opportunity; Sue Hastings, an adviser on grading and pay structures; Bob Mason of BT Wireless, chair of the equal pay task force; and Mickey Rubenstein, a trustee and expert on employment law.

The same pattern was followed in 2001, again at the Royal Society of Arts, with Baroness Prashar in the chair. This time the panel was Robin Allen QC, an expert in employment law; Diana Holland OBE of the TGWU; Jean Tomlin, HR Director of Egg plc; and Polly Toynbee, writer and broadcaster.

In 2002 the Wainwright Trust Evening took place at 10 St James's Square, London. There were 120 participants — a record for the Trust's evenings.

Sue MacGregor, formerly of the Radio 4 Today programme, took the chair. The panel was Laura Cox QC, a leading human rights and employment barrister and, among many other things, chair of the Bar Council's equal opportunities committee; Sir Howard Davies, chairman of the Financial Services Authority as well as chairman of the Employers' Forum on Age; conductor Wasfi Kani, who runs Pimlico Opera which tours prisons throughout the UK and also Grange Park Opera in Hampshire; and Kamaljeet Jandu, C.R.E. Commissioner and diversity manager at Ford.

The 2003 Wainwright Trust evening also took place at 10 St James's Square, London SW1.

Broadcaster Moira Stewart OBE chaired the panel. The panel members were Diana Holland OBE, the national organiser for women, race and equalities at the Transport and General Workers' Union, discrimination law specialist Makbool Javaid, Max Manin, deputy director of Stonewall and pensions czar Alan Pickering.

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Click here to return to the report of the 2009 Evening.