Wales Green Party leader, Pippa Bartolotti and Natalie Bennett, leader of England and Wales Green Party are getting together to help celebrate the unveiling of the Blue Plaque at Risca Road in Newport on 12th June. Later in the day they will attend a drinks reception and lecture at Newport University.
Pippa Bartolotti said, “Lady Rhondda was a remarkable woman and she would not settle for second best. She fought much of her life with the Suffragettes for women to have an equal place in society. It was a desperate struggle against the establishment of the day, and that struggle continues. Today women managers in Wales earn almost £4000 less than a man for doing the same job, and a woman working part-time will earn almost 19% less.
“The Wales Green Party is taking up that struggle and demanding that every company publish their pay data. Inequality on any level is intolerable, so let’s have some transparency and treat our women as equals in every respect.”
Natalie Bennett, the England and Wales Green Party leader added, "I'm delighted to be taking part in events to commemorate the life of Viscountess Rhondda. She's an inspiring example of commitment to political struggle, to real change which she lived to see after many decades of hard work and determined direct action.
"It is important that we remember our foremothers and forefathers in political struggles, while also highlighting how important continuing activism is today. Viscountess Rhondda would surely have been horrified that still, in 2015, fewer than 1 in 3 MPs is female."
The Blue Plaque for Lady Rhondda Project Group launched a successful crowdfunder earlier this year to pay for the commemoration.