Women labour activists fought against gender-based wage inequality during the interwar period. One of them was Valerie Novotná, a trade unionist from Czechoslovakia active within the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). By the 1930s, the IFTU’s Women’s Committee saw its work as a “campaign for the practical realisation of equal pay”. Novotná considered women’s low wages a matter of concern for the entire working class. In preparation for the IFTU’s international conference of women trade unionists in 1936, she argued that wage pressure exerted by women’s lower earnings was central to the reasoning of “all enemies of women’s work”. Equal pay for women workers, for her, was inextricably linked to the demand to raise women’s wages. Like Eugenia Waśniewska at the 1928 International Labour Conference, Novotná combined the campaign for equal pay with demands for minimum wage legislation. Recognizing that women were often concentrated in the lowest-paid segments of the labour market, she argued that a guaranteed wage floor would particularly benefit them and raise the overall living standard of the working class. Her approach reflected an awareness that equality between women and men was insufficient without economic measures to back it up. Novotná also argued that the demand for equal pay should be “put first amongst all demands which must be fulfilled in order to achieve our final goal, women’s freedom to earn”.

Mme. Valerie Novotna. Short biography and photograph given in VIIth Triennial Congress London 1936 (Source: TUC Library Collections at London Metropolitan University)

At the 1936 IFTU women’s conference in London, Novotná presented a detailed report that further developed these ideas. She highlighted how wage discrimination contributed to the broader economic marginalization of women and proposed equal pay not only as a remedy for injustice but also as a precondition for women’s meaningful participation in the workforce. She also emphasized the need for careful documentation of pay disparities. Collecting data, she stressed, was a critical first step towards pressuring both governments and employers to adopt more equitable practices.

Novotná did not present the struggle for equal pay as a separate, women-only issue, but located it within a broader class-based agenda, calling on trade union men to support gender wage justice. Alongside others in the IFTU Women’s Committee, she worked to ensure that equal pay was not just endorsed in principle but treated as an integral part of trade union policy.

However, structural and cultural barriers limited what could be achieved at the time. Women remained underrepresented in union leadership and decision-making, and their issues were often sidelined. The unions’ commitment to equal pay varied in practice, depending on local contexts and economic pressures. While Novotná’s proposals were detailed and well-argued, they faced an uphill battle within union hierarchies dominated by men.

Her work represents an important moment in the history of women’s labour activism. Valerie Novotná advanced a comprehensive understanding of wage justice that linked individual rights to collective well-being. By positioning equal pay as central to the broader struggle for economic stability, she helped to redefine what trade union activism for gender equality could look like.