There's the comforting whiff of an old chestnut being roasted around here this morning. It's this awkward discussion about the difference between what men and women get paid.

There is a gap - when you look at the figures - there's no arguing against that. But it's nowhere near as wide as some people want us to think.

I'm not saying it's right. What I'm getting at is the fact that there are huge disparities between what people who are good at negotiating can squeeze out of their boss, and what those who aren't as bold when it comes to thumping the table and demanding a bit more.

My personal view is we can sheet a lot of this back to deregulation and de-unionisation of the workplace.

Forget gender for a moment, and just ask yourself if you're paid as much as - or less than - the person at the next desk who's doing essentially the same work. I'll bet a lot of us don't even know what the next person gets. And when the subject comes up, because in most workplaces we all negotiate individually, the bosses have got us over a barrel.

Hardly any of us knows what our colleagues are getting paid. And of course nobody wants to say, just in case we're getting paid much more than our workmates or - and this is equally embarrassing - much less.

Good negotiators get paid a lot more. That's the simple fact. The Equity Pay Coalition - which is an offshoot of the CTU and is running this campaign for gender pay equity - knows this, and says so.

Bottom line? It's every man and woman for himself, or herself. The gap between what a few of us make, and what the rest of us put up with has got wider.

But I don't think this is primarily a gender issue. Sure, there are industries dominated by women, and they're not well paid.

But surely the more fractious and divisive issue is that been the haves, and the have-nots.