Straight Goods - NB stalls pay equity
Straight Goods - NB stalls pay equity
NB stalls pay equity
Historic wage inequity still a struggle.
Dateline: Tuesday, February 07, 2012
by Jody Dallaire, Dieppe Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity between Women and Men
I recently watched an inspiring British movie called Made in Dagenham. It's about a true story - the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant (one of Great Britain's largest employers at the time), where female workers walked off the job in protest against sexual wage discrimination.
The 187 female sewing machinists (the plant also employed thousands of men) were asking to be paid the value of their work. They argued that the skills required for their work (making car seat covers) equaled the skills required for other (male-dominated) jobs on the production line and that they should paid the same as men in the same skill category. This was a revolutionary concept at the time and still is so, to some extent, today.
Given the government's reluctance to release the results, some of us suspect that pay inequity was found.
As the strike progressed, the women realized that legislative change would be needed to get equal pay for equal work. There was no law in place to protect women against discriminatory pay practices. Women were paid less simply because they were women. The female machinists then took their fight to the House of Parliament, demanding government action. The women were looking for legislation to guarantee what they called "equal pay for equal work", but which encompassed both pay parity (same pay for the same job) and pay equity (same pay for jobs that are different but have equal value).
The struggle profiled in this movie reminds me of the current struggle of thousands of New Brunswick women. Their struggle is for pay equity - equal pay for work of equal value. Although, women now by-and-large have pay parity, pay equity still eludes the fairer sex.
Pay equity means that predominantly and/or traditionally female jobs are paid the same as predominantly and/or traditionally male jobs when they are equivalent. For example, in some workplaces the sound technician or the computer technician, a predominantly male job, is paid more than the secretary, a predominantly female job - even though both jobs require college degrees.
Like the women in the movie, members of the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity (the provincial non-profit organization working to eliminate sexual wage discrimination) continue to promote legislation to achieve pay equity in the private sector.
The members of the Coalition for Pay Equity have achieved many victories in their quest for pay equity. The government has adopted legislation that mandates that all sectors of the provincial public service have pay equity. With regards to the private sector, progress has been slower.
Bernard Lord's Conservative government (1999-2006) Wage Gap Action Plan included voluntary measures to encourage private sector employers to eliminate pay inequity. To nobody's surprise, few employers jumped at the opportunity.
Shawn Michael Graham's Liberal government (2006 - 2012) decided to go a little bit further and agreed to conduct pay equity evaluations in four sectors where the government subsidizes the industry. These para-public sectors include: child care workers, home support workers, transition house workers and community residence workers.
If sexual wage discrimination was found at the end of the process, the government also committed to fund any necessary wage adjustments. Unfortunately no law was adopted at the time to make sure that this happened.
In two of the sectors, child care workers and home support workers, the pay equity evaluations have been completed since 2010. The problem is that David Alward's Conservative government refuses to reveal the results.
We still don't know if wage discrimination was found and what wage adjustments should occur. Given the government's reluctance to release the results, some of us suspect that pay inequity was found. It's like they say, if it looks like a fire, smells like a fire, then chances are that it is a fire.
Last year, the legislative committee on budget estimates questioned the the Minister responsible for the Status of Women about the delay in releasing the results and funding the necessary wage adjustments. Rt Hon Margaret Ann Blaney stated that she wanted to wait until the pay equity processes were complete for the two remaining sectors, before releasing the results.
Her answer was not well received by workers in the child care and home support sectors and by the members of the Coalition for Pay Equity. They fear that the government may renege on its commitment to rectify years of undervaluation of their work (women's work).
What's to say that the government ever has to release the results, even when the job evaluations are done for the two remaining sectors? Look what happened with minimum wage. In September 2011, the government was supposed to raise the minimum wage rate to the Atlantic average of $10 per hour. Not only did this not happen as scheduled, the government is now studying the possibility of introducing a discriminatory minimum wage where workers receiving tips are paid a lower minimum wage than others - again, jobs that are mostly done by women.
The women working in these four sectors are paid poverty level wages, not much higher than minimum wage. As a society we depend on these workers to care for our most vulnerable citizens: the sick, elderly, battered women and our children. In total, about 7000 people (mostly, but not all, women) work in these four sectors in New Brunswick. What would happen if they all went on strike? Would you be able to go to work?
Like the women portrayed in the 2010 British movie, I know that New Brunswick women will not give up their fight to end sexual wage discrimination. In the film, when the main character, shop steward Rita O'Grady, was asked by a journalist how the female trade unionists would cope if the Secretary of State Responsible for Employment, Barbara Castle, said no to their demand for equal pay for equal work, to this Ms. O'Grady replied: "Cope? How will we cope? We're women. Now, don't ask such stupid questions."
Her words still apply today. The women demanding pay equity are not going away either.
Jody Dallaire is involved in the NB women's movement and is currently elected to Dieppe city council.
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More information on pay equity in New Brunswick is available at: http://www.equite-equity.com/home.cfm
I'm hardly surprised at this, especially after the current government cut funding to the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Pay equity was promised years ago, and only Dieppe has actually implemented it. Not only is this unjust and grossly unfair to child care, home support, transition house, and community residence workers, etc., the fact that these are areas traditionally staffed by women gives the government's continued stalling a nasty taste of "there there, dear, of course we'll look after your little problem." All that's missing is the pat on the head.
NB stalls pay equity
Historic wage inequity still a struggle.
Dateline: Tuesday, February 07, 2012
by Jody Dallaire, Dieppe Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity between Women and Men
I recently watched an inspiring British movie called Made in Dagenham. It's about a true story - the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant (one of Great Britain's largest employers at the time), where female workers walked off the job in protest against sexual wage discrimination.
The 187 female sewing machinists (the plant also employed thousands of men) were asking to be paid the value of their work. They argued that the skills required for their work (making car seat covers) equaled the skills required for other (male-dominated) jobs on the production line and that they should paid the same as men in the same skill category. This was a revolutionary concept at the time and still is so, to some extent, today.
Given the government's reluctance to release the results, some of us suspect that pay inequity was found.
As the strike progressed, the women realized that legislative change would be needed to get equal pay for equal work. There was no law in place to protect women against discriminatory pay practices. Women were paid less simply because they were women. The female machinists then took their fight to the House of Parliament, demanding government action. The women were looking for legislation to guarantee what they called "equal pay for equal work", but which encompassed both pay parity (same pay for the same job) and pay equity (same pay for jobs that are different but have equal value).
The struggle profiled in this movie reminds me of the current struggle of thousands of New Brunswick women. Their struggle is for pay equity - equal pay for work of equal value. Although, women now by-and-large have pay parity, pay equity still eludes the fairer sex.
Pay equity means that predominantly and/or traditionally female jobs are paid the same as predominantly and/or traditionally male jobs when they are equivalent. For example, in some workplaces the sound technician or the computer technician, a predominantly male job, is paid more than the secretary, a predominantly female job - even though both jobs require college degrees.
Like the women in the movie, members of the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity (the provincial non-profit organization working to eliminate sexual wage discrimination) continue to promote legislation to achieve pay equity in the private sector.
The members of the Coalition for Pay Equity have achieved many victories in their quest for pay equity. The government has adopted legislation that mandates that all sectors of the provincial public service have pay equity. With regards to the private sector, progress has been slower.
Bernard Lord's Conservative government (1999-2006) Wage Gap Action Plan included voluntary measures to encourage private sector employers to eliminate pay inequity. To nobody's surprise, few employers jumped at the opportunity.
Shawn Michael Graham's Liberal government (2006 - 2012) decided to go a little bit further and agreed to conduct pay equity evaluations in four sectors where the government subsidizes the industry. These para-public sectors include: child care workers, home support workers, transition house workers and community residence workers.
If sexual wage discrimination was found at the end of the process, the government also committed to fund any necessary wage adjustments. Unfortunately no law was adopted at the time to make sure that this happened.
In two of the sectors, child care workers and home support workers, the pay equity evaluations have been completed since 2010. The problem is that David Alward's Conservative government refuses to reveal the results.
We still don't know if wage discrimination was found and what wage adjustments should occur. Given the government's reluctance to release the results, some of us suspect that pay inequity was found. It's like they say, if it looks like a fire, smells like a fire, then chances are that it is a fire.
Last year, the legislative committee on budget estimates questioned the the Minister responsible for the Status of Women about the delay in releasing the results and funding the necessary wage adjustments. Rt Hon Margaret Ann Blaney stated that she wanted to wait until the pay equity processes were complete for the two remaining sectors, before releasing the results.
Her answer was not well received by workers in the child care and home support sectors and by the members of the Coalition for Pay Equity. They fear that the government may renege on its commitment to rectify years of undervaluation of their work (women's work).
What's to say that the government ever has to release the results, even when the job evaluations are done for the two remaining sectors? Look what happened with minimum wage. In September 2011, the government was supposed to raise the minimum wage rate to the Atlantic average of $10 per hour. Not only did this not happen as scheduled, the government is now studying the possibility of introducing a discriminatory minimum wage where workers receiving tips are paid a lower minimum wage than others - again, jobs that are mostly done by women.
The women working in these four sectors are paid poverty level wages, not much higher than minimum wage. As a society we depend on these workers to care for our most vulnerable citizens: the sick, elderly, battered women and our children. In total, about 7000 people (mostly, but not all, women) work in these four sectors in New Brunswick. What would happen if they all went on strike? Would you be able to go to work?
Like the women portrayed in the 2010 British movie, I know that New Brunswick women will not give up their fight to end sexual wage discrimination. In the film, when the main character, shop steward Rita O'Grady, was asked by a journalist how the female trade unionists would cope if the Secretary of State Responsible for Employment, Barbara Castle, said no to their demand for equal pay for equal work, to this Ms. O'Grady replied: "Cope? How will we cope? We're women. Now, don't ask such stupid questions."
Her words still apply today. The women demanding pay equity are not going away either.
Jody Dallaire is involved in the NB women's movement and is currently elected to Dieppe city council.
---
More information on pay equity in New Brunswick is available at: http://www.equite-equity.com/home.cfm
I'm hardly surprised at this, especially after the current government cut funding to the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Pay equity was promised years ago, and only Dieppe has actually implemented it. Not only is this unjust and grossly unfair to child care, home support, transition house, and community residence workers, etc., the fact that these are areas traditionally staffed by women gives the government's continued stalling a nasty taste of "there there, dear, of course we'll look after your little problem." All that's missing is the pat on the head.