FIXING CANADA’S ‘SHAMEFUL’ PAY EQUITY GAP
Union leaders say proposed legislation has been a long time in coming
Union presidents say they have fought for pay-equity legislation for decades and welcome a new law from the federal Liberals that’s supposed to close Canada’s “shameful” gender gap.
Public Service Alliance of Canada president Chris Aylward says the legislation introduced earlier this week has been a long time coming: his organization first filed pay-equity complaints against the federal government in the 1970s.
Under the proposed legislation, employers would need to examine their compensation practices and ensure women and men in workplaces that fall under federal jurisdiction receive equal pay for work of equal value.
Employers would be required to identify job classes, evaluate the work in each, and compare compensation associated with similar jobs dominated by men and women respectively.
Jobs that might be under close scrutiny because many of the people who do them are women include clerical and administrative jobs, marketing, sales and services. Also bank tellers, financial-sales representatives and accounting clerks.
It’s up to employers to determine whether a position has been undervalued and if the workers who do it are due for pay adjustments.
Hassan Yussuff, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, says discrimination against women in the workforce happens more frequently than is usually acknowledged.