Making Pay Equity a Reality in New Brunswick

As published in the Daily Gleaner, on page B7 on May 11, 2006

Making pay equity a reality would be better than debate

This letter is in response to Don Hunter's letter, May 1, 2006.

I appreciate Mr. Hunter's use of gender-neutral language, but doorwomen and male housecleaners in hotels are so rare that I have never seen any.

While there have been major improvements in some fields, work is still generally very much gendered in our society.That is why the Coalition for Pay Equity focuses on one form of discrimination: the undervaluation and under-remuneration of traditionally or mostly female jobs.

We certainly approve of other anti-discrimination measures, higher minimum wages and unionization. These measures would improve many workers' situation. Yet, none of these measures would stop pay inequity.While supporting higher minimum wages, Mr. Hunter seemed to think that our province's economy could not support it. He argued that business could afford pay equity even less.

However, many employers' associations agreed that eliminating the wage gap and "obstacles to women's full economic productivity" should be part of our province's long-term prosperity strategy. At least that was the conclusion of the Round Table on the Wage Gap, in 2003. They identified three obstacles to women's full economic productivity: their job/industry clustering, their family responsibilities, and - yes - the undervaluation of traditionally women's work.

Most interestingly, the Wage Gap Round Table reported that employers gave testimony "about the progressive human resource management they used to successfully address one or all of the three contributors to the wage gap. In all cases the benefits to the company were quantifiable either through productivity improvements, or in lower staff turnover or both.

"Contrary to what some might think, the Wage Gap Round Table was not loaded with unions or women's groups.In fact, employers were well represented by organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, the NB Chambers of Commerce, the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick, the University of New Brunswick and the Cities of NB Association.

Unions, through the NB Federation of Labour, held only one seat in total and so did the Coalition for Pay Equity.

Other groups which participated were: the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Early Childhood Care and Education NB (both of which represented employers and employees) as well as the NB Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

So, if both employers and workers agree that pay equity will help our province's economy, let's stop debating about it and let's make it a reality.

Anne-Marie Gammon
Chair of the Coalition for Pay Equity
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Johanne Perron Coordonnatrice/Coordinator
Coalition pour l'équité salarialeCoalition for Pay Equity
154, rue Queen StreetMoncton (N.-B.)E1C 1K8
Tél./Tél.: (506) 855-0002
Téléc./Fax: (506) 854-9728
www.equite-equity.com