For Immediate Release
Friday, April 12, 1996
Union Applauds President's Proclamation Declaring April 11 National Pay Inequity Day
Washington, DC —The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, today applauded President Clinton for shining a spotlight on the continuing injustice of pay inequity. Late yesterday the President made a proclamation declaring the day "National Pay Inequity Awareness Day."
In yesterday's proclamation, the President noted that on April 11 American women's wages for 1996, when added to their entire 1995 earnings, finally equalled what men earned in 1995 alone.
"Women and minority workers have long fueled our nation's progress," the President said, "and we must do all we can to recognize their achievements and to leave a legacy of equality and justice for their children to cherish."
Furthermore, President Clinton urged employers to review their pay practices to see that employees are paid fairly and noted that fair pay "can be implemented simply and without incurring undue costs."
According to AFSCME -- one of the leading organizations in the fight to enact federal pay equity legislation -- collective bargaining, legislation, and litigation are the keys to fighting pay inequity.
Statistics show that women who belong to unions are far less likely to suffer wage discrimination. In 1994, women in unions earned weekly wages that were almost 28% higher than those of women who were not union members. And, while there is still a discrepancy in pay between union men and union women, the gap is 8% less than the gap in median income between non-union men and women.
According to AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee: "Pay equity is an issue that has been at the top of AFSCME's agenda for quite some time. For two decades, AFSCME has been at the forefront of the fight to eliminate pay discrimination in jobs that have traditionally been performed by women. Through collective bargaining, legislation, and litigation, AFSCME has made it possible for thousands of AFSCME members to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in pay equity adjustments."
AFSCME's lawsuit against the State of Washington resulted in an out-of-court settlement in 1986, providing over $100 million in pay equity adjustments for 35,000 employees. The settlement in the Washington State case drew to a close a decade-long battle.
AFSCME has also been able to achieve significant pay equity victories without going to court. In Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa and in local units of government from Chicago to Los Angeles, AFSCME has negotiated pay equity settlements that have increased the paychecks of such female-dominated jobs as clerk typist, nurse, and librarian. The union was able to demonstrate that the pay for these jobs was not based on the skill, effort, and responsibility required for the job, but rather was based on discriminatory pay practices. Similarly, in San Jose, California, a $1.5 million equity fund for 60 classifications was negotiated after AFSCME Local 101 staged the first pay equity strike in 1981.
"Yet despite the battles that AFSCME has won at the bargaining table, the federal courts have made it nearly impossible for workers to obtain wage justice through litigation," said McEntee. "Giving lip service to Title VII's prohibition against compensation discrimination, federal judges have erected almost insurmountable evidentiary barriers to plaintiffs seeking redress in the federal courts. The Fair Pay Act, which has been introduced in both the House and the Senate, would enable AFSCME and other unions to go to the bargaining table with a strong, unambiguous basis in law for pay equity. We look forward to joining the many pay equity advocates in working toward the bill's final passage."
The Fair Pay Act would require employers to provide equal pay for work of equivalent value, as defined by a composite of a job's skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
