For Immediate Release
Friday, April 11, 1997
Women's Pay Still Lags Behind Men's, 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 focusing attention on the continuing injustice of pay inequity. The President is making a proclamation today that declares April 11th "National Pay Inequity Awareness Day."
In today’s proclamation, the President notes that on April 11 of this year, American women's wages for 1997, when added to their entire 1996 earnings, finally equaled what men earned in 1996 alone.
In issuing the proclamation, the President acknowledges that women and minority workers have long fueled our nation's progress, and that their achievements must be recognized in order to leave a legacy of equality and justice for their children.
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 1996, women in unions earned weekly wages that were almost 36% higher than those of women who were not union members. If all women earned what union women earn, the discrepancy in pay between men and women would have been reconciled by January 9, 1997, rather than by April 11, 1997 — a full season's worth of equity.
According to AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee: "Pay equity is an issue that is at the top of AFSCME's agenda. 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." Fifty-three percent of AFSCME members are women.
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 New York City 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 join 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. AFSCME also supports the Paycheck Fairness Act, another piece of important legislation which would help remedy pay inequities in the workplace.
