Architects of Victory

By Susan Ellen Holleran

After four years of legal wrangling, the Architect of the Capitol has been forced to obey the law of the land and pay its female custodians as much as its male laborers.

Washington, D.C.

AFSCME Local 626 (Council 26) has settled the first class-action lawsuit filed under the Congressional Accountability Act, ending decades of pay discrimination against the women who clean congressional offices.

The victory — four years in the making — brings pay raises, pension adjustments and back-pay lump sums to more than 300 female custodians employed by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC).

"It has been a difficult four years for these courageous women," said AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee, celebrating the victory. "They have endured retaliation and reprisal for standing up for equality and fairness in the workplace."

Historically, Congress had exempted itself from many of the laws it passed, particularly those protecting workers and counteracting discrimination. The Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) changed that, but conditions did not improve automatically.

Kitchen talk

Arlene Chester first realized there was a problem when she saw husband Harry’s pay stub. Both work for the AOC. She is a custodian — all women; he is a laborer — all men.

"Harry had been there for only three months, and his paycheck was more than mine. I had been working for the AOC for six years." Arlene and Harry knew they did essentially similar work: The custodians clean the offices and pull out the trash; the laborers, gather the trash bundles for disposal.

"We discussed the pay difference and agreed it wasn’t fair," says Arlene Chester.

She brought up the issue with her female co-workers. One of them worked part time for a law firm, and the lawyers, says former Local 626 Pres. Hazel Dews, advised her on how to pursue her legal rights. But the women couldn’t find an attorney willing to take their case.

Helping hand

Arlene Chester and her group got the break they needed when they met with Council 26 organizers to determine if there was an interest in unionizing. The women told the organizers, "If you help us, we’ll see what we can do to help you."

In August 1997, AOC employees voted almost six-to-one for AFSCME representation. The council had already filed a suit for equal pay.

Such suits sometimes create dissension in unions: Male workers feel that the women are benefiting while they are not. But Harry convinced his fellow laborers to support the custodians. The laborers knew how hard their union sisters worked and recognized the unfairness of the dual-pay structure.

Stonewalling

Hoping to wear down the women and their union, the AOC pulled out all the stops to slow the legal procedures. Supervisors retaliated against the most active workers. "When I spoke up to the [then] AOC head," says Dews, "they took the room that was most difficult to clean from another worker 
and gave it to me." But the women never gave up.

Under the settlement, current custodians will be placed in the same grade as male laborers who do cleaning work. A $20,000 lump sum will be awarded to women who retired between April 9 and Sept. 30, 2001.

Active workers will receive payments averaging $7,000; women who left the AOC before April 9 will get an average of $4,000. Pension benefits will be adjusted as though the custodians had been paid at the laborers’ rate dating back to Jan. 23, 1996, when the CAA became effective.

Dews, now retired, will use the money to have repairs done on her house.

Arlene Chester plans to continue her education. Three years ago, she injured her back on the job and has recurring problems with heavy lifting.

They are pleased with the money, but prouder that they won justice.