Equal Work = Equal Pay

The women of AFSCME Local 626 (Council 26) have been through too much, and have come too far to give up now.

Since 1996, they have been in a bitter dispute with the Architect of the Capitol over equal pay for equal work. AOC is the federal agency responsible to Congress for the maintenance of the Senate and House office buildings on Capitol Hill. Women and men perform essentially the same cleaning duties — vacuuming, polishing, dusting, etc. — but men get paid more. Dolores Jones, chief shop steward for Local 626, says managers label women “custodians” and men “laborers” to skirt the issue of equal pay.

A group of female custodial workers filed a grievance with the Congressional Office of Compliance in 1996. They claimed that the AOC discriminates against them because they are in a female-dominated job classification and that their wages were purposely kept below those paid to so-called laborers, even though they perform comparable work.

Talks between the workers and management started in March 1997 but broke off two months later. Council 26 and its attorneys filed a class action lawsuit in July 1997.

GAME OF CHICKEN. Jones says the AOC has “retaliated against everyone down there. They’ve increased the women’s workload. They’ve constantly harassed anyone who’s a member of Local 626 and they harass anyone who’s in the local’s leadership.”

Because Jones is the most vocal member of the protesting group, management has worked to break her resolve. She’s been falsely accused of absent-without-leave violations, and last year was placed on paid administrative leave for two months without explanation.

“It’s been a roller coaster ride for me and my family, but I’m in it until the end,” she says. “They may drag out the lawsuit until they think they’ve dragged all of the fight out of us. But it will just have to be dragged out, because we’re going to stand fast.” – J.T.