Raising Pay for "Women's Work"
Helen Castrilli made history in AFSCME's fight against sex-based wage discrimination
TACOMA, WASHINGTON
Others look out the window and see the weather. What Helen Castrilli saw when she looked out her window led to historic changes in the way Washington state pays workers in traditionally women's jobs.
"I used to look out my window, and I'd see the male gardener," she recalls. "He cut the lawn, raked the lawn, did a little trimming under supervision, and he was paid more — several hundred dollars a month more — than the rest of the women at the hospital [Western State Hospital] who were involved in the 'clerical field.'"
The wage discrepancy bothered the Local 793 (Council 28) president.
"I wasn't born knowing how to type. I wasn't born knowing how to take dictation, to handle payrolls, to order supplies. I had to learn all those things. I had to develop particular skills to do them," says Castrilli. "So why weren't those skills worth as much as somebody who's driving a truck, painting a building, wiring a building?"
Council 28 had been fighting to rectify the inequities since 1973. In 1974, then-Gov. Daniel Evans (R) ordered a wage study. Its findings: Jobs held primarily by women were paid 15 to 35 percent less than "men's jobs." But no action was taken to correct the problem.
"Finally they had to file a suit," says Castrilli. "George [Masten] called me and asked if I'd be willing to be a plaintiff." Masten was Council 28's executive director. "I said, 'YEAH! I can do that.' I still don't know to this day why he selected me," she says.
"But I had faith in the people at the council. They weren't going to let me get out there on a limb and cut the limb off behind me. I did think, 'What if I do something wrong? What if I say something wrong?'" Castrilli was especially grateful for her family's support. "I wouldn't have been able to be that involved without their help."
Castrilli and the other plaintiffs crisscrossed the state discussing the concept of comparable worth at local union meetings. "Some of my male co-workers were anxious about the issue," she says. "You had to do some education almost on a one-on-one basis. You'd sit down, and you'd talk with them; and the guys were very reasonable."
It was some time before the importance of the trial sank in with her. "When I walked out of the federal courthouse the first day [Aug. 30, 1983] and there was nothing but a solid wall of network television people, newspaper people standing there just waiting for us to come out — at that moment it really hit home. I thought, 'Oh, my God. This is big. This is going to impact hundreds of thousands of people.'" And it did.
When Judge Jack Tanner ruled in the plaintiffs' favor, both AFSCME and comparable worth scored a major victory. The state tied the case up with appeals, but AFSCME pressed for a resolution. On Dec. 31, 1985, AFSCME accepted the state's $101 million offer providing increases to some 35,000 state employees. The battle had taken 12 years.
"It was a negotiated settlement that AFSCME had worked out with Gov. Booth Gardner (D)," says Castrilli. "We were pleased with it. It wasn't as much as initially people had hoped for, but it was a good compromise." The raise came in the pay period for Secretary's Day. "That was good timing," she says.
Castrilli says her comparable worth money went right back into the system — back into the state treasury. "It made it possible for us to put our daughter through the University of Washington — and she didn't have to take out any student loans. We were able to see that she got the education she deserved." Her daughter is now a chemist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Retired after 30 years with the state, Castrilli will benefit for the rest of her life. "My retirement was based on my two highest years of state employment. Those two highest years were impacted by the comparable worth increase, and that's forever. There's no run out on that. I get that as long as I'm alive."
Castrilli was a pay equity pioneer who helped prepare the way for the success of others. The National Committee on Pay Equity reports that 42 states have done research and data collection on pay inequities; 24 have conducted pay equity studies; 20 have given pay equity adjustments; seven have implemented pay equity. In most of these, AFSCME has played a major role.
She takes pride in the leading role she has played: "You get out there and fight for things, and the people who come after us will say, 'Somebody fought for me to get to this point. Now I have an obligation to go on and do what I can.'"
By Susan Ellen Holleran
Editor's note: For more information, contact the National Committee on Pay Equity at 1126 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036, or call (202) 331-7343.
