Pay Equity
Pay equity is a fundamental human right. Pay equity is the term for the employer’s legal obligation to ensure workers’ pay is based on “equal pay for work of equal value.”
Pay equity laws aim to ensure gender equality.
The federal Pay Equity Act is the result of the labour movement, including the USW, advocating for decades.
In force as of Aug. 21, 2021, the federal Pay Equity Act and its Regulation require employers in the federal jurisdiction with 10 or more employees to proactively negotiate and maintain a pay equity plan with bargaining agents and non-union employees.
Pay equity laws are designed to fix and prevent the historic, persistent and systemic discrimination in wages and compensation experienced by women as they have been funneled into undervalued jobs.
The USW’s campaign to enforce pay equity includes a number of tools and resources for USW activists to get involved.
Toolkit: Close the gender pay gap – don’t leave money on the table
The USW pay equity toolkit – Close the gender pay gap – don’t leave money on the table –provides information for union members to effectively participate on a Pay Equity Committee.
The USW pay equity toolkit includes:
- An explanation of what pay equity is and why it matters
- An outline of the steps to establishing a Pay Equity Committee and a pay equity plan
- Template letters the USW bargaining unit can use to request information from the employer
- Key dates and deadlines in the Pay Equity Act
- Links to more information and support
Let’s take action to enforce pay equity!