Sex-based wage disparities

March 10,2002

Sex-Based Wage Disparities
Challenging Campbell's Political Will

Nitya Iyer has produced a report that directly challenges the Campbell government. She rejected pay equity legislation because she recommended an approach to reduce sex-based wage disparities that she argues would be more effective. Her approach calls for well funded, aggressive enforcement of equal pay for equal work provisions in either the Human Rights Act or in the Employment Standards Act. The second tier of her approach calls for government funded industry specific studies that would involve each industry in strategies to reduce sex-based wage disparities.

The Attorney General's news release on Nitya Iyer's report entitled "Working Through the Wage Gap" (pdf) does not begin to do justice to her excellent report. The news release says "The government today released the report of an independent review of private sector pay equity legislation, which recommends addressing the issue through education, awareness and partnerships with the private sector."

In fact, Iyer's report challenges government to display the " … political commitment to address the problem expeditiously, and it extends to allocating the necessary funding" (page 100). She wrote "The vast majority of the submissions I received, including all of the submissions from business organizations, supported positive government action to address the gender pay gap."

The women of BC are counting on Premier Campbell to meet the challenges set out by Iyer. Her report says:

"Devoting the resources necessary to support a public awareness and education campaign around equal pay for equal work signals government's commitment to this most basic aspect of gender-based economic equality, not merely at the symbolic level of passing legislation, but on the ground, bringing the legislated right into force by making it truly effective."

A government focused on cutting might have difficulty with the second phase of Iyer's recommendations where she recommends an industry by industry approach to eliminating sex-based wage disparities. She wrote ""The success of the proposal will turn first on government's commitment to fund high-quality industry studies and on industry's commitment to participate in them."

Nitya Iyer's report goes much farther than just sand bagging the NDP's initiative to introduce pay equity legislation. It sets out an even more ambitious agenda and a direct challenge to the political will of the Campbell government. It certainly calls for more dedication than has been demonstrated by Minister of State for Women's Equality, Lynn Stephens. Then again, maybe its recommendations will help women do what Stephens said is necessary, "just make more money."