Equal Pay Day 2018

April 10, 2018 - In 2018, Equal Pay Day is on April 10, the 99th day of the year, because it took an average 99 more days for Canadian women to earn what men earned in 2017.

In 2018, Canadian women still earn 30% less than men. The gender wage gap is even greater for women of color (over 35%) and Aboriginal women (over 40%).

However, Canadian women are as well or more educated than men, women's work is undervalued and the gender wage gap persists.

In its ongoing efforts to close the gender wage gap, the USW Local 1944 advocates the following actions to achieve equity for women workers:

  • Organize more women: On average, unionized women earn $6.65/hour more than non-unionized women. Union protection also allows access to full-time and more secure positions.
  • Strengthen women's voices in our Local. It is also vital that job evaluation accurately reflects the work that women do.
  • At the bargaining table, push for transparent pay, hiring and promotion practices.
  • Ensure that health and safety regulations in the workplace reflect the issues of women in the workforce.
  • Call on federal and provincial governments to implement Pay Equity laws.
  • Pressure federal, provincial and municipal governments to implement laws providing leaves of absence for maternity, paternity, and parental leave, family caregivers, and domestic abuse victims.
  • Call employers for reliable scheduling practices: In order to allow employees to plan their lives, employers should respect the schedule once it has been posted.
  • Support affordable quality childcare initiatives, with living wages for childcare workers.

For more information on how you can help address the gender wage gap issue, please read the online document, "Closing the Gender Wage Gap. We can do it through bargaining": http://1944.fyi/WOSGP.

"Our government has the legal and financial tools to resolve the gender wage gap issue," said Lee Riggs, National President of the USW Local 1944. "Thanks to our Local's efforts, many of our sisters are now in positions of leadership. However, this fight for equality must continue every day, so as to suppress the gender wage gap from our workplaces."

With the Pay Equity Act implemented in 1988 in Ontario, the province is a pioneer in advocating for gender parity in Canada. We invite our members in Ontario to attend one of the many Equal Pay Day events organized in their province: http://equalpaycoalition.org/equal-pay-day/.

In Solidarity,

USW Local 1944

Region