America’s Pay Issues

The struggle for pay equity is part of America's evolving sense of what is fair and just. After all, slavery was once an accepted part of this democratic nation; union

demands were an illegal restraint of trade; married women had no property rights; women workers had no right to their earnings; child labor was common; unequal

pay for women was an accepted practice. Society took no notice when job rates dropped as women, instead of men, were hired to do them (librarians and

secretaries, for example). Today, most Americans support equal pay for work of comparable (not merely identical) value. It is past time to ensure it is achieved.

1932 - Federal Economic Act passes to ban wives of federal employees from holding government positions. It also declares that women with employed husbands

be first on the lists for firing.

1935 - National Recovery Act requires women who hold jobs with the government to receive 25 percent less pay than men in the same jobs.

1942 - War Labor Board rules women must be paid same job rate as men (now off to war) were paid. War ends before rule can be enforced. No law requires

either pay equity or equal pay.

1950's - Equal pay bills are introduced by Sen. Wayne Morse (D-OR) and Rep. Edith Green (D-OR); Republican versions by New York Reps. Katherine St.

George and Jessica Weis. No results.

1961 - Labor activist Esther Peterson heads Women's Bureau, gains responsibility for pushing legislation, gathers data, builds coalitions, wins allies. Equal Pay bill is

introduced. Original bill includes comparable worth, stronger enforcement; final bill does not.

1963 - Equal Pay Act passes providing equal pay for women for equal work.

1964 - Civil Rights Bill passes. Title VII bans employment discrimination against women.

1974 - International Union of Electronic, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers sues Westinghouse. The company had set up a wage rate structure in the 1930's;

scores for women's jobs were automatically reduced merely because they were performed by women, not an unusual attitude then.

1979 - 20 women's groups, professional organizations and unions form the National Committee on Pay Equity. Founders include unions such as IUE,

AFSCME,SEIU, UAW, NTEU, women's groups such as Business and Professional Women, NOW, Women's Legal Defense Fund, League of Women Voters,

National Commission on Working Women, NARAL, Coalition of Labor Union Women, National Association of Office Workers, National Commission on

Working Women, professional groups such as the American Library Association and the George Meany Center. Now there is an organization to educate, lobby and

build coalitions on pay equity. The EEOC, chaired by Eleanor Holmes-Norton, studies pay in female-dominated occupations.

The 1981 Supreme Court decision (Gunther) rules Title VII covers wage discrimination even if jobs are different. Action on the state and local level heats up.

Unions make pay equity gains on picket lines, at bargaining tables, in state legislatures, and in the courts. Government and think-tank studies show continuing wage

gap. Pay equity bills, primarily relating to Federal workers, win in the House (with bipartisan support) but lose in the Senate. By the end of the 1980's, despite

growing public support for pay equity, a more conservative Supreme Court and unfriendly administrations have put up roadblocks to progress.

1981 - In County of Washington (Oregon) v. Gunther, the Supreme Court rules that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act applies even if jobs are different. Prison

matrons earned only 70 percent of what male prison guards were paid, though their jobs scored almost the same job evaluation points. This landmark victory

brought them up to 95 percent of what male guards earned.

1981 - The 1974 IUE suit against Westinghouse is settled right after the Gunther decision. IUE negotiates new contract providing upgrades of 85 predominantly

female job categories, backpay, and wage increases.

1981 - San Jose (CA) city workers are first workers to strike for pay equity. Their victory brings $1.5 million in pay equity adjustments (and more in succeeding

contracts).

1982 - Minnesota passes first pay equity law for public workers. Health care