This document is intended as a resource guide on pay equity in Canada. As the discussion below indicates, pay equity developments are ongoing. The issues are often complicated and the chronology of events difficult to follow, especially when litigation is involved. This reference guide is meant to assist students and scholars interested in pay equity to better understand the sources available and to locate those sources. In an effort to facilitate access to information we have provided addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites where applicable.

The resource guide is divided into eight sections. The first section lists Canadian academic bibliographic sources including doctoral dissertations and master theses. This is followed with bibliographic references, section II, on the US, UK and Europe. As anyone familiar with pay equity knows, the academic literature is vast and a conscious attempt was made to include either recent bibliographic references or those that we believe are particularly helpful in understanding the political aspects of the pay equity movement. The selected annotations, which comprise section III, were chosen with the preceding statement in mind. Section IV lists Canadian government sources in the federal sector and by province. Here the reader will find a brief explanation of pay equity legislation or policy as well as reports summarizing pay equity results in the various jurisdictions. Section V summarizes significant court decisions. We have attempted brief overviews that highlight relevant case law. Section VI lists women’s movement and advocacy groups that support pay equity. The activities and documents of equal pay coalitions, with the exception of Quebec, are reviewed. Section VII lists union sources. We would like to thank the union researchers who took time out of their busy schedules to answer our queries about pay equity bargaining, and who forwarded valuable information to us for use in this document. The guide ends (section VIII) with a few listings of opponents of pay equity policy.

Pay equity is a term that has different meanings in the literature. In this bibliography we use pay equity to mean any process that is based on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. This includes legislation that is complaint driven as well as that requiring employers to redress gender based wage inequities, usually referred to as pro-active pay equity legislation.

Legislated pay equity policy has been in effect in Canada since the 1970’s. The province of Quebec was the first to enact an equal value provision in its Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in 1976 (see McDermott in Eyraud ed., 1993). The federal government followed suit in 1978, inserting an equal value provision (section 11) under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Since then nine of Canada’s ten provinces (all except Alberta) have implemented pay equity law or policy. Six provinces (including Quebec) have passed pro-active legislation that mandates employers to comply with procedures to redress gender based wage inequities, while the others are complaint-driven (requiring employees to file a complaint of pay inequity). All pay equity laws apply to the narrow public sector, and most apply to the broader public sector. Only three jurisdictions including Ontario, Quebec and the federal jurisdiction extend to the private sector. Analyses of pay equity law indicate that a central problem of legislation concerns finding male comparators; this is especially apparent, for example, in the province of Nova Scotia where ninety percent of employees in the broader public sector were ineligible for pay equity because of the absence of male comparator job classes. A further problem of legislated pay equity concerns the interpretation of pay equity law that has compelled labour unions to turn to the courts to enforce compliance with pay equity procedures. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) representing 170,000 federal government employees has launched several important pay equity cases in the federal sphere. Like PSAC, the Communications and Energy Paper Workers Union (CEP) and Canadian Telephone Employees Association (CTEA) have filed a pay equity complaint (in this case against Bell Canada) under section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. In Saskatchewan, the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDSU) recently took up a court challenge arguing that under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code gender discrimination encompasses complaints against employers on the grounds of pay equity.

In addition to pursuing litigation, unions continue to press for pay equity through collective bargaining. Of particular significance are the bargaining efforts of the British Columbia Hospital Employees Union (HEU), a unit of the British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU), and a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Since the early nineties, the HEU has negotiated close to $500 million in pay equity adjustments for their members. In spite of the success of the HEU, it is evident that without pay equity legislation collective bargaining is often a slow and unreliable mechanism for redressing gender-based inequities in pay. Hence, equal pay struggles continue in the province of Saskatchewan, for example, in an effort to achieve comprehensive coverage of pay equity across all sectors in that jurisdiction.

It is important to point out that women in Canada continue to face economic inequality. As the Canadian Human Rights Commission Annual Report (1997) states, women employed in a full-time job earn on average just seventy cents for every dollar earned by a man (1997:21). Until the gender wage gap is closed, or significantly lessened, pay equity will continue to be on the labour-feminist agenda. How pay equity should be pursued, however, is open to discussion as economic restructuring has altered labour markets and shifted the parameters in which traditional pay equity reforms can be effectively applied. Neo-liberal policy narrows the scope for political action as governments place priority on maintaining labour market flexibility and retreat from policy reform that will protect workers from declining wages. Addressing the problem of gender discrimination in pay thus remains a low priority for governments and capitalist employers who express strong ideological commitment to removing market rigidities, especially in the labour market.

Pay equity is also policy in the European Union, Scandinavian countries, Australia and many American states. In Europe, the gender pay ratio is narrower than either the US or Canada, however, employment levels are also lower leading many European states to deregulate labour markets. Recent interest in gender pay differentials in Europe stem from concerns about the consequences of deregulated labour markets on women’s pay. In Britain, there is no system of minimum wage protection as wages councils have been abolished. For women, who are segregated in services such as retail or catering, the abolition of wages councils leaves them with no protection from downward pressure on wages. Meanwhile, in Italy the system of wage indexation, first established in the seventies to counter inflation, ended in 1992 weakening a system of minimum pay protection. In this context of deregulation, pay equity advocates are attempting to strengthen and broaden EU policy on equal pay to lessen labour market inequalities (see Gregory, Hegewisch and Sales, 1999).

In the US the pay equity movement has abated somewhat but arguments in favour of pressing for new approaches to legal action are appearing (see e.g. Nelson & Bridges, 1999). The term 'comparable worth' is used in the US to refer to equal pay for work of equal value and is synonymous with the concept of 'pay equity' used in Canada and Europe. Opposition to comparable worth, like in Canada and Europe, is predicated on the view that pay equity will restrict labour market flexibilities. However, the politics of the new right in America which focus on the demise of the ideology of women’s domesticity is also a factor in the resistance to pay equity (Mutari & Figart, 1997:125).

In all of the countries mentioned above, there is increasing recognition by pay equity advocates that broad labour market policy, such as minimum wage legislation, is as important to improving women’s wages as gender specific equal pay legislation. At the same time, reforms to equal value policy are being pursued that take into account the changing labour market, especially the rise of contingent or non-standard work. Devising litigation strategies that can effectively challenge gender discrimination in pay remains a high priority.

Abbott, Michael (ed.) 1991. Pay Equity, Means and Ends. Kingston, Ontario: John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy.

Armstrong, Pat. 1997. Pay Equity: Not Just a Matter of Money in C. Andrews and S. Rodgers (eds.) Women and the Canadian State. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Armstrong, Pat and Mary Cornish. 1997. Restructuring Pay Equity for a Restructured Workforce, Gender, Work and Organization, 4:2 (April): 67-86.

Armstrong, Pat. 1997. The State and Pay Equity: Juggling Similarity and Difference, Meaning and Structures, in P. Evans and G. Wekerle (eds.) Women and the Canadian Welfare State: Challenges and Change. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Armstrong, Pat. 1996. The Feminization of the Labour Force: Harmonizing Down in a Global Economy, in Isabella Bakker (ed.) Rethinking Restructuring: Gender and Change in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Armstrong, Pat. 1993. Job Evaluation in Ontario. Prepared for Equal Pay: 36 Years Later: In Search of Excellence?! Brussels, 25-26 October. A Co-production of the Belgian Minister of Employment, Labour and Equal Opportunities Policy and the Equal Opportunities Unit of the European Commission.

Armstrong, Pat and Hugh. 1990. Lessons from Pay Equity , Studies in Political Economy, No. 32: 29-55.

Arrowsmith, David. 1986. Pay Equity: Legislative Framework and Cases. Kingston: Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Bakker, Isabella. 1991. Pay Equity and Economic Restructuring: The Polarization of Policy? , in P. McDermott and J. Fudge (eds.) Just Wages: A feminist assessment. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Briskin, Linda and Patricia McDermott (eds.) 1993. Women Challenging Unions: Feminism, Democracy and Militancy. Toronto: University of Toronto.

Burkart, Lynn. 1990. Implementing Pay Equity in Ontario. Kingston: Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Chicha, Marie-Thérèse. 1998. Le programme d’équité salariale: une démarche complexe à plusiers volets, Gestion, volume 23, numéro 1, printemps: 23-33.

Chicha, Marie-Thérse. 1997. L’ Équité salariale-mise en oeuvre et enjeu. Montréal: Éditions Yvon Blais.

Coates, Mary Lou. 1989. Pay and Employment Equity. Kingston:Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Conway, Heather. 1987. Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value Legislation in Canada. Ottawa: Institute for Research in Public Policy.

Creese, Gillian. 1999. Restructuring, Resistance and the Politics of Equity ch. 6, in her book Contracting Masculinity: Gender, Class and Race in a White-Collar Union, 1944-1994. Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Cuneo, Carl. 1990. Pay Equity: The Labour-Feminist Challenge. Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Drolet, Marie. 2001. "The Persistent Gap: New Evidence on the Canadian Gender Wage Gap". Statistics Canada, Business and Labour Market Division, January, Cat. No. 11F0019MPE001157.

Egri, C. and W. T. Sanbury. 1989. How Pay Equity Legislation Came to Ontario Canadian Public Administration/Administration Publique du Canada, Vol. 32, No. 2:274-303.

Elliot, Cheryl and Stewart Saxe (eds.) 1992. A Step-By-Step Guide to Implementing Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value. Aurora, Ontario: Canada Law Book.

Falk, Barbara. 1989. A Reasoned Response: Pay Equity in Ontario, in Richard Chaykowski (ed.) Pay Equity Legislation: Linking Economic Issues and Policy Concerns. Kingston: Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Findlay, Susan. 1987. Facing the State: The Politics of the Women’s Movement Reconsidered , in Heather Jon Mulroney and Meg Luxton (eds.) Feminism and Political Economy. Toronto: Methuen,

Findlay, Susan. 1997. Institutionalizing Feminist Politics: Learning from the Struggles for Equal Pay in Ontario, in P. Evans and G. Wekerle (eds.) Women and the Canadian State: Challenges and Change. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Fudge, Judy. 1991. Limiting Equity: The Definition of Employer Under the Ontario Pay Equity Act, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol. 4:556-563.

Fudge, Judy and Patricia McDermott (eds.) 1991. Just Wages: A Feminist Assessment of Pay Equity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Fudge, Judy. 1996. Fragmentation and Feminization: The Challenge of Equity for Labour-Relations Policy, in Janine Brodie (ed.) Women and Canadian Public Policy Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company, Canada.

Gaucher, Dominique. 1996. L’équité salariale: Une nouvelle perception de la valeur du travail, Le Marché du Travail, novembre.

Gunderson, Morley. 1994. Comparable Worth and Gender Discrimination: An International Perspective. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

Gunderson, Morley. 1995. Gender Discrimination and Pay Equity Legislation, in Christofides, Grant and Swindsky (eds.) Aspects of Labour Market Behaviours: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkemp. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Handman, Suzanne and Karen Jensen. 1999. Pay Equity in Canada: An Overview , Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, Vol. 7:65-89.

Hertwig, Kim. 1999. Pay Equity Legislation in Canada: A Study of the Public Service Alliance of Canada Case, Canadian Woman Studies, Vol. 19, Nos.1&2:186-193.

Kainer, Jan, 1995. Pay Equity Strategy and Feminist Legal Theory: Challenging the Bounds of Liberalism, in Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol. 8, No. 2:440-469.

Kainer, Jan. 1998. Pay Equity and Part-Time Work: An Analysis of Pay Equity Negotiations in Ontario Supermarkets, Canadian Woman Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1:47-52.

Kates, Christine. 1990. Identical or Substantially Identical: Bell Canada and the Struggle for Equal Pay 1967-76', Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol. 4:133-65.

Keck, Jennifer and Daina Green. 1991. Pay Equity For Non-Unionized Women: A Case Study, Paper presented at the CASSW Learneds, Kingston: Queen’s University.

Lewis, Debra. 1988. Just Give Us the Money: A Discussion of Wage Discrimination and Pay Equity. Vancouver: Women’s Research Centre.

Malarkey, Robert and John Hagen. 1989. The Socio-Legal Impact of Equal Value Legisation in Ontario, 1946-1979', Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2:295-336.

McDermott, Patricia. 1990. Pay Equity in Ontario: A Critical Legal Analysis, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Vol. 28, No. 2:381-407.

McDermott, Patricia. 1992. Pay Equity: Closing the Gender Wage Gap, in Daniel Drache (ed.) Getting on Track: Social Democratic Strategies for Ontario. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

McDermott, Patricia. 1992. Employment Equity and Pay Equity: And Never the Twain Shall Meet? Canadian Woman Studies, Vol. 12, No. 3:24-28.

McDermott, Patricia. 1993. Equal Pay in Canada, in F. Eyraud et. al. (eds.) Equal Pay Protection in Industrialised Market Economies: In Search of Greater Effectiveness. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

McDermott, Patricia. 1996. Pay and Employment Equity: Why Separate Policies? in Janine Brodie (ed.) Women and Canadian Public Policy. Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company, Canada.

McDermott, Patricia. 1999. Pay Equity: Lessons from Ontario, Canada, in J. Gregory, Rosemary Sales and Ariane Hegewisch (eds.) Women, Work and Inequality: The Challenge of Equal Pay in a Deregulated Market. London: MacMillan Press.

McDonald, Judith and Robert J. Thornton. 1998. Private-Sector Experience with Pay Equity in Ontario, Canadian Public Policy - Analyse de Polit ques, Vol. XXIV, No. 2:185-208.

Murtha, Julie. 1993. Job Evaluation: A Quest for Gender Neutrality. Kingston: Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Ontario Pay and Employment Equity Guide. 1999. Don Mills, Ontario: CCH Ltd.

Quaid, Maeve. 1993. Job Evaluation: The Myth of Equitable Assessment. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Robb, Roberta. 1987. Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: Issues and Policies, Canadian Public Policy - Analyse de Politques, XIII:4-445-461.

Siltanen, Janet, Jennifer Jarman and Robert Blackburn. 1995. Gender Inequality in the Labour Market: occupational concentration and segregation. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

Speigal, Fredelle Zaiman. 1994. Women’s Wages, Women’s Worth: Politics, Religion and Equity. New York: Continuum.

Todres, Elaine. 1987. With Deliberate Care: The Framing of Bill 154', Manitoba Law Journal Vol. 16, No. 3:221-226.

Treiman, Donald and Heidi Hartmann (eds.) 1981. Women, Work and Wages: Equal Pay for Jobs of Equal Value. Washington: National Academy Press.

Walker, Catherine. 1991. Pay Equity: The Canadian Experience (excluding Ontario). Toronto: Ontario Pay Equity Commission.

Walker, Catherine. 1991. Nurses and Pay Equity. Toronto: Ontario Pay Equity Commission.

Warskett, Rosemary. 1990. Wage Solidarity and Equal Value: Or Gender and Class in the Restructuring of Workplace Hierarchies, Studies in Political Economy No. 32:55-83.

Warskett, Rosemary. 1991. Political Power, Technical Disputes and Unequal Pay: A Federal Case, in J. Fudge and P. McDermott (eds.) Just Wages: A Feminist Assessment of Pay Equity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Warskett, Rosemary. 1993. Can a Disappearing Pie be Shared Equally? Unions, Women and Wage Fairness, in L. Briskin and P. McDermott (eds.) Women Challenging Unions: Feminism, Democracy and Militancy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Weiner, Nan and Morley Gunderson. 1990. Pay Equity: Issues, Options and Experiences. Toronto: Butterworth.

Weiner, Nan. 1995. Workplace Equity, in G. Swimmer and M. Thompson (eds.) Public Sector Collective Bargaining in Canada: Beginning of the End or End of the Beginning? Kingston: Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Weiler, Paul. 1986. The Wages of Sex: The Uses and Limits of Comparable Worth , Harvard Law Review, No. 99.

White, Julie. 1993. Bread and Roses - The Advantages of Unionization: pay and equal pay, in J. White, Sisters & Solidarity: Women and Unions in Canada. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.

Workplace Equity Guide. 1999. Don Mills, Ontario: CCH Ltd.

Deschenes, Muriel. 1990. Pay Equity in Ontario: Equity and Efficiency Revisted. Department of Political Science. University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.

Glenn, Sharon Ruth. 1994. Assessing the Potential and Limitations of Canadian Pay Equity Reform as a Future Strategy for Women in Northern Ireland. Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.

McDonald, Karen Marie. 1993. Worker Attitudes Toward Pay Equity: Job, Union and Women’s Equality Factors. Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Neale, Deborah Jane. 1990. Pay Equity in Ontario. A Limited Response to Systemic Wage Discrimination. Department of Sociology, Carleton University.

Stinson, Jane. 1999. Ontario Pay Equity Results For CUPE Service Workers in Ontario Hospitals: A Study of Uneven Benefits. School of Political Economy, Carleton University.

Hammah, Clement Patrick. 1990. Organizational Adaptation to Pay Equity in Ontario: Explaining Employer Differences in Compliance. York University.

Kainer, Jan. 1996. Cashing in on Pay Equity? Negotiating Equal Pay in Ontario’s Food Retail Sector. Department of Sociology, York University, Toronto, Ontario.

Skipton, S. 1995. Collective Bargaining and Pay Equity: A Study of Pay Equity Bargaining in Two Canadian Provinces. Coventry: Industrial Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick, U.K.

The empirical work focused on explaining issues of structure, style and power in pay equity bargaining and the complex intertwinings of the structural properties of gender and class were considered crucial to an explanation of these. The key structural dynamic in the negotiation of pay equity was found to be the degree of effectiveness of a labour-feminist politic combined with employer/state commitment, which are themselves interconnected and represent the transformative face of gender and class power relations.

The thesis, in providing a theoretically informed discussion of detailed case study material, contributes towards the debate on the effectiveness of collective bargaining as a vehicle for implementing equal pay policy. It also informs the debate on labour-management cooperation in labour relations, especially in public sector collective bargaining. Because legislated pay equity is bargaining within a new set of legal parameters, the study may also aid our understanding of the relationship between collective bargaining and the law. Finally, the thesis attempts to unravel the interwoven complexities of gender and power relations in the collective bargaining process.

Whelly, Dorin Clare. 1995. Nurses Perceptions of Pay Equity: A Fairness Reaction Model. University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.

Acker, Joan. 1989. Doing Comparable Worth: Gender, Class and Pay Equity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Acker, Joan. 1990. Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations, Gender & Society. Vol 4, No. 2: 139-58.

Blau, Francine and Lawrence Kahn. 1996. Wage Inequality: International Comparisons at its Sources. Washington D.C.: A.E.I. Press.

Blum, Linda. 1991. Between Feminism and Labor: The Significance of the Comparable Worth Movement. Berkley: University of California Press.

Bose, Christine and Glenna Spitze (eds.). 1987. Ingredients for Women’s Employment Policy. Albany: State University of New York.

Brenner, Johanna. 1987. Feminist Political Discourses: Radical Versus Liberal Approaches to the Feminization of Poverty and Comparable Worth , Gender and Society. Vol. 1, No. 4: 447-65.

Cobble, Dorothy Sue. 1993. Roundtable on Pay Equity and Affirmative Action , in Cobble (ed.), Women and Unions. Ithaca, New York: ILR Press.

Dornstein, Miriam. 1991. Conceptions of Fair Pay: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Research. New York: Praeger.

England, Paula. 1992. Comparable Worth: Theories and Evidence. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Evans, Sara and Barbara Nelson. 1989. Wage Justice: Comparable Worth and the Paradox of Technocratic Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Figart, Deborah and Peggy Kahn. 1997. Contesting the Market: Pay Equity and the Politics of Restructuring. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

Figart, Deborah and June Lapidus. 1997. Reversing the Great U-Turn: Pay Equity, Poverty and Inequality, in E. Mutari, H. Boushey and W. Fraher IV (eds.) Gender and Political Economy: Incorporating Diversity into Theory and Policy. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharp.

Gold, Michael. 1983. A Dialogue on Comparable Worth. Ithaca, New York: ILR Press.

Job Evaluation, A Tool for Pay Equity. 1987. Washington: National Committee on Pay Equity.

Johansen, Elaine. 1984. Comparable Worth: The Myth and the Movement. Boulder: Westview Press.

Johnston, Paul. 1994. Success While Others Fail: Social Movement Unionism and the Public Workplace. Ithaca, New York: ILR Press.

Kessler-Harris, Alice. 1990. A Woman’s Wage: Historical Meanings and Social Consequences. Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky.

Killingsworth, Mark. 1990. The Economics of Comparable Worth. Michigan: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

McCann, Michael. 1994. Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform And The Politics Of Legal Mobilization. 1994. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Meehan, Elizabeth. 1985. Women’s Rights at Work: Campaigns in Britain and the United States. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Mutari, Ellen and Deborah M. Figart. 1997. Comparable Worth in a Restructuring Economy, in E. Mutari, H. Boushey and W. Fraher IV (eds.) Gender and Political Economy: Incorporating Diversity into Theory and Policy. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharp.

Nelson, Robert and William Bridges. 1999. Legalizing Gender Inequality: Courts, Markets and Unequal Pay for Women. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Perrin, Suzanne. 1985. Comparable Worth and Public Policy: The Case of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.

Remick, Helen (ed). 1984. Comparable Worth and Wage Discrimination: Technical Possibilities and Political Realities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Rhoads, Steven. 1993. Incomparable Worth: Pay Equity Meets The Market. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Robb, Carol. 1995. Equal Value: An Ethical Approach to Economics and Sex. Boston: Beacon Press.

Sorenson, Elaine. 1994. Comparable Worth. Is it a Worthy Policy? Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Steinberg, Ronnie. 1990. "Social Construction of Skill, Gender and Power and Comparable Worth". Work and Occupations, Vol. 17, No. 4:449-482.

Steinberg, Ronnie. 1992. "Gendered Instructions: Cultural Lag and Gender Bias in the Hay System of Job Evaluation". Work and Occupations. Vol. 19, No. 4:387-423.

Steinberg, Ronnie and Jerry Jacobs. 1994. Pay Equity in Non-Profit Organizations: Making Women’s Work Visible, in T. Odendahl and M. O Neill (eds.) Women and Power in the Non-Profit Sector. San Franciso: Jossey-Bass.

Willborn, Steven. 1989. A Secretary and A Cook: Challenging Women’s Wages in the Courts of the United States and Britain. Ithaca, New York: ILR Press.

Gregory, Jeanne, Rosemary Sales and Arianne Hegewisch (eds.) 1999. Women, Work and Inequality: The Challenge of Equal Pay in a Deregulated Market. London: MacMillan Press.

Joshi, Heather and Pierella Paci. 1998. Unequal Pay for Women and Men: Evidence from the British Birth Cohort Series. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

McColgan Aileen. 1993. Legislating Pay Equity? Lessons from Canada, Industrial Law Journal Vol. 22, No. 4:269-286.

McColgan, Aileen. 1997. Just Wages for Women. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Perlman, Richard and Maureen Pike. 1994. Sex Discrimination in the Labour Market: the Case for Comparable Worth. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Willborn, Steven. 1989. A Secretary and A Cook: Challenging Women’s Wages in the Courts of the United States and Britain. Ithaca, New York: ILR Press.

Burton, Clare. 1991. The Promise and the Price: The Struggle For Equal Opportunity In Women’s Employment. North Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Eyraud, F. 1993. Equal Pay Protection in Industrialised Market Economies: In Search of Greater Effectiveness. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

Gregory, R. G. 1998. Women’s Pay in a Changing Labour Market. OECD Working Paper, Vol. 6, No. 81.

Gunderson, Morley. 1994. Comparable Worth and Gender Discrimination: An International Perspective. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

Gunderson, Morley. 1995. Gender Discrimination and Pay Equity Legislation, in

Christofides, Louis, Kenneth Grant and Robert Swindsky (eds.) 1995. Aspects of Labour Market Behaviours: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Kidd, M. and Shannon, M. 1996. The Gender Wage Gap: A Comparison of Australia and Canada, International Labour Relations Review 49:729-44.

Lewenhak, Sheila. 1992. The Revaluation of Women’s Work. London: Earthscan Publications Limited.

McKeen, Wendy. 1999. The Radical Potential of the European Community’s Equality Legislation , in Pat Armstrong and Patricia Connelly (eds.) Feminism, Political Economy and the State. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.

OECD. 1991. Equal Pay for Work of Comparable Worth: The Experience of Industrialised Countries, Labour Market and Social Policy Occassional Paper No. 6, Paris: OECD.

Rubery, Jill et. al. 1998. Equal Pay in Europe? Closing The Gender Wage Gap. International Labour Office. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Standing, Guy. 1989. Global Feminization Through Flexible Labor, World Development 17 (July): 1075-95.

Whitehouse, G. 1992. Legislation and labour market gender inequality: An Analysis of OECD Countries, Work, Employment and Society, Vol. 6, No. 1:65-88.

Analyses of Legislation

Cuneo, Carl. 1991. The State of Pay Equity: Mediating Gender and Class Through Political Parties in Ontario, in J. Fudge and P. McDermott (eds.) Just Wages: A Feminist Assessment of Pay Equity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Egri, C. and W. T. Sanbury. 1989. How Pay Equity Legislation Came to Ontario, Canadian Public Administration/Administration Publique du Canada Vol. 32, No. 2:274-303.

Eyraud, Francois. 1993. Equal Pay: An International Overview, in F. Eyraud (ed.) Equal Pay Protection in Industrialised Market Economies: In Search of Greater Effectiveness. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

Handman, Suzanne and Karen Jensen. 1999. Pay Equity in Canada: An Overview, Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal Vol. 7:65-89.

McDermott, Patricia. 1990. Pay Equity in Ontario: A Critical Legal Analysis, Osgoode Hall Law Journal Vol. 28, No. 2:381-407.

McDermott, Patricia. 1993. Equal Pay in Canada, in Francois Eyraud (ed.) Equal Pay Protection in Industrialised Market Economies: In Search of Greater Effectiveness. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

McColgan, Aileen. 1993. Legislating Pay Equity? Lessons from Canada, Industrial Law Journal Vol. 22, No. 4:269-286.

McColgan, Aileen. 1997. Just Wages for Women. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

McKeen, Wendy. 1999. The Radical Potential of the European Community’s Equality Legislation, in Pat Armstrong and Patricia Connelly (eds.) Feminism, Political Economy and the State. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.

Acker, Joan. 1989. Doing Comparable Worth: Gender, Class and Pay Equity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Gunderson, Morley. 1995. Gender Discrimination and Pay Equity Legislation, in Christofides, Grant and Swindsky (eds.), Aspects of Labour Market Behaviours: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Hertwig, Kim. 1999. Pay Equity Legislation in Canada: A Study of the Public Service Alliance of Canada Case, Canadian Woman Studies, Vol. 19, Nos.1&2:186-193.

Nelson, Robert and William Bridges. 1999. Legalizing Gender Inequality: Courts, Markets, and Unequal Pay for Women in America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Drawing on four legal case studies concerning gender pay discrimination in the United States, the authors argue that court decisions have contributed to the continuation of gender pay inequalities rather than undermined them. While the courts have adopted the view that the market is responsible for the gender pay gap, plaintiffs have pointed out that the market discriminates. Judicial decisions that frame the source of gender pay inequities at the level of the market, ignore the role of employers in structuring organizational pay practices that perpetuate patterns of gender wage inequality. This book provides detailed analysis of Gunther, (Title VII, Civil Rights Act) and Post-Gunther cases.

Rubery, Jill et. al. 1998. Equal Pay in Europe? Closing the Gender Wage Gap.

New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Also see McCann, 1994 (below)

Collective Bargaining and Pay Equity

McDermott, Pat. 1991. The Pay Equity Challenge to Collective Bargaining in Ontario, in Judy Fudge and Pat McDermott (eds.) Just Wages: A Feminist Assesment of Pay Equity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Warskett, Rosemary. 1993. Can a Disappearing Pie be Shared Equally? Unions, Women and Wage Fairness, in L. Briskin and P. McDermott (eds.) Women Challenging Unions: Feminism, Democracy and Militancy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Also see: Acker (1989) Creese (1999).

Blau, Francine and Lawrence Kahn. 1996. Wage Inequality: International Comparisons at its Sources. Washington D.C.: A.E.I. Press.

• A comparison of wage distribution in the United States as compared to other industrialised nations demonstrates that wages are more unequal in the U.S, than in other advanced capitalist countries. The authors find that market forces are not responsible for wage dispersion as much as labour market institutions (collective bargaining systems) in the various countries. The weakening of centralized wage setting practices in Europe is worrisome in that these wage policies offered some protection against poverty for the lower-skilled worker.

Figart, Deborah and June Lapidus. 1997. Reversing the Great U-Turn: Pay Equity, Poverty and Inequality, in E. Mutari, H. Boushey and W. Fraher IV (eds.) Gender and Political Economy: Incorporating Diversity into Theory and Policy. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharp.

Joshi, Heather and Pierella Paci. 1998. Unequal Pay for Women and Men: Evidence from the British Birth Cohort Series. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

• This economic analysis of wage differentials in Britain attempts to explain the differences in pay between men and women, particularly between full-time and part-time workers, using econometric methodology. The authors conclude that improvement in policy such as the reconstitution of the minimum wage (wages councils), better child care and extended maternity leave would improve women’s pay rates.

Also see: Pat Armstrong (1996) for a discussion of Canadian evidence, and Aileen McColgan for U. K.

Acker, Joan. 1990. Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations, Gender and Society. Vol. 4, No. 2:1:139-58.

Murtha, Julie. 1993. Job Evaluation: A Quest for Gender Neutrality. Kingston: Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University.

Quaid, Maeve. 1993. Job Evaluation: The Myth of Equitable Assessment. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

• This book analyses the implementation of the Hay job evaluation system in a provincial government bureaucracy in Canada. The author argues that various claims made about job evaluation rest on unexamined assumptions concerning the 'technical powers' of job evaluation to rationally order the organizational hierarchy, set differentials between jobs, and determine pay levels. The case study findings reveal that job evaluation does not operate as a scientific, rational process but rather functions as an 'institutional myth' to justify job hierarchies.

Steinberg, Ronnie. 1992. Gendered Instructions: Cultural Lag and Gender Bias in the Hay System of Job Evaluation, Work and Occupations Vol. 19, No. 4:387-423

Armstrong, Pat. 1996. The Feminization of the Labour Force: Harmonizing Down in a Global Economy, in Isabella Bakker (ed.) Rethinking Restructuring: Gender and Change in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

• The authors provide a comprehensive overview of the historical development of pay and employment equity legislation in Canada. Focusing on the impact of labour market and state restructuring on women's wage earnings and employment, they argue that globalization is weakening equity policies as governments, particularly in the province of Ontario, promote market competitiveness in the global economy at the expense of equality measures for women. To ensure greater equality in pay and employment for women in a changing labour market, it will be necessary to strengthen the role of the state in the area of economic development and regulation, and rethink equity strategies to better address the problem of casualisation and work reorganization.

Bakker, Isabella. 1991. Pay Equity and Economic Restructuring: The Polarization of Policy? , in P. McDermott and J. Fudge (eds.) Just Wages: A Feminist Assessment. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Creese, Gillian. 1999. Restructuring, Resistance and the Politics of Equity ch. 6, in her book Contracting Masculinity: Gender, Class and Race in a White-Collar Union, 1944-1994. Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Fudge, Judy. 1996. Fragmentation and Feminization: The Challenge of Equity for Labour-Relations Policy, in Janine Brodie (ed.) Women and Canadian Public Policy Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company, Canada.

Gregory, Jeanne, Rosemary Sales and Arianne Hegewisch (eds.) 1999. Women, Work and Inequality: The Challenge of Equal Pay in a Deregulated Market. London: MacMillan Press.

Gregory, R. G. 1998. Women’s Pay in a Changing Labour Market. OECD Working Papers, Vol. VI, No. 81. 27 pp.

Mutari, Ellen and Deborah M. Figart. 1997. Comparable Worth in a Restructuring Economy: Discourse and Counter Discourse, in E. Mutari, H. Boushey and W. Fraher IV (eds.) Gender and Political Economy: Incorporating Diversity into Theory and Policy. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharp.

Standing, Guy. 1989. Global Feminization Through Flexible Labor, World Development 17 (July): 1075-95.

Theories of Gender Wage Inequality

Dornstein, Miriam. 1991. Conceptions of Fair Pay: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Research. New York: Praeger

Jacobsen, Joyce. 1994. The Economics of Gender. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Burton, Clare. 1991. The Promise and the Price: The Struggle For Equal Opportunity In Women’s Employment. North Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Blum, Linda. 1991. Between Feminism and Labor: The Significance of the Comparable Worth Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Brenner, Johanna. 1987. Feminist Political Discourses: Radical Versus Liberal Approaches to the Feminization of Poverty and Comparable Worth, Gender and Society. Vol. 1, No. 4:447-465.

Lewis, Debra. 1988. Just Give Us the Money: A Discussion of Wage Discrimination and Pay Equity. Vancouver: Women’s Research Centre.

McCann, Michael. 1994. Rights at Work: pay equity reform and the politics of legal mobilization. 1994. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Pay Equity and Settlement Monitoring Directorate

Anti-Discrimination Programs Branch

Canadian Human Rights Commission

344 Slater Street

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1E1

Tel: (613) 995-1151

Toll Free: 1-888-214-1090

Fax: (613) 992-6313

Email: info.com@chrc-ccdp.ca

Website: www.chrc-ccdp.ca

Equal pay is found under section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The provision, which came into effect in 1978, requires that males and females who perform work of equal value within the same establishment receive equal remuneration. It functions on a complaint-based model which means that employees must file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission alleging gender discrimination in pay. This legislation applies to the federal government, Crown corporations, as well as federally regulated businesses (e.g. banks, telecommunication companies, nuclear power facilities).

Abella, Rosalie Silberman. 1984. Report of the Royal Commission on Equality in Employment. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.

Annual Report of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). 1995.

Campbell, John. 1983. Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value in the Federal Public Service of Canada. Prepared for the Personnel Policy Branch, Treasury Board.

Cornish, Mary. 1986. Equal Pay, Collective Bargaining and the Law. Prepared for the Department of Labour. Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services.

Equal Dollars Make Good Sense: Pay Equity Casebook. 1992. Ottawa: Canadian Human Rights Commission.

• The origins of pay equity federal policy is explained and the process for remedying a pay equity complaint briefly reviewed. Specific recent examples of pay equity settlements are summarized.

Genge, Susan. 1994. Pay Equity in Canada: What Works? , Human Resources Development Canada and the CLC Ad Hoc Pay Equity Committee.

Implementing Pay Equity in the Federal Jurisdiction. 1992. Ottawa: Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Alberta

Alberta has not passed pay equity legislation. The Individual Rights Protection Act prohibits differentiating wages paid to male and female employees performing similar or substantially similar works 6(3).

Keeping, Janet. 1985. Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value, in Kathleen Mahoney and Catherine Brown (eds.) Women, the Law and the Economy. Toronto: Butterworths.

British Columbia has not legislated pay equity but the provincial government has negotiated pay equity with the BCGEU, the union representing government employees. Of particular significance is an arbitration decision at the Hospital Employees Union (HEU). Four arbitration awards have been issued since 1997 between the Health Employers Association of British Columbia and the Hospital Employees Union. The most recent award was issued September 21, 1999. For information on the Kelleher Awards contact: Stephen Howard at HEU, email showard@heu.org.

Hospital Employees Union, CUPE, British Columbia

Wage equity with the British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU) has been a bargaining issue at the Hospital Employees Union (HEU) since 1974. In 1992 the HEU, representing 44,000 employees, successfully negotiated a pay equity clause in its 1991-94 Master Collective Agreement that provides for comparison of the HEU health care bargaining unit with the BCGEU public service bargaining unit. The HEU represents workers in occupations including: clerical, licensed practical nurses, lab technicians, dietary services and others. Since negotiating this agreement there have been several arbitration awards over how to implement the terms of the agreement (Article 69); particularly troublesome was the issue of comparability.

In September 1999 Stephen Kelleher issued an arbitration award requiring pay equity adjustments of $25.8 million, representing 3% of payroll, to 40,000 health care employees. The 1999 Kelleher arbitration award was appealed by the HEABC to the B.C. Labour Board in October of the same year. Kelleher confirmed the award in March, 2000 with pay adjustments retroactive to 1996.

Under the 1998-2001 facilities sector contract, another $78 million will be directed for pay equity wage adjustments. Since 1991 the HEU has negotiated close to $500 million in pay equity adjustments for its members.

Black, Bill. 1994. British Columbia Human Rights Review: Report on Human Rights in British Columbia.

National Association of Women and the Law’s Response to the British Columbia Ministry of Equality’s Pay Equity Proposals of July 17, 1992.

British Columbia Public Sector Employers' Council. 1995. Pay Equity Policy Framework, Sectoral Guidelines.

Manitoba was the first jurisdiction to legislate a pro-active pay equity statute in Canada. The Pay Equity Act was effective in the province in 1985. The act applies to the broader public sector.

• This document reports on the recommendations offered by advocates of pay equity to the hearings by the Manitoba Women’s Bureau concerning implementation of legislated equal pay for work of equal value policy. The recommendations of advocacy groups such as the requirement for pro-active legislation established the framework for pay equity in many jurisdictions across Canada.

• The 1985 Pay Equity Act in Manitoba was path breaking in that it was the first legislated pay equity initiative in Canada to mandate a pro-active approach to gender-based discrimination in pay practices. It applies to the provincial public sector, crown corporations, and 27 external agencies covering over 11 percent of the employed labour force in the province. The average wage adjustments in the civil service was $1.87 per hour and applied to 4,900 employees at a total cost of $16 million or 3.3% of pay roll.

• Four universities in Manitoba negotiated pay equity increases covering 1,954 employees, with an average adjustment of $2.01 per hour. The average pay roll cost was 2.33%.

Pay Equity Act, 1989. Available on web site: http:www.gov.nb.ca

The government of Newfoundland formally endorsed the principle of pay equity in May 1988. Although no legislation was passed, implementation of pay equity was applied to the Newfoundland Public Service using a joint management/union process. Five major public sector unions were involved in pay equity implementation.

Pay Equity Commission

5151 Terminal Road, 7th Floor

P.O. Box 697

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2T8

web site: www://govt.ns.ca/govt/foi/pay.htm

Pay Equity Commission

400 University Avenue, 9th Floor

Toronto, Ontario M7A 1T7

Tel (416) 314-1896

Toll Free Number: 1-800-387-8813

Ontario passed pro-active pay equity legislation in 1988. The Pay Equity Act applies to the broader public sector and private sector employees with more than 10 employees. In 1993 the Act was amended to cover women previously excluded under the legislation, particularly in the public sector. Two additional methods of job comparison, proxy comparison and proportional value, were included in the legislation. Since the amendment was passed, the Ontario government has retreated from fully funding pay equity programs. For a fuller discussion of the struggle to fund pay equity in the province see reference to Service Employees International Union, Local 204 v. Ontario under court decisions (above).

The Pay Equity Commission library (originally housed at 150 Eglinton Ave. W. in Toronto) has been disband; pay equity materials can be found at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeal Tribunal at 505 University Avenue in Toronto, or the library at Ryerson Polytechnic University at 350 Victoria Street, Toronto.

Findlay, Suzanne and Chris Gabriel. 1989. The Proxy Comparison Approach: Can It Work in the Broader Public Sector. Prepared for the Ontario Pay Equity Commission.

Gandz, J. 1987. Pay Equity in the Context of Collective Bargaining, Report Prepared for the Ontario Women’s Directorate.

Ontario Green Paper on Pay Equity. 1985. Honourable Ian Scott, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues.

Pay Equity Reports. Vol. 1 - ongoing. Toronto: Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal.

Read, Jean. 1996. Review of the Pay Equity Act: A Report. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

A requirement under Section 33 (2)(3) of the Ontario Pay Equity Act, was to review the efficacy of the legislation in specific female-predominant sectors of the economy. The Commission solicited reports (listed below) from academics and consultants who analysed the impact of the legislation in a particular female-dominant sector.

Anstey, Sandra. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Female Establishments: Childcare Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Armstrong, Pat. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Predominantly Female Establishments: Health Care. Toronto: Ontario Pay Equity Commission.

Bush, Patricia. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Predominantly Female Establishments: Leather, Textile, and Apparel Manufacturing Sectors. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

DeCoito, Paula. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Predominantly Female Establishments: Personal Services Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Findlay, Suzanne. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Female Establishments: The Community and Social Service Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Harris, Roma. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Predominantly Female Establishments: The Library Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Marilyn Evans & Associates. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Female Establishments: Manufacturing Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Marilyn Evans & Associates. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Predominantly Female Establishments: Retail Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Sayer & Associates. 1988. Pay Equity in Predominantly Female Establishments: Tourism Sector. Toronto: Pay Equity Commission.

Step-by-Step Guide to Pay Equity. 1993. Ontario Pay Equity Commission.

The Report of the Consultation Panel on Pay Equity. 1986. Honourable Ian Scott, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues.

Todres, Elaine. 1987. Managing Pay Equity: A Bureaucrat’s View of Bill 154'. Toronto: Ontario Women’s Directorate.

Prince Edward Island legislated pay equity in 1988. The law applies to the narrow public service as well as most of the broader public sector.

A Report Covering the Period... Vol. I - VI. Pay Equity Bureau. Prince Edward Island: Department of Labour.

Equal pay for work of equal value was first enacted under Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in 1976, in the form of complaint driven legislation. Twenty years later, (November 21, 1996) Quebec passed proactive pay equity legislation. The law gave employers until November 21, 1998 to submit pay equity reports to the Pay Equity Commission which demonstrates compliance with the law; unions can also submit reports. Pay equity comparisons apply to jobs which are at least 60 percent female. A gender-neutral job comparison system using the four factors of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions must be applied to determine gender equivalencies. Pay equity committees must be formed to implement pay equity comparisons. The pay equity legislation applies to the public and private sectors. Like Ontario, pay equity in the private sector applies only to firms with more than 10 employees.

Pay Equity Commission web site: www.ces.gouv.qc.ca

Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value and Pay Equity: Policy Framework, Implementation Guide. March 1999. Regina: Government of Saskatchewan.

• This document provides an overview of the pay equity policy framework implemented by the NDP government in Saskatchewan in 1997. The policy framework is a voluntary pay equity program that covers the narrow public sector including the Public Service Commission, Crown Corporations, Treasury Board Agencies, the Community College sector (excludes universities) and Health Sector Employees represented by the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO). The policy requires using the male wage line as the basis for determining equivalency with female predominant jobs, and mandates the parties to establish specific terms of reference for achieving pay equity.

The Yukon Territory’s Human Rights Act prohibits employers from maintaining a difference in wages of employees based on any of the grounds of discrimination included in the Act (including gender).

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut do not have legislated pay equity but require compliance with federal law, section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Section V - Court Decisions

• Barbara Hall Nuttall, a cashier at Canada Safeway, filed a complaint in December 1989 with the support of her union, the Retail Wholesale Department Store union, alleging systemic discrimination in employment under the The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. In 1992 the Commission passed a resolution certifying the complaint as a class complaint and Canada Safeway responded by applying to the Court of Queen’s Bench, denying the certification as a class complaint. Canada Safeway argued that the Commission has no jurisdiction to initiate or inquire into complaints on the ground of pay equity. The Court ruled that while there is no pay equity legislation in the province, the Commission has the jurisdiction to investigate gender discrimination in employment that embraces unequal payment of wages between men and women as a condition of employment. Judge Wimmer ruled that it is for a board of inquiry to initiate and investigate complaints on gender discrimination pursuant to the Code. In December 1999 the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission decided not to investigate Barbara Hall Nuttall’s case.

• The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) union representing Bell telephone operators filed a pay equity complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act in 1993. The case was appealed to the federal court. Judge Muldoon of the federal court concluded that pay equity adjustments should be based on the job-to-job comparison method. This decision was subsequently appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal that ruled against the Muldoon decision in its entirety in 1999. Bell requested that hearings at the Human Rights Tribunal be forestalled until the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on whether to hear an appeal of the Muldoon decision. A five week strike occurred in March and April of 1999 over the pay equity issue, and in response to Bell’s decision to transfer 2400 (mostly women) telephone operators to Excell Global Services, an American-based company. In April 1999, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered pay equity hearings between CEP and Bell, despite the company’s appeal to the Supreme Court, and in July the Supreme Court ruled it would not hear the Bell Canada case. In late September 1999 Bell Canada offered to pay $29 million in pay adjustments to 2100 CEP members employed as telephone operators. An additional $30 million was offered to members of the Canadian Telephone Employees Association (CTEA). The CEP and CTEA, representing a total of 20,000 members, held a ratification vote in October 1999 and the pay equity offer was defeated. The pay equity complaint was appealed at the Federal Court; in November 2000 Justice Tremblay-Lamer ruled that Human Rights Tribunals are not institutionally independent and impartial. The CEP is appealing the Federal Court decision.

• This case was a constitutional challenge under section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to Ontario’s repeal of the Employment Equity Act. The case was brought forward by the Alliance for Employment Equity. The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled against the plaintiffs while the Supreme Court of Canada decided in December 1999 to deny the application. An argument before the Ontario Court of Appeal concerned whether section 15 can be used to prevent wholesale repeal of equality legislation; it also raised the issue of whether there exists a positive duty to promote equality rights.

• The Ontario Divisional Court held that unequal pay for work of equal value can constitute sex discrimination within the meaning of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

• The Supreme Court of Canada held that the intent to discriminate is not a factor in the construction and application of human rights legislation; if conduct has discriminatory effect then it is discrimination, despite the benign motive of the offender.

• The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that under section 15 of the Charter it is possible to make a claim against a government agency alleging sex discrimination in employment.

• The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), representing civil servants employed by the federal government, filed a complaint on behalf of its members in respect of wage discrimination in 1984 under ss. 7 and 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The complaint has a long history with the PSAC filing a subsequent complaint to the Tribunal charging the Treasury Board with trying to delay pay equity settlements, and the government twice appealing the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s jurisdiction before the Federal Court. Having lost both cases at the Federal Court, the Tribunal ordered the government to pay 230,000 current and former civil servants pay equity adjustments, with back pay. This ruling, too, was appealed by the Treasury Board but dismissed October 19, 1999 by Justice John Evans of the Federal Court Trial Division. Evans stated that section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act should be given a broad interpretation consistent with its status as quasi-constitutional legislation. To remedy systemic undervaluation of women’s work, methodologies should not be unduly restrictive in their application. Treasury Board announced in October 1999 it will pay the money owed to workers, worth $3.5 billion. Since October 1999, the PSAC continues to be embroiled in challenges with Treasury Board over the interpretation of the implementation of pay equity agreements signed by both parties. Payment to individuals employed outside the civil service, such as the Auditor General and Crown corporations, is at issue. The union is considering further legal challenges (as of July 2000).

• When the Public Service Alliance (PSAC) union filed a pay equity complaint, the Department of National Defence agreed to pay wage adjustments commencing a new collective agreement. The PSAC filed a complaint to the Human Rights Commission arguing that pay equity adjustments should apply to employees prior to the date of the new agreement. The complaint was appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal which stated that systemic discrimination extends over a long period and as such complaints cannot be limited to a specific point in time. This decision is significant in that it presents possibilities for arguing that systemic discrimination in pay has extended for a long period of time, and redress requires payments into the future.

• The Service Employees International Union, Local 204 alleged that removing Schedule J of the Ontario Savings and Restructuring Act passed in 1996 violated sections 15 and 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Schedule J provided pay equity funding for the 100,000 workers in the broader public sector under the proxy comparison methodology of the Ontario Pay Equity Act. The proxy comparison was included to cover workers performing traditional women’s work in female predominate sectors of the broader public sector where there are no male comparators. Judge O’Leary held that eliminating the proxy comparison creates a fundamental inequity between workers employed in the broader public sector, as compared to those covered by the job-to-job comparison method. The Court ruled that it is unfair to grant pay equity adjustments to one group, while denying them to another. Judge O’Leary ruled that Schedule J is of no force and effect. As of late 1999, the Ontario government had not completely fulfilled its obligation to pay out wage adjustments equivalent to 1 percent of pay roll to be applied to proxy comparison, although it had reinstituted Schedule J of the legislation.

Baker, J., M. Cornish, T. Herman and P. Lukasiewicz. The New Law and Its Implementation. Department of Education, Law Society of Upper Canada and Canadian Bar Association.

203-234 Eglinton Avenue East

Toronto, Ontario M4P 1K5

Tel: 416-932-1718

email: nac@web.net

1 Nicholas St.

Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7

Submission to the Pay Equity Act Review. 1996. Toronto, Ontario: NAWL

Submissions to the Standing Committee on Omnibus Bill 26, the Proposed Savings and Restructuring Act [Ontario]. 1995. NAWL.

Response to the British Columbia Ministry of Equality Pay Equity Proposals of July 17, 1992. NAWL.

Ontario Equal Pay Coalition

43 Madison Avenue

Toronto, Ontario M5R 2S2

Tel. (416) 964 -1115

web site: www.web.net/~equal pay

Ontario Equal Pay Coalition. 1986. Response to the Ontario Government’s Green Paper on Pay Equity.

Ontario Equal Pay Coalition. 1987. Response to Bill 154. Submission to the Standing Committee on the Administration of Justice Concerning Bill 154 - Pay Equity Act, 1986.

Ontario Equal Pay Coalition. 1988. Bringing Pay Equity to Those Excluded From Ontario’s Pay Equity Act.

Ontario Equal Pay Coalition. 1996. Preserve Pay Equity For All Ontario Women. Brief to the Minister of Labour re: statutory review of Ontario Pay Equity Act.

Cornish, Mary and Fay Faraday. 1999. Where do we go for equity? Strategies for achieving pay equity and employment equity. Prepared for the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, 8th Annual Conference, April 29 - May 2, 1999, Toronto, Ontario.

Pay Equity Advocacy & Legal Services (PEALS)

415 Yonge Street

Suite 1800

Toronto, Ontario M5B 2E7

Tel: 416-977-8676

e-mail: payequityvolvement@mmp.net

This clinic was established in 1992 to provide legal representation to workers (especially nonunionized) requiring legal assistance concerning legislated pay equity in Ontario. As a community-based organization working throughout Ontario, it functions as a public education resource to inform the broader public about pay equity rights. Funding for the clinic is expiring but recommendations to expand in the area of human rights and other employment related issues are being put forward by PEALS. It is uncertain whether there will be funding for the clinic in the future, leaving non-unionised women without resources to pursue pay equity claims.

Regina, Saskatchewan

220 - 2445 13th Avenue

Tel: 306-924-8575

Contact: Aina Kagis, Chair

Pay Equity Discussion Paper. 1998. Prepared by the Pay Equity Coalition of Saskatchewan

• This document outlines the demands by the Pay Equity Coalition of Saskatchewan for proactive legislation in the province. The Coalition lists among its recommendations that equal pay for work of equal value legislation apply to all workers in both the public and private sectors; that legislation allow flexible methods for determining gender wage equity (such as equalizing base wage rates); and that comparison of average wages of female and male predominant job classes be used to determine pay equity adjustments.

Smith, Nick. The Pay Equity Story, BC Government Union newsletter, pay equity series, undated.

Also see the HEU arbitration decision above.

web site: www.caw.ca

There is not specific reference to pay equity but see the Human Rights Policy Statement.

web site: www.clc-ctc.ca

CLC Symposium Report. Bargaining for Equality, Nov. 1-3, 1998.

Genge, Susan. 1994. Pay Equity in Canada: What Works? , Human Resources Development Canada and the CLC Ad Hoc Pay Equity Committee.

web site: www.cupe.ca

CUPE National Homepage links to all CUPE Provincial Divisions, the CUPE Airline Division and the Hospital Employees Union in British Columbia.

Armstrong, Pat. 1991. Examples of Pay Equity Settlements in Ontario.

Job Evaluation Department. 1992. Introduction to Job Evaluation.

Job Evaluation Department. 1993. Advanced Job Evaluation.

Job Evaluation Department and Equal Opportunities Department. 1988. CUPE Gender-Neutral Job Evaluation Plan.

The Equal Opportunities Office. A guide to Ontario’s Pay Equity Act. Undated.

The Equal Opportunities Office. Ten Pay Equity Myths. Undated.

Up With Women’s Wages, Campaign Literature, 2000.

web site: www.heu.org

2006 West 10th Avenue

Vancouver, BC V6J 4P5.

tel (604) 734-3431

• Maintains web site with specific update on pay equity developments.

Bridging the Gap: A Mid-Contract Pay Equity Update, (April 1999). The BC Health Services Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Morrison, Nancy. Hospital Employees Union and Labour Relations Association of British Columbia, April 30, 1998.

Web site: www.cep.ca

CEP on-line journal provides bargaining updates and news bulletins, such as developments of the Bell Canada case (see court decisions). The web site also provides discussion papers, briefs and the CEP Affirmative Action Plan, adopted in 1998.

web site: www.csn.qc.ca

• Maintains update on collective bargaining and other developments within CSN, as well the union’s history, services, dues, strike pay and other services. Most of this website is in french, with the exception of one department that provides an update of collective bargaining developments.

Équité Salariale: Pourquoi Les Femmes Gagneraient-Elles Moins Que Les Hommes?: Document Dépose à la Commission des Droits de la Personne du Québec. Consultation sur L’Équité Salariale. Mars 1991.

Mémoire de la Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) sur le project de loi 35, Loi sur l’ équité salariale. Présenter à la Commission des affairs sociales. Aoūt, 1996.

Information Pamphlets:

Équité salariale C`est un droit: Guide pour une démarche en équité salariale. Août, 2000.

L’équité salariale, il faut y voir Maintenant! Method, démarche et outils proposer par la CSN. Mai 1999.

Équité Salariale reconnaître sa valeur en voir la couleur. Janvier, 1999.

La Nouvelle Loi Sur L’équité Salariale. Pour Qu’elle S’applique, faut qu’on simplique! Juin, 1997

L’Équité salariale, c’est plus que du bonbon... À travail équivalent, salaire égal. Non daté.

Le petit livre rose. Pourquoi les femmes gagneraient-elles mois que les hommes? Questions/r ponse sur l’équité salariale. Février 1989.

web site: www.ftq.qc.ca

• Maintains update on collective bargaining and other developments within FTQ as well as other services. Most of this website is in french.

Mémoire sur le projet de loi sur l`équité salariale soumis par la FTQ â la Commission parlementaire des Affaires sociales, le 21 août 1996.

Démêlons les concept autour de l’équité salariale, FTQ. Service de la condition féminine, février 1997.

"L’équité salariale:maintenant, à nous de jouer....". Guide syndical d’application de la Loi sur l’équité salariale, FTQ. Service de la condition féminine, novembre 1998.

Woloski, Carolyn. 1987. Equal Value, Equal Pay: A Pay Equity Handbook for Unionists. Ottawa.

Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)

web site: www.ofl-fto.on.ca

web site: www.opseu.org

Head Office

100 Lesmill Road

Toronto, Ontario M3B 3P8

tel: 1-800-269-73

Equity at Work: A Pay Equity Manual for Practitioners. 1987. Pay Equity Unit, Ontario Public Service Employment Union.

web site: www.psac-afpc.com

• The web site provides update on pay equity developments, particularly concerning the Canadian Human Rights complaint against Treasury Board. The web site lists media releases, submissions to government hearings and committees, provides highlights of the Treasury Board complaint including a detailed chronology, and an archive of historical sources on pay equity. The site also lists tables of pay equity adjustments in dollar figures by job classification.

• This bulletin provides updates on the pay equity negotiations with Treasury Board. It specifically reviews the position of Treasury Board, as well as the response of PSAC.

web site: turb@telnus.net

#170-111 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

Tel. (604) 255-0971

Discussion Paper: Pay Equity Legislation in British Columbia. Prepared by Debra Lewis, 1992.

Just Wages: a bulletin on wage discrimination and pay equity. Women’s Research Centre and Trade Union Research Bureau, Vols. 1-4, 1991-94.

web site: www.fraserinstitute.ca

web site: www.retailcouncil.org

Rhoads. Steven. 1993. Incomparable Worth: pay equity meets the market. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.