The Ubyssey
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is part of: University Publications
issued: 2015-08-27
issued: 1991-09-17
aggregated CHO: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/Ubysseynews/items/1.0126567/source.json
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note: /the Ubyssey il Good Morning UBC! Founded in 1918 PSAC Strike Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, September 17,1991 Vol 74, No 5 Federal government ignores pay equity laws, strikers take issue by Cheryl Nlamath One of the main issues being negotiated in the Public Service Alliance strike, which started last Monday, is pay equity, or equal pay for work of equal value. Angela Soukoreff, a worker at Employment and Immigration, said the government has not taken action even though pay equity became law in 1977 under the Canadian Human Rights Act. "The government has never voluntarily taken action to follow the legislation," said Soukoreff, also vice-president of her union local. A joint five-year study completed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and its employer, the Treasury Board, reported that all female-dominated groups in the union were underpaid, and as late as 1990, only a quarter of these groups had been paid what they were owed, Soukoreff said. Karen McBride, a clerk at Employment and Immigration, said, "I don't understand how they can do the study and then turn around and say, gee whiz, we're not going to pay that, but still want to legislate us back to work. "What makes one law more enforceable than the other?" she said. Women make up 46 per cent of PSAC members, most hold clerical, data entry or secretarial positions, which are at the lower end of the pay scale. Soukoreff said 60 per cent of the union's membership earns $25,000 or less annually. The lowest salary is $16,000, which is "definitely below the poverty line." "When we earn so little, it reinforces an attitude toward women. If your government wants to make you a cheap commodity, that says volumes. Business usually follows what the government starts," McBride said. McBride, a "single-grandmother," said she takeshome about $750 every two weeks. Out of that, she pays rent and car payments, as well as daycare for her granddaughter. "I make so little that I qualify for a provincial government subsidy…
has type: Newspapers
spatial: Vancouver (B.C.)
identifier: LH3.B7 U4
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0126567
language: English
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: Vancouver : Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia
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source: Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives
subject: University of British Columbia
type: Text