Help close the Gender Wage Gap today
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UFCW Canada submission to the House of Commons Special Committee on Pay Equity |
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| #EqualPayDay |
The gender wage gap is the difference in earnings between women and men in the workplace.
It is a widely recognized indicator of the economic inequality facing working women. A 2015 United Nations Human Rights report raised concerns about “the persisting inequalities between women and men” in Canada, including the “high level of the pay gap” and its disproportionate effect on low-income women, racialized women, and Indigenous women.
Canada is ranked as having the 8th highest gender pay gap out of a list of 43 countries examined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed women’s participation in the labour force down to its lowest level in three decades. The majority of job losses have taken place in female-dominated industries, including accommodation and food services, retail trade, educational services and health care and social assistance. These factors carry significant economic consequences, and impact further the growing gender wage gap.
How can we eliminate the gender wage gap?
- Make closing the gender gap a human rights priority
- Legislate card check & promote access to collective bargaining
- Enforce and expand pay equity
- Increase the minimum wage
- Legislate equity compliance for workplaces and businesses
- Provide affordable, high-quality, universal child care
- End violence and harassment of women
- Table Pay Transparency legislation
As we work on recovery measures for this pandemic, let’s ensure women’s rights and gender justice are at the heart of the COVID-19 global response and recovery measures.
Together, we can urge provincial governments to make equal pay for equal work a reality for all working women in Canada. Send a message to provincial government leaders today to put an end to the gender wage gap.