Liberals push for equal pay across Alberta
Posted Apr 8, 2015 4:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Elected or not, Liberal leader David Swann says his party will push for equal pay across the province upon returning to the Alberta Legislature.
Swann made the announcement in Edmonton Wednesday morning.
He tells 660News, Alberta is sorely lacking and needs to play catch up compared to the rest of the country.
“Alberta has fallen way behind, compared to the rest of the world in pay equity, it’s shocking really,” he said. “Our children, our mothers, our grandmothers have been paid at the rate of 2/3rd’s of anyone else doing the same job, it’s not acceptable and we want to see some legislation that will fix that.”
“We’re catching up the rest of the country. Saskatchewan pays 80 cents on the dollar that men get for the same rate and I would hasten to add it’s not just women that are unfairly treated, farm workers are paid significantly less in many cases and that needs to be addressed as well. We want equality for the same job.”
The long-time politician and doctor calls it shameful that the province’s leadership hasn’t taken this issue on and adds it should be about fairness.
“We want to see the government enact legislation that would require all workplaces to demonstrate they are negotiating fairly and providing equal pay for work of equal value, that’s as simple as we can put it, that sometimes can mean a negotiation framework that everyone knows when they go into a job opportunity. They can start to talk from the same language about what equity framework looks like and they can challenge bosses that are not living up to that framework.”
He says the Liberals themselves are working very hard to get more women into politics, right now they have 6 which would be about 20 per cent of their compliment, but adds this isn’t a favourable climate and they’re working hard to change that.
They plan on introducing it through a motion, a resolution or even a bill to get pay equity.
“When I think about my own daughters, my patients, when I was a doctor, struggling with feeling discriminated against and devalued but also not being able to make payments on some of the most basic aspects of their lives.”
The Liberals have quoted a report from the Parkland Institute that shows in Alberta, women’s total average income is only 58 per cent to that of men.
It also found among women working full time, full year earnings are 63 per cent to that of men, compared to 80 per cent in Saskatchewan and 74 per cent in Ontario.
Women average also 35 hours per week in unpaid work in Alberta compared to 17.1 hours per week for men.
