International Women's Day

 Economic Equality Crisis - IWD message 2009

International Women's Day message by Judi Filion, BCGEU Treasurer

For many women, every day is an economic crisis.

And discriminatory government policy and budget priorities are only making things worse for Canadian women.

Canada has dropped 13 places in a ‘global gender gap rating' to the 31st spot out of 130 countries, according to the latest analysis by the World Economic Forum.

The report looks at the gap between women and men in such areas as income, education, health and political participation. For the first time, the United States has moved ahead of Canada in this index.

Significantly, the first legislation signed by new American president Barack Obama allows women to sue for wage discrimination, a measure he said is an important step toward "fundamental fairness" for US workers. In the same week, in contrast, the Harper government brought in a federal budget that further limits women's ability to pursue pay equity complaints in our country.

Obama gets it. "In this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month's paycheck to simple and plain discrimination."

But Stephen Harper just changed the rules to make it harder for women to get justice when they face wage discrimination.

Canadian women take home an average of $27,000, compared to men earning an average $45,000 per year.

There are solutions that could be immediately applied by both provincial and federal governments to increase women's income. Strong penalties for employers who practice wage discrimination; job creation in public sectors where women traditionally dominate the workforce; real wage increases for jobs in community health and community social services that government finances; easier access to training, and increased unemployment insurance. And a national child care system - the backbone of a strong economy.

Good child care helps women work and stay out of poverty. A recent study shows that the number of single mothers living in poverty in Quebec has dropped by half (from 60% to 30%) in the decade since that province brought in a universal child care system.

On March 8, International Women's Day, it's important we all renew our commitment to working together to achieve equality for women. Our whole society stands to gain.

BCGEU 2009 International Women's Day poster (PDF)

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