WHEREAS:
AFSCME has been in the forefront of union efforts to achieve pay equity for women and all people of color; and
WHEREAS:
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee opposes pay equity - equal pay for work of equal value - in international agreements such as the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Workers (CEDAW) and ILO Conventions on Women's Rights; and
WHEREAS:
In the U.S., the richest, most powerful nation on earth, women's average pay has dropped from 76% of men's wages in 1992 to 73% of men's wages (62.6% for Black women, 53.1% for Latina women); and
WHEREAS:
Women are often segregated in caring and service work for low pay, much like the housework they are expected to do for no pay at home; and
WHEREAS:
Closing the wage gap between women and men cannot be achieved without revaluing the responsibilities and skills women use in their work compared to what men use in theirs; and
WHEREAS:
Underpaying women is a massive subsidy to employers that is both sexist and racist; and
WHEREAS:
By opposing pay equity in international forums, the U.S. Senate encourages multinational corporations to underpay women everywhere in the global economy; and
WHEREAS:
All women, particularly mothers, who do the vital but unpaid job of caring for children and/or other dependents are penalized by getting the lowest pay when they go out to work and are discriminated against in such areas as pensions, health care, and social security credits, among others; and
WHEREAS:
Pay equity is a major step toward revaluing all women's work, raising all women's wages and status, and establishing all women's entitlements.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to make pay equity a priority issue in bargaining, wherever possible, and in state, federal and local legislation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME call on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S. Senate as a whole to take immediate steps to remove the barriers to U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and other international conventions on women's rights.
SUBMITTED BY:
Thomas Paine Cronin, President and Delegate
Cathy Scott, Delegate
AFSCME Council 47
PennsylvaniaHuman Rights Committee