From CUPE 391 Bargaining BlogPay Equity – Statements
“Fundamentally, the issue of pay equity is about fairness. Everyone - regardless of gender – should receive fair compensation for the work that they do. The fact that this is an issue for some of the largest public libraries in British Columbia is highlighting the fact that this province lags behind other provinces such as Ontario where the Pay Equity Act (passed in 1991, amended in 1993 and still in effect today) increased the salaries of library workers by, in some cases, up to 24%....The risks of ignoring pay equity are demoralized workers and the loss of bright young librarians to more lucrative jobs in the private
sector. Employers who argue that they can’t afford it need to look at what has been done in the past to attract the best people in other areas – police forces, trades people and so on. Let’s work together to ensure that all library workers are paid fairly and that our libraries are the best they can be.”
-- Deb Thomas, President, BCLA [excerpted from the President’s column in the next issue of the BCLA Reporter due out soon].
”The issue of pay equity is very important to me, partly because after my daughter, Jenna, graduated from library school last year, she was unable to find a library job that paid a living wage. My daughter aside, I have been involved with pay equity concerns for a long time, and chaired ALA's Pay Equity Committee. It grieves me that the profession of librarianship is so grossly undervalued and underpaid.”
--Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman
American Library Association President, 2002 – 2003
”Library workers support life long learning for the entire community.
They tend and nurture the intellect and creativity of all people. Yet
because library workers are largely women and people of color their
jobs have been undervalued compared to jobs where white males
dominate. Pay equity means wages must be sex- and race-neutral.”
--Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook
University of South Florida
“A root problem with librarians and pay equity is that you have a
feminized group of workers standing up for free and equitable access
to information (including public access to government documents). The
very nature of the profession dictates a female dominated "activist"
workforce. Pay equity is an important way to begin mainstreaming
library workers' voices. But that's a tough sell to those people who
need to hear it. Let's never forget that when 21st century American
librarians criticized aspects of the USA Patriot Act related to
libraries, General Ashcroft labeled these professionals as "hysterics"!
--Dr. Toni Samek
Unversity of Alberta
Mitch Freedman on Pay Equity naysayers
A reproduction of M. Freedman’s email dated
Oct. 14, 2002 to the ALA Council and ALA Member Forum.
Dear Colleagues,
Although I am devoting my next column in American Libraries to this subject, but I felt compelled to comment now because no one will see that column for two months.
I will comment more briefly here because of the absolute
wrongheadedness of the assertion that the issue of salaries and pay equity should be taken off of the table because of the recession and difficult budgets.
That tired argument always has been used to hold down our pay, and it's time we put it to sleep permanently or as I have said elsewhere, send it to the Smithsonian.
First, a library should recognize the existence of the problem by adopting a policy of pay equity for its staff. It doesn't cost the library a cent to adopt the policy, but it does demonstrate the library's acknowledgement that the inequity exists.
Second, having adopted the policy, the library should commit to some form of comparable worth study, e.g.. how is the public library staff paid in re to people in other city departments with comparable qualifications, experience, and skills. Or select applicable targets
for school and academic library staff. This doesn't have to cost money--it depends on the library's commitment to supporting the policy,
or your willingness to do the work on your own, collectively through a staff association, a union, or any other means. We need to know the dimension of the problem and local comparable worth data is especially relevant.
Third,we must do something about it. The argument that budgets can't be changed is specious--libraries have reallocated their budgets every year--putting more here and less there depending on need, circumstance, etc. The principle of reallocating for the purpose of paying equitable
and fair salaries must not be an issue unless we continue to passively allow it. We all have seen portions of book money shifted to non-book materials and on-line databases in order to meet new priorities.
Having committed to the policy and determined the extent of the problem, the library should create a plan for addressing the inequitable pay. Whether the increase is $5 or $5000, a token amount (e.g. in situations where there are major cuts and dreadful problems) or a substantial
amount, some planned payment schedule should be developed. Be it over 1, 3, 5, or even 10 years, libraries must once and for all recognize the problem and commit to doing something about it.
I didn't sign onto this profession, nor did most of you, to subsidize libraries by accepting inequitable, and, in altogether too many situations, demeaning salaries. I will not let up in my efforts to promote better salaries and pay equity for all library workers in all kinds of libraries. I hope you won't either.
The reader has my permission to send this message--unabridged, please--to any list or person.
mitch
Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman, MLS, PhD
President of the American Library Association
Pay Equity – Selected Bibliography
”Equality in employment will not happen unless we make it happen.”
-- Judge Rosalie Abella
Pay Equity – Canada
Bell Canada Enterprises.
Current and Former Bell Canada Employees Ratify Pay Equity Settlement.
http://convergence.bce.a/en/news/releases/corp/2006/06/19/73676.html;
accessed 02 September 2007.
British Columbia Federation of Labour. Pay Equity.
http://www.bcfed.ca/issues/women/payequity;
accessed 25 August 2007; Internet.
General discussion of pay equity in BC with links to:
Canadian Labour Congress
http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/pay_equity
The National Association of Women and the Law
http://www.nawl.ca/
Canada. Canadian Human Rights Commission. Pay Equity.
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/pay_equity/default-en.asp;
accessed 26 August 2007; Internet.
“The Pay Equity mandate is to discourage wage discrimination or
any policy or practice that may lead to wage discrimination on the
ground of sex by investigating pay equity complaints in a timely,
thorough, professional, neutral, and unbiased manner. Pay Equity
is governed by the Canadian Human Rights Act and the
Equal Wages Guidelines.”
“The Canadian Human Rights Commission is empowered by the
Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle
complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of
services within federal jurisdiction.”
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/about/default-en.asp
Canada. Department of Justice. History of Pay Equity in Canada…
http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/payeqsal/1100.html;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Chronology of pay equity from 1948 to 2001 with links
to documents such as: (partial list)
Beijing Platform for Action
Canadian Human Rights
Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
Convention on the Elmination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW)
Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 or Convention 100
Equal Wage Guidelines, 1986
Human Rights Act
Pay Equity Act
Pay Equity Task Force
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Of interest to BC is the final entry that reads:
“Newly elected BC government repeals the pay equity amendments
and announces an independent review of provincial pay equity
legislation. A Task Force has been established and its report is
expected in February 2002.”
Canada. Department of Justice. Pay Equity: a New Approach.
A Selected and Annotated Bibliography of Resource Articles about
The Implementation of Pay Equity.
http://section15.gc.ca/en/payeqsal/5001.html;
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
A list of approximately 50 documents on the topic.
Canada. Department of Justice. Pay Equity Task Force.
Pay Equity: Some Basics March 2002.
http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/payeqsal/docs/basics.pdf;
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
Canada. Department of Justice. Pay Equity Task Force.
Pay Equity: a New Approach to a Fundamental Right:
Pay Equity Task Force Final Report 2004.
http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/payeqsal/docs/PETF_final_report.pdf;
accessed 23 August 2007; Internet.
Canada. Royal Commission on Equality in Employment. Report of the
Commission on Equality in Employment, by Judge Rosalie
Silberman Abella. Ottawa: Supply and Services, 1984.
Commonly referred to as the Abella Commission the report outlined
a distinct Canadian process for achieving equality in all aspects
of employment. Judge Abella coined the term, “employment
equity.”
Canadian Legal Information Institute. Canada (Human Rights
Commission) v. Canadian Airlines International Ltd.
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fca/doc/2004/2004fca113/2004fca113.html;
accessed 30 August 2007; Internet.
“Complaints filed with CHRC by union against airlines alleging
wage discrimination against predominantly female
flight attendants, as compared to two predominantly
male employee groups.
See also: http://www.cupe.ca/www/8/ART405f6b652ca9d
“Air Canada had argued that the flight attendants, who are
mainly women, don’t work in the same ‘establishment’
as defined in the legislation, as pilots and mechanics
who are mainly men. The court has ruled that they do,”
said Sachs.”
CTV.ca Bell Canada, Union Reach $100M Pay Equity Deal
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews
/20060515/bell_canada_060515/20060515?hub=Canada;
accessed 30 August 2007; Internet.
“The company and the union both welcomed the deal, which
was 14 years in the making and went all the way to the
Supreme Court of Canada.”
Citysoup.ca. Pay Equity
http://portal.citysoup.ca/NR/exeres/1E77242D-A7A6-40D5-AFFE-
6E04A61DC387.htm;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
A community portal for the BC cities of Port Moody and Port
Coquitlam includes answers to such questions as:
What do we mean by pay equity?
How are jobs compared to evaluate equal pay?
What types of legislation provide for equal pay in Canada?
How can you determine if an occupation is predominately
male/female?
Cornish, Mary and Fay Farraday. Litigating Pay and Inequity Strategic Uses and Limits - the Canadian Experience.
http://www.nacew.govt.nz/conference2004/docs/paper-litigating-
-pay-and-employment-equity.pdf;
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
Equal Pay Coalition Press Release. Women and Union reach
landmark $414 Million Settlement of Pay Equity Charter
Challenge against Ontario Government.
http://www.web.net/~equalpay/press_release_jn_13_en
accessed 29 August 2007; Internet.
Gunderson, Morley and W Craig Riddell. “Comparable Worth:
Canada’s Experience.” Contemporary Economic Policy 10 no. 3:
85-94.
Discusses the design, implementation, and administration of
comparable worth legislation in Canada, focusing particular
attention on the potential of comparable worth to close the male-
female earnings gap. The authors document the Canadian
Legislative initiatives, provide illustrative evidence on the impact
Comparable worth, and identify the main policy lessons to be
Learned from the experience of Canada.
Lewis, Debra J. and Lisa S. Price. Just Give us the Money: a Discussion
of Wage Discrimination and Pay Equity.
Vancouver: Women’s Research Centre, 1988.
The report examines gender, race, and class-based wage
discrimination in the Canadian public sector workplace
and offers strategies for legislating pay equity.
Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private
Employees, NAPE.
Information about Government's $24 Million Ex-gratia Payment.
http://www.nape.nf.ca/media/backgrounders/
backgrounder_1.htm; accessed 27 August 2007; Inernet.
Description of a ‘pay equity’ settlement of sorts for the
Allied Association of Health Professionals, Canadian Union of Public
Employees, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and
Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private
Employees.
Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.
Pay Equity Victory for Women and Unions.
http://www.childcareontario.org/library/payequity/payequitysummary03.pdf
“In April 2001 five unions and four women launched a Charter
Challenge of the Ontario Government’s decision to deny pay equity
Funding to women in mostly female public sector workplaces. On
May 23, 2003 they reached a landmark agreement with the Ontario
Government that will provide $414 million of funding into proxy
Pay equity payments for public sector women workers.”
Ontario. Pay Equity Commission. About Pay Equity.
http://www.payequity.gov.on.ca/peo/english/rights/rights_pe.html;
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
Defines pay equity as “equal pay for work of equal value”
includes, “Chart #1 Pay equity comparison between female and
male job classes of comparable value.”
Other pages of interest on this site:
Pay Equity, Laws and Policies in other Jurisdictions
http://www.payequity.gov.on.ca/peo/english/links.html;
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
Links to federal, provincial pay equity acts, US, international &
other related links.
Public Service Alliance of Canada, PSAC. Pay Equity. What's New.
http://www.psac.com/what/payequity/pay-e.cfm
“national union with members from coast to coast to coast, in
every province and territory.”
Chronological list of their pay equity landmarks, 2001-2007.
York University Faculty Association, YUFA. A short History of
Recurring Attempts to Address Gendered Salary Inequities
at York (1975-1998);
http://www.yufa.org/news/pay_equity_history.html;
accessed 24, August 2007; Internet.
Pay Equity, Library – Canada
Canadian Union of Public Employees. Long Overdue:
Pay Equity for Library Workers. Available from:
http://cupe.ca/Bargainingstrategies/pelibraryworkers
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Background paper on pay equity struggle in Saskatchewan.
Canadian Union of Public Employees. Overdue: Pay Equity for
Library Workers.
http://cupe391.ca/action/bargaining_2007_documents/pay_equity_july07.pdf;
accessed 30 August 2007; Internet.
Pay equity struggle and issues in British Columbia.
”Library workers are undervalued and underpaid. “
Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Submission to Federal Pay Equity Task Force, May 1, 2002.
http://www.cupe.bc.ca/files/Federal%20Task%20
Force%20Submission%202002.pdf; accessed 02 September 2007.
Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 410. Overdue Promise:
10 Years Overdue. .
http://www.overduepromise.ca/index.html;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Overdue Promise, a campaign for pay equity at the Greater Victoria
Public Library, GVPL.
“The promise, made in 1992 as a part of the collective agreement
between the Library and it's Employees was that Library Workers
would achieve Pay Equity, and that for this purpose their jobs
would be compared with equivalent jobs at Victoria City Hall. “
“More than 10 years later, that promise has yet to be fulfilled. “
City of Toronto. Council Approves Pay Equity Agreement for Former
Public Library Employees. accessed 04 September 2007; Internet.
"I am delighted that we have settled this ten-year-old dispute,"
said Councilor David Miller.
Lu, Vanessa. “Library Pay Equity Battle ‘a long 10 years’ for Staff;
Staff Celebrates $31 Million Win.” Toronto Star, 18 May 2000,
Sec. B, p. 01. Retrieved 05 September 2007, Canadian Newsstand.
“the settlement is a victory because it recognizes that library wages
for the predominantly female staff were 30 per cent less
than comparable male-dominated jobs in the city's structure.”
Ontario. Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal. “Brampton Public Library Board
(No. 2) (1994), 5 P.E.R. 51.” Pay Equity Report Volume 05-
Summaries.
“The Tribunal held that the negotiated arrangement was a
pay equity plan within the meaning of the Act and that
the Board was bound by the terms of the plan to which it
had agreed, including the method of job comparison and
the identity of the employer for pay equity purposes.”
Ontario. Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal. “Metropolitan Toronto
Library Board (1990), 1 P.E.R. 112.” Pay Equity Volume 01.
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/pec/peht/decisions/per01/0009-89_desc.html
accessed 03 September 2007; Internet.
Ottawa Public Library Board. Minutes. February 5, 2007.
http://www.biblioottawalibrary.ca/archive/board/2007/070205/m070205.pdf
accessed 02 September 2007; Internet.
“Ms. Clubb noted that future budgets would have pay
equity included in the base budget, and would not be a
separate line item.”
Pay Equity Committee, McGill University. The McGill University
Pay Equity Plan. In accordance with the “Pay Equity Act”
R.S.Q.., chapter E-12.
http://payequity.mcgill.ca/report.html
accessed 30 August 2007; Internet.
Thomas, Deb. “President’s Column September/October 2007.”
BCLA Reporter.
Personal opinions on pay equity from current BCLA President
Deb Thomas. (see page 2 for excerpt)
Toronto Public Library. 2001 Operating Plan and Budget.
Memo from City Librarian to Toronto Public Library Board,
January 8, 2001.
Accessed 04 September 2007; Internet.
“The 2001 Budget also includes annualization of pay equity costs
amounting to $3.4 million or an additional 3% increase over the
2000 Budget.”
Pay Equity – International
Anker, Richard. Gender and Jobs: Sex Segregation of Occupations
Of the World. Geneva: International Labor Office, 1998.
A comprehensive analysis of the levels and recent changes
in sex segregation of occupations. It is based on detailed
occupational data from 41 countries or territories from all
regions of the world.
International Labour Organization. Gender Equality Tool.
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/gender/gender.home;
accessed 25, August 2007; Internet.
Devoted to advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain
decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity,
security and human dignity. The ILO is the only ‘tripartite”
United Nations agency in that it brings together representatives
Governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies
and programmes.
Public Service International. Pay Equity Case Studies.
accessed 04 September 2007; Internet.
PSI is a trade union federation of over 500 unions public
sector unions in over 140 countries.
Pay Equity, Library – International
Australia. Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.
Case Law-Public Sector Librarians Equal Remuneration case 2002
NSWIRC.
http://eeo.gov.au/Developing_a_Workplace_Program/Six_Steps_to
_a_Workplace_Program/Step_2/_Pay_Equity_Tool/case_law/public
_sector_librarians.htm; accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
“ In this landmark case the NSW IRC found that the work of
librarians, archivists and technicians has been and is undervalued
on a gender basis and that librarians and archivists should be
considered to be ‘professions’ for the purposes of remuneration.
The case was about the design of classification and grading
structures as well as about gender-related undervaluation.”
“The Commission ruled that library and information professions
were comparable to other professions.”
The case had a significant focus on how the value of the work is
assessed. Evidence dealt with the use of qualifications,
points-factor job evaluation schemes and position level
descriptors.
Bonella, Irene. “A Century of Pay Inequity: Is the End in Sight?”
The Australian Library Journal.
http://alianet.alia.org.au/publishing/alj/52.4/full.text/bonella.html;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Discusses the history of women’s pay disadvantage in Australia
with a focus on librarians. The author describes how “real progress
in pay equity came in the last years of the century for women in
general, including librarians. In 1996 the New South Wales (NSW)
government established the Pay Equity Taskforce, under the
auspices of the NSW Attorney General and Minister for Industrial
Relations, to investigate pay equity issues affecting women in
the state.” Also discusses job evaluation as a 'formal procedure
which, through analysing the content of jobs, seeks to rank those
jobs hierarchically in terms of their value, for the purpose of
establishing wage rates.” Brief bibliography included.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions. “Gender Pay Equity in Europe.” eiroline.
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2002/01/study/TN0201101S.html;
accessed 02 September 2007.
“There are still significant wage differentials between
women and men across the EU and Norway. This
remaining pay gap is of increasing concern to
policy-makers and women themselves at both national
and European level. This comparative study reviews:
the general development of the pay gap in the EU
and Norway; statutory measures to combat
pay discrimination against women and improve their
pay conditions; the relationship between the issue of
pay equity and collective bargaining; the approach taken
by the social partners.”
Josephine, Helen. “All Things Being Equal: Pay Equity for Library
Workers.” Wilson Library Bulletin 57, no. 4 (1982): 300-03.
Stating that women workers generally earn less than their male
colleagues, this article examines these inequities as experienced by
library employees, noting job evaluation studies, library-based
comparable worth studies, and federal response in Canada and the
United States.
Schmidmaier, Dagmar AM and Anne Doherty. “Pay Equity for the
Library Profession: a State Library of New South Wales
Perspective.” World Library and Information Congress 71th IFLA
General Conference and Council, August 14-18, 2005:
Libraries – a Voyage of Discovery.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla71/papers/179eSchmidmaie_Doherty.pdf;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
This paper outlines the role of the State Library of New
South Wales in the Australian pay equity case for the benefit of
the profession.
Teece, Phil. “Still More to do on Pay Equity.” Incite, Workwatch
(May 2005).
http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2005/05/workwatch.html;
accessed 27 August 2007; Inernet.
“Librarians have led the current quest for pay equity in Australia.
Their 2002 Test Case triumph in New South Wales remains by far
the most significant step yet taken in Australia to redress
years of pay disadvantage for workers in feminized
occupations.”
“When librarians won pay rises of more than 30 per cent, they
startled even those pessimists who saw pay equity
campaigns as mere pie in the sky.”
Pay Equity – United States
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFSCME. We’re Worth It!: an AFSCME Guide to Understanding
And Implementing Pay Equity;
http://www.afscme.org/publications/1225.cfm;
http://www.afscme.org/publications/2416.cfm
accessed 25 August 2007; Internet.
General pay equity information with a list by state of major
Victories AFSCME has achieved at the bargaining table, in the
Courts through state legislation.
Crampton, Suzanne M. et al. “The Equal Pay Act: The First
30 Years,” Public Personnel Management 26, (1997).
Two major acts have been passed to eliminate gender
discrimination within the workplace – The Equal Pay Act (EPA)
of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EPA was the first
law to suggest that the pay of women should be equal to men
when their positions are equal. The purpose of the EPA was to
secure pay for women when they have jobs similar to men and
so seek to eliminate discrimination and the depressing effects
on living standards caused by reduced wages.
National Committee on Pay Equity. Equal Pay Day.
http://www.pay-equity.org/day.html;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee
on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event to
illustrate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. The
day, observed on a Tuesday in April, symbolizes how far into
the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much
as a man earned the previous year.
National Committee on Pay Equity. History of the Struggle
For Fair Pay.
http://www.pay-equity.org/info-history.html;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Major events in US pay equity history from 1932-1999.
National Committee on Pay Equity. Pay Equity Information.
http://www.pay-equity.org/info.html;
accessed 27 August
2007; Internet.
Includes: links to research reports, Q & A on pay equity,
History of the struggle for fair pay, Q & A on the Fair Pay
Act, and even a fair pay quiz.
O’Neill, June Ellenoff. “Comparable Worth,” The Concise Encyclopedia
Of Economics. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., ed. David R.
Henderson, 2002. [Online] available from
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/ComparableWorth.html
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Should a truck driver earn more than a telephone operator, or
an engineer more than a librarian? Questions like these are
largely resolved in the labor market by the forces of supply and
demand. Proponents of comparable worth, however, challenge the
resulting pattern of wages by arguing that occupations dominated
by female workers are paid less than comparable male-dominated
jobs because of systematic discrimination against women. Under
comparable worth, employers would be required to set wages to
reflect differences in the “worth” of jobs, with worth largely
determined by job evaluation studies, not market forces.
advocates expect comparable worth to increase pay in jobs
dominated by women and to sharply narrow overall gender
gap in wages.
Wikipedia contributors, “Equal Pay for Women,”
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_equity;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Includes a discussion on: US and British equal pay acts,
“choice” and “discrimination” theories, wage chart comparisons.
Note: the validity of the information should be questioned. It is
included here only because of its increased use as a reference
source.
Pay Equity, Library – United States
ALA-APA. Advocating for Better Salaries and Pay Equity Toolkit.
http://www.ala.org/ala/hrdr/libraryempresources/toolkit.pdf
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
“when compared to other professions with similar education and
training, librarians and library workers are often compensated at
a rate far lower than their comparable worth. This situation is
slowly improving thanks to ALA and ALA-APA’s efforts.”
“This latest edition of… is just one of several ways that AlA
members can arm themselves to address salary inequities.”
Leslie Burger, ALA President, 2006 – 2007.
Bibliography: “the emphasis for items posted in the bibliography
is on practical rather than theoretical materials and on more recent
information, although there are additional items from the 1980s
and early 1990s that are not noted here.”
http://ala-apa.org/salaries/bibliographybettersalaries.pdf;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
ALA-APA. National Library Workers Day.
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
“On Jan. 25, 2003 a resolution was proposed :
That in order to recognize the hard work, dedication, and expertise
Of library support staff and librarians that the Tuesday of National
library Week be designed National Library Workers Day; and, that
on that day, interested library workers, library groups, and libraries
should advocate for better compensation.”
ALA-APA. Pay Equity Web Sites.
http://ala-apa.org/salaries/payequitysites.html;
accessed 25 August 2007; Internet.
The ALA Allied Professional Association is a nonprofit organization
chartered in the State of Illinois for the purpose of promoting “the
mutual professional interests of librarians and other library
workers.” The ALA-APA is a companion organization to the
American Library Association (ALA), an educational association
chartered in the State of Massachusetts to “promote library service
and librarianship.”
ALA-APA. MONEYTALKS.
http://ala-apa.org/salaries/moneytalks.html;
accessed 28 August 2007; Internet.
Discussion list for ALA members who want to discuss salary issues.
Send an e-mail message to MONEYTALKS@ala-apa.org
California Library Association. CLA’s Fair Compensation Campaign:
Making the Case for Fair Pay.
http://www.cla-net.org/resources/articles/fair.php;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
“Librarians and library workers are under-valued, and most
people, whether members of the public, elected officials, faculty,
corporate executives, or citizen board members, have little or no
idea of the complexity of the work we do.”
Info. on how to obtain a copy of, The Case for Fair Compensation
for Library Workers, A Survey of Comparative Pay Levels in
California.
Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO. Library Workers:
Facts and Figures, 2007.
http://www.dpeaflcio.org/programs/factsheets/fs_2007_library_workers.htm
accessed 03 August 2007; Internet.
Statistical information on the wage gap for library workers.
Downey, Annie L. History, Progression, and Issues of Women
Librarians.
http://www.unt.edu/slis/students/projects/history_of_women_librarians.pdf;
accessed 03 August 2007; Internet.
Discusses why librarians are still vastly underpaid for the
jobs they perform. The section on pay equity is entitled,
The Bottom Line: Pay Equity in the New Millennium.
Includes bibliography.
Koltzenburg, Teresa. working@your library: for Love or Money?
http://www.ala-apa.org/salaries/videoguide.pdf;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
A pay equity tool produced by the ALA-APA. This video
guide accompanies the ten minute video production,
working@yourlibrary: for Love or Money? which strives to
reinforce the concept for librarians and library workers and
for those who make salary decisions for dedicated library
professionals, e.g., library boards, taxpayers, and legislators
- that librarians and other library workers play, and will
continue to play, an indispensable role in the New Millennium’s
information economy.
Kruger, Betsy and Catherine Larson, eds. On Account of Sex: an
Annotated Bibliography on the Status of Librarianship ,
1998-2002. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006.
This comprehensive and substantially annotated bibliography
Includes materials published in the library and information
Science literature as well as the literature of related fields
(i.e., social sciences, management, higher education, and
women’s studies). Some of the topics covered are career
development for women; salary and compensation; sex
discrimination; equal stratification in the field; and the
history of women in the profession. 226 pages.
Long, Sarah Ann. Librarians Get Too Little Compensation for
All They Do.
http://www.sarahlong.org/ourlibraries/read/index.php?articleID=148
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
Former ALA president 1999 – 2000 talks about pay equity.
She says, “Statistics show that librarians, along with
other predominately female professions, are underpaid
relative to the amount of education required and the complexity
of the services provided. For example, the U.S. Department
of Labor has classified the work of systems analysts and
database administrators as comparable to the work of librarians.
But the salaries aren’t comparable: $61,000 for a beginning
systems analyst or database administrator but only
$34,000 for a newly minted librarian.”
New Hampshire Library Association. Pay Equity Task Force.
Advocating for Pay Equity in New Hampshire Libraries, aToolkit;
http://nhlibrarians.org/payequitytoolkit.pdf;
accessed 24 August 2007; Internet.
This document is intended to facilitate discussion among interested
parties about library compensation in their area, and to provide the
necessary tools to actually begin working to improve the current
status of library salaries.
CUPE 391 Strike (July 26, 2007 - )
Canada. Human Resources and Social Development.
Major Work Stoppages in Canada in 2007.
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/lp/wid/ws/ws_2007.shtml;
accessed 27 August 2007; Internet.
A chart of unresolved labour disruptions involving 500 or more
Employees. At the top of this chart VPL- CUPE 391 with the
first issue listed, pay equity.
CUPE 391 Blog Features
Note: a list by blog title.
ALA Committee on the Status of Women In Librarianship,
COSWL Cause.
Hardship in Vancouver Pay Equity Struggle. 29 August 2007.
"We have every reason to be proud." - Vancouver Library
Workers. 22 August 2007.
Librarians Marching Inspires Pay Equity Courage.
18 August 2007.
Librarians looking for Pay Equity. 14 August 2007.
Ballad in Plain E, Emma Wood.
The worst thing about Vancouver's municipal strike.
13 August 2007.
F-email Fightback
Vancouver's library strike: Men get nearly $6 more...
24 August 2007.
GungHaggisFatChoi, Toddish McWong.
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/
Entry titles:
Daniel Gawthrop, author and CUPE National worker, speaks and
Reads to Vancouver Library workers.
27 August 2007.
Author Stan Persky speaks to library workers because his books
Are “locked up” during the strike.
27 August 2007.
Vancouver authors, writers and poets come to Library Square to
Address striking library workers.
23 August 2007.
Itinerant Poetry Librarian
When librarians are on strike... they still need reading
Materials… the Itinerant Poetry Librarian to the rescue!
28 August 2007.
Librarian, Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook
Vancouver Public Library Strike. Alex Youngberg and D’Arcy
Stainton, CUPE. 18 August 2007.
Librarian Activist.org
900 Vancouver library workers poised to strike. 22 July 2007.
Librarian at the Kitchen Table, Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook
Pay Equity is Key Issue in Vancouver Public Library Strike.
No. 480.
01 August 2007.
Librarian Unions, Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook
Overdue: Pay Equity for Library Workers.
Reprint of CUPE document of the same name. 20 July 2007.
Library Journal
No Progress in Long-Running Vancouver Library Strike.
Jennifer Pinkowski. 30 August 2007.
As Strike Drags On, Vancouver Library Still Closed.
Norman Oder. 10 August 2007.
Union Strike, Shuts down Vancouver, BC Library
Lynn Blumenstien. 27 July 2007.
LibVibe (an audioblog of library news)
LibVibe - 23 August 2007.
Alex Youngberg is featured talking about the CUPE 391 strike and
the City’s lack of understanding on pay equity issues
Lower East Side Librarian, Jenna
Union Librarian - Vancouver Library Workers Strike
18 August 2007.
Oldtown News, Jamie Lee Hamilton
Kudos to the library workers.
16 August 2007.
Fightback, Kevin Bell
Vancouver library workers fight for pay equity...
15 August 2007.
OLBA: Ontario Library Boards Association
Reprint of Glove and Mail article by Laura Drake,
10 August 2007.
“Vancouver strike: librarians looking for pay equity.”
Radical Reference
Vancouver library workers on strike. 16 August 2007.
“Radical Reference is a collective of volunteer library workers
who believe in social justice and equality”
Runnerland
Open the damn library, already! 10 August 2007.
http://runnerland.blog.com/2000054/
Progressive Librarians Guild
The main page of this website contains a statement expressing
the groups solidarity with the library workers of the Vancouver
Public Library as they strive to achieve pay equity.
CUPE 391 recognizes and thanks the Progressive Librarians Guild
for their written and monetary show of support!
http://libr.org/plg/index.php
Sandborn, Tom. “Vancouver’s Library Strike: Women’s Pay
On the Line.” Tyee
20 August 2007.
“Tom Sandborn is a Vancouver based writer, organizer
and consultant. Born in Alaska, he has lived in the Lower
Mainland since 1967. Raised in the wilderness by wolves,
Sandborn is a sort of feral author who owes most of what
he knows to the generous efforts of feminist women, poets of all
genders, renegade nuns.”
Source: http://www.bccla.org/bios/sandborn.html
StanleyK, created by Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook
”An uncensored discussion list for those who teach in library
and information science education programs and those
interested in issues relating to the education of librarians.”
Features discussions about the CUPE 391 strike by US
and Canadian library educators.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StanleyK/
Terry Glavin, Chronicles & Disent
West coast writers: you're wanted on this line.
23 August 2007.
“Terry Glavin is a renowned writer and conservationist. His book
The Last Great Sea: A Voyage Through the Human and
Natural History of the North Pacific Ocean won the Hubert
Evans Prize, and This Ragged Place: Travels Across the
Landscape was a Governor General’s Award finalist. A
frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines, Glavin is
the recipient of numerous regional and national journalism
awards. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University
of British Columbia’s fine arts department, and he serves as
an adviser to the Sierra Club of Canada’s B.C. chapter. He lives
on Mayne Island, in B.C.’s southern Gulf Islands.”
Source:
http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000069388,00.html
Union Librarian, Dr. Kathleen de la Pena McCook
Extensive CUPE 391 coverage by a well respected library educator,
activist and author.
http://unionlibrarian.blogspot.com/
accessed 30 August 2007; Interne.
See also: http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/mccook/
Wandering Ink, Kris
I can rant once and a while… 20 August 2007.
http://wanderingink.wordpress.com/
Library Workers Deserve:
Pay equity (also known as)
Comparable worth (or also known as)
Equal pay for work of equal value
