05) PAY EQUITY VICTORY AT CANADA POST AFTER 28 YEARS

     Twenty‑eight years after their case was filed, members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada have won a decisive pay equity victory against Canada Post. On Nov. 17, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of PSAC, ending attempts by the crown corporation and governments to deny justice to the female employees, some of whom have since retired or passed away.

     The union first filed a complaint over "unequal pay for work of equal value" in 1983 on behalf of women clerical workers in the CR classification, who were paid much less than male employees in other jobs. This practice, argued the union, was contrary to the anti‑discrimination provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

     The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal compared wages between 6,000 mainly female clerical staff and the predominantly male postal operations group. More than a decade of hearings took place, over 410 working days between 1992 and 2003, to consider and quantify the work done by male and female workers. The tribunal ruled in 2005 that Canada Post had violated the Act and awarded back pay covering 50% of the wage gap in damages.

     Together with interest, the award totalled about $150 million. That amount, of course, does not compensate for the other half of the wage gap over decades, nor for the resulting lost pension income.

     The corporation continued to use every possible legal avenue to have the Tribunal overturned. The Federal Court of Appeal later set aside the tribunal's decision, saying the finding of discrimination could not be supported. "In our respectful view, the tribunal became confused, and therefore fell into error," Justices Sexton and Ryer wrote for the majority on the appeal court.

     The Supreme Court unanimously backed the original Tribunal ruling. In a rare move, the Nov. 17 decision was released directly by Chief Justice Beverly McLaughlin, sending a powerful signal that the Federal Court got it wrong.

     Meanwhile, the Harper Tory government has moved to deny workers any legal avenue to redress pay equity claims. In 2009, the Conservatives pushed through legislation requiring workers to secure pay equity during collective bargaining rather than in courts and tribunals. Given the tendency for the new Conservative majority to interfere in labour negotiations on behalf of employers, it appears that opportunities to correct such inequities in future may be severely limited.

     Ginette Chartrand was one of the women who filed the original case in 1983. Speaking from the Supreme Court, she reflected on the victory: "I attended all of the hearings in the last few years. We believed in our case. But we did not expect a decision so quickly. I cried."

     Helene Arbique shared similar sentiments. "At first was hard to believe. Then the euphoria set in - we won after a 30 year battle."

     Anyone who worked as a CR at Canada Post between 1982 and 2002 will now be eligible to receive pay equity payments. Many of the women were single mothers who raised families.

     "Today we celebrate a hard‑won victory for equality," said Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice‑President of PSAC. "But the fact that this took 28 years is completely unacceptable. Canada needs a proactive pay equity law that ensures that women won't have to wait decades to be compensated for the value of their work."

     PSAC says it will push Canada Post to issue payments as soon as possible.

(The above  article is from the December 1-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)