On the 56 th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , women’s groups from across Canada are urging Prime Minister Paul Martin to show respect for women’s human rights in a very concrete way. They are asking the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada to join with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to pay back to women health care workers $80 million that is owed to them.
Women’s groups feel betrayed by the October 24, 2004 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada about equal pay. The Court ruled that it was acceptable for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to continue to pay women health care workers discriminatory wages because it claimed that there was an impending ‘fiscal crisis’ - caused by a reduction in federal transfer payments and an impending budget deficit.
The provincial government had agreed to a scheme for compensating women for years of wage discrimination, but then cancelled three years of payments and delayed even beginning the wage adjustment program. This cost women $80 million dollars. “This was on top of what women had to pay, along with all other workers, because of wage restraint imposed during this period,” said Joyce Hancock of the Newfoundland and Labrador Advisory Council on the Status of Women. “In effect, women were forced to bear a disproportionate financial burden for reducing a government deficit. It was a special tax on Newfoundland women.”
“It is unacceptable that governments are now authorized to balance their budgets on the backs of women,” said Andrée Côté of the National Association of Women and the Law. “We want Prime Minister Paul Martin to reject this approach by governments, as it is in contravention of Canada’s commitment to promote the substantive equality of women”.
Yesterday, representatives from a variety of women’s organizations, community groups, and labour unions mobilized to demand that the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Danny Williams, reimburse the $80 million still owed to women as a result of wage discrimination.
“We are also asking Prime Minister Martin to act,” said Shelagh Day of the Feminist Alliance for International Action. “The federal government has a responsibility to advance the equality of all women, whether we live in rich provinces or poor ones. One of the purposes of sharing resources through transfer payments and equalization payments must be to ensure that, no matter in what part of the country women live, we can enjoy conditions of equality.”
Over 100 groups in Canada have signed the letter to the Prime Minister to date. It will be delivered to his Ottawa office today. A copy of the letter with all the signatories is available on the NAWL website: http://www.nawl.ca/ns/en/payequity.html
For more information, contact: Joyce Hancock at 709-753-7270; Andrée Côté at 613-241-7570 Ext 25; Shelagh Day at 604-872-0750.
