This national holiday reflects Canadian attitudes toward labour issues, and is a good time to reflect on change

A2

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Most Canadians don't know that Labour Day was a Canadian idea. In fact, many of us know very little about one of the most popular national holidays, aside from the fact that it is conveniently timed to give us a long weekend before fall starts to set in.

Labour Day reaches back to the 1870s, when unions were fighting for the 54-hour work week (nine hour days, six days a week), all while fighting outdated legislation that made unions illegal.

During one particularly effective protest march, held on Sept. 3, 1872 in Ottawa, the mile-long parade of labour unionists made its way to the home of Prime Minister John A. MacDonald, threw him into a carriage and took him to City Hall, where he swore to make changes to legislation, making unions legal.

Over 130 years later, labour unions are still fighting to improve conditions for the workers they represent (though rarely in such dramatic fashion). One of the most pressing issues of our time is reducing the wage gap between men and women.

Pay equity means more than just ensuring men and women in similar positions earn the same amount of money. It means working to have the jobs traditionally or predominantly held by women merit as much respect as those held mainly by men.

For example, compare salary scales for an apprentice auto service technician and an early childhood educator. Both require a one-year (30 credit hour) course at NBCC or a similar institution. According to Job Futures, the national database on employment, 98 per cent of ECE workers are women, while 97 per cent of auto service technicians are men.

JobFutures also tells us that, nationally, the average hourly wage for and auto service technician is about $5 higher than the hourly wage for an early childhood educator. Locally, the day care worker's wages max out at about $12 an hour, while the apprentice mechanic sees anywhere from, $10 to $18 an hour, as well as added training on the job to further enhance their earning potential.

As a society, we must question our priorities. Does it make sense to pay more for someone to care for our cars than we do for someone to care for our children? Equal pay for equal work is something all Canadians can agree on.

A good start to addressing the problem is by examining minimum wage rates. A system that increases the minimum wage a person may be paid as the amount and type of education or training they have completed increases make s a lot of sense.

If people could be sure that wages would be the same whether studying office administration or electrical studies, wouldn't it encourage more people to enrol in programs outside of the stereotypical job set for their gender?

That's something worth talking about around the barbecue or picnic blanket this Labour Day. Those unionists back in 1872 would be doing the same.