Equal Pay For Equal Work
In 1951, the provincial government of Ontario passed Canada's first "equal pay for equal work" legislation, which demanded that employers eliminate the wage inequalities between men and women occupying the same jobs or "equal work" - other provinces soon followed suit. Unfortunately, the laws weren't largely effective in actually reducing wage inequalities because they didn't apply to typical cases in which women occupied in jobs, that were (at the time) gender specific and did not commonly have males occupying similar or equal roles, such as; nursing, elementary school teaching and secretarial positions. Although the short term effect of the laws was not particularly significant, there successful passing as legislation proved that further advancements of the "equal pay for equal work" movement were, in fact, possible and likely.
Click Here to view a CBC Digital Archives radio recording of a heated debate in 1951 on the subject of how the value of "woman jobs" can be measured in comparison to that of the value of "men jobs" as to make accurate and fair standards as to what constitutes "equal work". This debate would have been highly relevant in a time when the wage inequalities where soaring, even after the passing of the "equal pay for equal work legislation".
Click Here to view a CBC Digital Archives radio recording of a heated debate in 1951 on the subject of how the value of "woman jobs" can be measured in comparison to that of the value of "men jobs" as to make accurate and fair standards as to what constitutes "equal work". This debate would have been highly relevant in a time when the wage inequalities where soaring, even after the passing of the "equal pay for equal work legislation".