128 B.C. organizations and advocates call on province to legislate pay equity

Dozens of B.C. organizations, advocates and academics have joined forces with an urgent plea for the provincial government to legislate pay equity and close the gender gap.

A total of 128 signatories are included in a March 2 open letter addressed to Premier David Eby and key cabinet ministers, calling on them to bring in a pay equity act "that enshrines in law the responsibility of all employers to identify and close gaps in pay for work of equal value."

The letter says the province's plan for pay transparency legislation, which would require employers to report salary data, bonus pay and overtime for different demographics, doesn't go far enough to solving the problem of unequal pay between the genders.

Humera Jabir, a staff lawyer with signatory West Coast LEAF, said that legislated pay transparency leaves the burden on individual employees to advocate for equal pay.

"The difference is accountability," Jabir told CBC's On the Island.

"Transparency would require employers to report on what the systemic differences are in their organizations with respect to pay. Pay equity legislation includes accountability mechanisms, having to actually shift things, not just report on them."

Statistics Canada numbers from 2018 show that women in British Columbia made 18.6 per cent less to do the same jobs as men, the widest gender pay gap in the country. It is one of four provinces, along with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, that doesn't have pay transparency or pay equity legislation.

The coalition behind this week's open letter also includes the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, several labour unions and the B.C. Library Association, who say the gender pay gap is especially stark for Indigenous and Black workers, people of colour and people with disabilities.

It's now been nearly a year since the province announced plans for a pay transparency act on International Women's Day 2022, but it has yet to be introduced in the legislature. 

The open letter says that any pay transparency law needs to be "robust and effective," but it must be accompanied by pay equity legislation enacted before the next elections.

"While we appreciate that pay transparency plays a role in promoting equity, your legislation will take no direct action to protect and advance the right to equitable pay," the letter says.

Kelli Paddon, B.C.'s parliamentary secretary for gender equity, told CBC in a written statement that she "appreciate(s) the sincere commitment to this issue, and how important it is for people to be paid fairly."

But she did not directly respond to the call for pay equity legislation.