Open letter: Coalition calls on BC government for pay equity legislation
West Coast LEAF has joined a coalition of more than 125 leading BC organizations, academics, and advocates who are calling on the BC government to urgently enact pay equity legislation.
BC is tied with Alberta for having the worst gender pay gap in Canada. Women and people who are marginalized because of their gender are being systematically underpaid for work of equal value. This is especially true for people who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, and those who have a disability or are marginalized in other ways. The free market has not, and will not, correct this on its own. BC needs intersectional pay equity legislation to address this entrenched discrimination.
The BC government has promised to implement pay transparency legislation—but we believe pay equity legislation is needed to tackle systemic discrimination. Pay transparency legislation may require employers to report on differences in pay between genders but it does not require action to protect and advance equitable pay.
The open letter urges BC to ensure that pay transparency legislation is robust and effective, but more importantly, to also enact intersectional pay equity legislation.
Join the call for pay equity legislation by signing the letter here:
ccpabc.ca/pay-equity-now
Read more about West Coast LEAF’s work to to develop a comprehensive feminist economic framework for BC.