April 4, 2023 marks Equal Pay Day in Canada. Equal Pay Day was started by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 to highlight the gap between men’s and women’s wages.
Equal Pay Day is held every April to symbolize, according to the NCPE, how far into the year women need to work to make what men did in the previous year. It also falls on a Tuesday to “represent how far into the next work week women must work to earn what men earned the previous week.” In other words, because women earn less on average, they must work longer for the same pay.
Women in Canada have had enough of the gender pay gap!
Take action to close the gender pay gap:
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Sign the e-petition
The government has a direct responsibility to protect public services and close the gender pay gap. Sign the e-petition to tell your Ontario MPP to fight privatization and support women’s economic equality!
Click here to sign the e-petition.
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Join the social media blast to say No to Privatization
Wear RED on April 4th and join OPSEU/SEFPO’s Provincial Women’s Committee (PWC) as they work to bring greater awareness on the ongoing struggle for equal pay for equal work.
At 12:30pm on April 4th, the PWC is joining the Equal Pay Coalition on a social media blast to keep conversation going on how to close the gender wage gap once and for all.
Join other OPSEU/SEFPO members and show your solidarity! Take pictures of you and your family and friends and post these images using the hashtags #EqualPayDay #OPSEUPWC
Interesting facts from the Equal Pay Coalition
The pay gap affects the following groups in Ontario:
- 56% of women with disabilities
- 55% Immigrant women
- 45% Indigenous women
- 40% Racialized women
- 32% All women
The Equal Pay Coalition surveyed a group of people and found the following:
- A majority of respondents say decent wages for women working in publicly funded roles and an affordable housing strategy policy are most important for promoting economic equality for women in the province.
- Two in five respondents prioritize raising the minimum wage above all other proposed policies to achieve women’s economic equality. This is followed by decent wages for women in publicly funded roles (24%).
- 85% of Ontarians say it’s important for the Ontario government to do more to promote women’s economic equality. 60% say it’s very important.
For more information:
The Equal Pay Coalition Facebook page.
The Equal Pay Coalition Twitter page.