Canadian Labour Congress

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 1, 2008) - The Canadian Labour Congress today welcomed news that the federal government will finally move to close the persistent and growing wage gap that sees Canada's working women paid an average of 701/2 cents for each dollar earned by men.

"Lower taxes for lower wages: higher taxes for higher wages. It's plain old common sense that works for women. We work just as long and just as hard to support our families as men do in this country. It's about time something was done to address the fact that we get paid less for our work," says Barbara Byers, Executive Vice- President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Last month, the CLC released a report that showed just how deep Canada's pay inequity problem has become. The report, "Women in the Workforce: Still a Long Way from Equality" revealed that Canadian women who work at full-time jobs throughout the entire year earn just 701/2 cents for every dollar earned by men who do similar work. Worse, the report showed that this wage gap was growing and growing fastest among women with post-secondary education.

"As women file their income tax returns, they see they are paying taxes on wages where they've done a dollars' worth of work for thirty cents less. It's not fair and, finally, the government has decided to do something about it," says Barbara Byers, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

According to Byers, the Minister for Women will announce plans to have women pay, on average, 70% of the income taxes on their wages that men pay. Because nearly 40% of women who file income tax returns already don't earn enough to pay federal tax (according to Revenue Canada statistics from 2005), the impact on the federal treasury is something the government can manage.

While greater access to affordable child care, higher minimum wages, and meaningful pay equity laws would do more to close the wage gap between Canadian women and men, Byers says this is an April 1st to remember.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 136 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca