16
Legislating Equal Pay
By ELIZABETH DOTSON
In the last issue of this magazine we
discussed what we termed a fifth free
dom—equal pay for equal work. Per
haps we were hasty in speaking of a
f if t h freedom, for an adequate salary
is necessary to assure freedom from fear
of insecurity and freedom from want.
The home and family is a basic unit of
American life which must above all
be preserved. In our modern economy,
family units are dependent upon in
comes for financial security and pur
chasing power. This security and pur
chasing power must be assured to fam
ily groups for whom women are the
breadwinners and must be protected for
the families supported by men. Equal
pay for equal work is a necessary first
step toward establishing and maintain
ing adequate standards of living.
With these facts clearly before the
nation in the decisions rendered by the
War Labor Board, Senators Wayne
Morse of Oregon and Claude Pepper of
Florida introduced Senate bill 1178, the
Women’s Equal Pay Act of 1945, to
eliminate the injustices of unequal pay
and to protect all wage levels. The fol
lowing excerpts are quoted from a let
ter of Senator Morse to the author.
"Ajnd my further consideration of it
convinced me that the principle of
equal pay for equal work as a matter of
law should be a required policy in the
field of American industrial relations.
. . . The conscience of any fair minded
person dictates that this principle is
fair and right. . . . In essence this type
of .unfair discrimination in the field of
employer-employee relations is a device
of labor exploitation. . . . Therefore I
believe that my bill S. 1178, which calls
for equal pay for equal work is one of
the most important pieces of legislation
pending before the Congress in the in
terest of fair and peaceful employer-
employee labor relations.”
Before the Senate Subcommittee on
Education and Labor, to which the bill
was referred, Miss Frieda Miller, Di
rector, of the Women’s Bureau of the
U.S. Department of Labor, stated that
the bill has a "simple, direct purpose—
to assure the payment of at least an
established men’s rate in a particular
place to any persons doing a comparable
quantity and quality of work . . . and
that the same automatic rate progres
sions for the job will be applied to both
(men and women). The bill also forbids
the replacement of men by women in
the same job at a lower rate of pay . . .
all automatic provisions relating to sen
iority and productivity would apply
equally.” The bill provides for the cre
ation of an Equal Pay Division in the
Women’s Bureau, Department of La
bor. This division would be under the
administration of the Director of the
Bureau, who would appoint an Ad
ministrator to take direct charge of
the Division. Provision is made for hear
ing evidence of alleged discrimination
and prosecution for such violation.
On the basis of census figures, the
Women’s Bureau estimates that this bill
would cover about 6 million women in
establishments engaged in or affecting
interstate commerce and employing 8
or more workers. It would, however,
still leave many women’s salaries un
protected by legislation. It is at this
point that the need for state legislation
arises.
Six states, including our northern
neighbor, Washington, had p a s s e d
equal pay bills as of October 15, 1945.
Illinois and Michigan laws cover wom
en in manufacturing only. The Massa
chusetts, Washington and New York
bills cover persons in private employ-