Status of Women’s centres held walkouts across the province yesterday to pressure government to enact “proactive” pay equity legislation.
Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the few jurisdictions in Canada that does not have pay equity legislation.
After years of questions and pressure from women’s groups and the opposition, the province announced this summer that it is prepared to introduce pay equity legislation in the upcoming sitting of the House of Assembly.
Executive Director of the Corner Brook Status of Women’s Council, Paula Sheppard Thibeau, says any legislation brought forward needs to be proactive.
She hopes they’re not just talking about wage transparency which she says doesn’t come with the same accountability that pay equity legislation comes with. She says in NL right now women make about 66 per cent of what a man makes for equal work.