MAINE
ASSOCIATION OF
INTERDEPENDENT
NEIGHBORHOODS
PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER FOR PEACE, BREAD AND JUSTICE
MAIN Update Winter 1999
Do you get FAIR PAY?Sally took a course to become a certified nurse's aid and got a job working at a local nursing home. She makes $296 a week caring for patients. Her friend John got a job at the same nursing home as a janitor at about the same time. He cleans the common areas, mope the floors and shovels snow when needed. He earns $330 a week.
What's wrong with this picture? Sally's work with patients requires more training and skill than John's job washing floors. And certainly she has more responsibility. Then why is she paid nearly $1,800 a year less? The answer may be because she's working at a job that is done mostly by women. That's not fair. And it may also be illegal!
In Maine, it is against the law to pay one worker less than another because of their gender. This means that a man and a woman working in the same workplace must be paid the same if they are:
- Doing the same job; OR
- Doing jobs that require a similar amount of skill, effort and responsibility, even if the jobs have different titles.
Sally and John may have different jobs, but these differences can't justify the differences in their paychecks. Sally's job requires more skill and involves more responsibility. Although John may do more physical work in the course of a day, Sally's work also requires physical effort, lifting and providing personal care to patients. Under Maine law, Sally should get a raise!
This wage gap is both a women's issue AND a family issue. Today more and more families require two paychecks to make ends meet. Every underpaid woman is adding less to her family's income than she could if she were paid fairly. If she is a single parent, or the sole wage earner in a family, the problem is even bigger. And since Social Security benefits and most other retirement plans are based on your earnings, a wage shortfall today will continue to affect you when you retire.
If you, or someone you know, think that you have not been paid fairly, call: Pat Ende at the Maine Equal Justice Project (207-626-7058, or email at pende@mejp.org)
the Maine Department of Labor (207-624-6410), or
the Maine Human Rights Commission (207-624-6050).
