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From: nap@druxo.UUCP (Parsons)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Equal pay for comparable work
Message-ID: <808@druxo.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 22-Feb-85 15:23:46 EST
Article-I.D.: druxo.808
Posted: Fri Feb 22 15:23:46 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Feb-85 07:44:01 EST
References: <621@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 51

> So why do women often get less pay for equal (never mind "comparable") work?
> Less time-in-grade (or equivalent), less perceived commitment to the job,
> prejudice in hiring?  
> 
> I think it comes down to socialization, more or less.  A large majority of
> women DO get married.  A large majority of women DO have kids.

A large majority of MEN also get married.  A large majority of MEN also 
have kids!!!!

>                                                                Those women,
> if they are working, are entitled to expensive time off work and a guarantee
> of a job when they come back.

And men should have the same guarantees!  Why should women be seen as the
ones with the problem?  It's the men who fail to take personal
responsibility for the children they create.  If they did, companies might
stop viewing the "problem" as belonging only to women.

>                               In a large corporation, with many interchangable
> cogs, this isn't a big problem.  But in a small operation, such as a DP shop
> I once consulted for with 2 application programmers, both female, and one
> operator, female, all married, the DP director damn well KNEW that off and
> on he would be down HALF his programming force for a few months or years;
> or ALL of his operations staff.  And he knew that if he hired replacements,
> he'd find himself 50% or 100% OVER BUDGET on staff when the one on 
> maternity leave came back.  This is a serious problem for a small operation
> (and an awful lot of the jobs are at small companies, there are so many of
> them!).

Interestingly enough, it is often the smaller companies that cope with this
situation much more equitably than large ones do.

> 
> I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SOLUTION TO THE ABOVE PROBLEM IS, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THE
> PROBLEM IS REAL.  I BELIEVE THAT WOMEN WON'T ACHIEVE EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
> UNTIL THIS PROBLEM, AMONG MANY OTHERS, IS SOLVED.  I am not advocating ythe
> current situation is desirable or equitable; it's unfair to BOTH women AND
> their employers,

not to mention to men???

>                  which probably means it's "pessimal".  So what should
> be done instead?  

Isn't the solution obvious?  This is a HUMAN problem which has been dumped
on women.  The solution is for men to begin carrying their fair share of
the burden.

Nancy Parsons
AT&T ISL