Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ubc-cs.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsri!ubc-vision!ubc-cs!robinson From: robinson@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jim Robinson) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Re: The new equal rights rule and taxation Message-ID: <1026@ubc-cs.UUCP> Date: Tue, 23-Apr-85 19:54:55 EST Article-I.D.: ubc-cs.1026 Posted: Tue Apr 23 19:54:55 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 25-Apr-85 04:17:52 EST References: <262@looking.UUCP> <610@lsuc.UUCP> <1531@dciem.UUCP> Reply-To: robinson@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jim Robinson) Organization: UBC Department of Computer Science, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 66 Summary: In article <1531@dciem.UUCP> jeff@dciem.UUCP ( Richardson) writes: >Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think section 15 deals only with "equality >before the law", and (fortunately, in my opinion) makes no mention of the >hiring practices of private companies. You might think that section 15 does not pertain to hiring practices of private companies, but there are a whole lot of people out there who wll disagree with you. It seems that many groups have got it in their heads that section 15 somehow paves the way for "equal pay for work of equal value". We've even got the leaders of the three federal parties espousing the virtues of this amazing notion. It is most interesting, at least to me, that none of these people is willing to explain what a radical departure this concept is from the present way of doing things; and admit that it is nothing short of a restructuring of the economic order. No longer would the free market ( and the unions ) decide how much an employee should be paid. In this utopia the ever-present government would be there to *tell* an employer what to pay his employees - supply and demand be damned. I would have been extremely surprised if the NDP had not embraced this idea with mega-enthusiasm, but to witness Brian M. and Co. doing likewise leaves me shaking my head in disbelief. I also see Ontario premier Frank Miller intends to test out EPFWOEV in the public sector with the intention of foisting it on all Ontarians if it works out. So much for the fear of Frank being too conservative. EPFWOEV aside, there is another train of thought that goes something like this: 95% of domestic workers ( or secretaries or whathaveyou ) are women and the low wages that these people receive is directly due to their gender and is thus an infringement of their rights under section 15. I personally find this position totally untenable since (among other reasons) it conveniently overlooks the fact that these jobs are open to, and occupied by, both men and women; but then again I'm not a member of one of the many SIGs who are more interested in redistributing the wealth their way, than in creating wealth. And let's not forget about the ex-cook for 24 Sussex who is so peeved that the Big B fired him without even tasting his work that he is launching a Charter suit. This, despite the fact that he was serving "at the pleasure of Her Majesty the Queen". For once it would be nice to hear someone tell us about the negative aspects of these policies: like the increased cost of doing business that would invariably be passed on to the consumer; or the increased unemployment resulting from companies laying off workers rather than paying them unrealistic salaries; or the decline of this country's export sector as Canada finds it even harder to compete with countries where workers are not paid astronomical wages. Needless to say EPFWOEV does not attack the heart of the problem: i.e. the relatively small percentage of women in the professions and other fields which have traditionally been regarded as the exclusive domain of males. Makes a heck of a lot more sense to me to encourage school age females to take an interest in math, science, law, etc than to create a ridiculous new bureaucracy - but then again primary and secondary school students don't vote, do they? Lastly, I would like to introduce the concept of "greater pay for work of greater value". If one assumes that EPFWOEV is fair, then how could GPFWOGV not be fair? Considering that grocery clerks in B.C. make more than $16 per hour (no s**t) I think it would be only reasonable that newly graduated university students who use even the least bit of their education in their job should get a starting salary in excess of this. What say you? J.B. Robinson