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: net.politics,net.social,net.women,net.flame,can.politics Subject: Re: Discrimination and Affirmative Action Message-ID: <1087@ubc-cs.UUCP> Date: Sun, 2-Jun-85 20:43:58 EDT Article-I.D.: ubc-cs.1087 Posted: Sun Jun 2 20:43:58 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 2-Jun-85 22:42:21 EDT References: <566@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> <1562@dciem.UUCP> <900@mnetor.UUCP> Reply-To: robinson@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jim Robinson) Organization: UBC Department of Computer Science, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 40 Summary: In article <900@mnetor.UUCP> clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) writes: >There aren't any affirmative action policies in Canada yet (except >for the bilingualism program). Didn't you see the stuff in the papers >recently about the report on employment integration and proposed >affirmative action? (Sorry, I can't quite remember the name of the woman >who wrote the report, nor the title) That would have been just about >the first instance of official affirmative action in this country. Personally, I'd prefer to see AA policies in Canada than "Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value" (known as "comparable pay" in the US). My reasoning is that although AA may result in a loss of productivity in the short run as lesser qualified people are hired in order to satisfy policy requirements all that would really be happening is the speeding up of a process that is not only inevitable but also desirable. EPFWOEV, on the other hand, would result in the *government* setting pay scales - a radical departure from the free market system and a move that is sure to have a depressing effect on an already depressed economy. I see that EPFWOEV is all but assured for Ontario's public and *private* sectors. I've got two questions: 1) To anyone that cares to respond- Surely something in the Constitution prohibits the government from telling the private sector how much to pay its employees? 2) To Comrades Rae and Peterson, the soon-to-be premiers- How much are electrical engineers worth? (I hope they decide it's what they make at Ontario Hydro - I'd rather be overpaid than underpaid any day) Since EPFWOEV will (initially) be restricted to individual organizations it seems to me that the smart move for an entry level computer professional would be to gain employment with with as large a company as possible. Then, survey the wage levels of the various blue collar jobs and when you find that job that pays the most, which you can bet your iron ring pays more than you're making, take your case to the wage police and get a totally undeserved but nonetheless welcome raise. (don't forget about the B.C. grocery clerks who make $16.45/hour for stocking shelves) J.B. Robinson