Make International Women's Day the start of your mobilizing towards Equal Pay Day! The current provincial government has taken many steps that diminish protections against pay discrimination and erode women's economic justice. Women in this province still earn, on average, only 71 cents on the dollar.
Equal Pay Day is coming on Tuesday April 9, 2019. Together we can send a strong message that the government must close the gender pay gap. You can have a major impact. In 3 simple steps in the next month, you can help to build a strong collective voice of women across the province.
Step 1. Respond to the government's Pay Transparency Act consultations.
Last year on IWD, Ontario’s Pay Transparency Act was introduced as an important new tool to help enforce existing human rights laws to close the gender pay gap. The Act requires employers with 100+ employees to make annual reports about the gender pay gaps in their workplaces. Women were supposed to have access to pay transparency by January 1, 2019, but the government stalled the Act indefinitely.
The Act's regulations will set out the details of employers’ pay transparency reporting obligations and the government is currently consulting on the employers’ reporting mechanisms. They are asking business how costly and onerous pay transparency will be. They also want to know what information should go into the employers’ calculation of the gender pay gap.
Any government consultations on the gender pay gap must prioritize women, the people most impacted. Reports must spell out the complete compensation structure by gender, job classification, and job status. Visit our website for more details in the coming week.
Send your comments in support of strong and detailed pay transparency reports here by April 5, 2019:
https://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=28766&language=en
Step 2. Raise Awareness around the Gender Pay Gap & Equal Pay Day.
In exactly one month and one day - APRIL 9, 2019 - equal pay activists across the province will mark Equal Pay Day.
This year, our supporters will be organizing small, creative, and targeted actions - at local MPP offices for example - all over Ontario.
Get ready for Equal Pay Day by building awareness amongst your networks. Share the above graphic on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Check out and share some of our recent posts about pay transparency and the government's consultations with business on Facebook and Twitter.
Increase your knowledge and raise awareness about the gender pay gap with new fact sheets which will be posted on the Equal Pay Coalition website by March 14th.
Watch our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for articles, shareable graphics, and updates in the weeks and days leading up to this year's Equal Pay Day.
Remember to use the hashtags #EqualPayDay #CloseTheGap and #PayTransparency in your social media posts.
Step 3. Mobilize for Province-wide Actions on April 9, 2019.
On April 9, 2019, the Equal Pay Coalition will call upon Premier Doug Ford and all government MPPs to make public their plans to close the gender pay gap.
You can make a difference by getting involved. Organize a local Equal Pay Day; big or small it all counts. Organize your networks to call their local MPP to discuss their plans to close the gender pay gap. Line-up your colleagues and friends to visit your local MPPs office. Get creative! Make sure to alert your local media contacts about your actions.
If you are interested in organizing an event in your area, please email us at
equalpaycoalition@gmail.com. We'll help promote your event through this e-newsletter, our website, and our social media platforms.
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Support the Coalition.
Our efforts to close the gender pay gap are more challenging now than before. We appreciate donations to continue our work. Send your donations to:
Equal Pay Coalition 474 Bathurst Street, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S6.