News From City Council

Got an e-mail this evening. Within it was a resolution, to be introduced tomorrow (10/16/07), by Council President Doug Shields. I'm being told it marks a "big culture shift" for the city.

Take a look at the beginning of the text of the resolution:

A Resolution authorizing the City of Pittsburgh to issue a Request for Proposals for the purpose of conducting a Gender Wage Disparity Study of the city's workforce.

Whereas, the Congress of the United States of America enacted the The Equal Pay Act of 1963, Pub. L. No. 88-38, 77 Stat. 56, (June 10, 1963) codified at 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), is a United States federal law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage differentials based on sex. In passing the bill, Congress denounces sex discrimination for the following reasons:

• It depresses wages and living standards for employees necessary for their health and efficiency;
• it prevents the maximum utilization of the available labor resources
• it tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening, affecting, and obstructing commerce;
• it burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and
• it constitutes an unfair method of competition; and,

Whereas, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 provides (in part) that: No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section [section 206 of title 29 of the United States Code] shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs[,] the performance of which requires equal skill , effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex

Whereas, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, as policy makers, cannot be indifferent to this matter as it pertains to the work force of the City of Pittsburgh and, moreover, wants to insure that the City is in full compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States in this and all regards; and,

Whereas, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh is mindful of its obligations and affirms that it is in full support of gender equity in the workplace and desires to insure that the City does not deliberately or inadvertantly discriminate with regard to gender pay equity in the workplace.

And with that, it's a request for proposals for a consultant to do a study to make sure the city is in compliance with all gender equity laws.

It should be interesting to watch how this plays out.