Posted on: Thursday, April 22, 2004

EDITORIAL
Women still lagging in office pay scale

Equal pay for equal work is a no-brainer. But nationally, women on average still earn about 77 cents to each dollar a man makes, despite the enormous strides made by women in the workplace.

Hawai'i does a little better by narrowing that disparity to 84 cents on the dollar. Nonetheless, the 1963 federal Equal Pay Act has yet to establish parity.

Which is why we support the passage of a bill working its way through the Hawai'i Legislature that would invigorate equal-pay legislation, as well as create a four-year task force to study disparities and gender inequities.

Many women these days head households, supporting children, and in some cases, entire families. There's no reason why they should be shortchanged and undervalued.

That said, the fault may not simply lie with the "glass ceiling." There are other variables that may influence the disparity in pay, such as time out from work for childcare.

There is also the issue of negotiating a salary. It has been noted by some sociologists that some women aren't as good at negotiating for competitive salaries as their male counterparts.

For these and other reasons, it's important to reinforce the federal Equal Pay Act, which prohibits employers from paying men more than women for the same or similar work, unless the wage difference is based on seniority, merit or factors other than gender.

It's the 21st century, and workplace values should be up to date.