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readily and toiled without stint. They worked in the production lines and in the battle lines along a far-flung front, and now they come to Congress asking that something be done to prevent employers disposed to do so from discriminating against them solely because they are women. H. R. 4408 is designed to correct this uncalled for and discriminatory practice.

This bill, the short title of which is "The Women's Equal Pay Act of 1947" does appropriately and effectively prohibit in section 2 discrimination against women for performance of the same or comparable work at less money than that paid men, and also provides safeguards about the employment of women unless they are displaced through the usual operation of a seniority system governing the employment of all affected employees.

The succeeding sections of this measure, introduced by the gracious and capable ady from Maine, covering administrative, investigatory, and enforcement powers, as well as other ancillary provisions, are in our opinion, carefully and competently worded and designed to bring about, if enacted, sound administration and enforcement of the much-needed act to outlaw and eradicate discrimination based on sex against the women of this Nation who have labored so long and tirelessly for a better America where justice and peace will flourish and discrimination based on sex will not be tolerated.

In view of the work done by this organization to eliminate discrimination based on sex in the transportation industry through the process of collective bargaining, it is now felt that its further extension is imperative as a matter of simple justice to the women of our country by the passage of broad remedial legislation as contained in H. R. 4408. With this objective in mind, this organization urges your committee to seriously consider this legislation and to recommend its early enactment to the full committee.

Miss MILLER. Mr. Chairman, may I just give you one item of information that I did not have. In about 1946, the Women's Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics made an analysis of 863 union contracts to find out whether they had any equal-pay clauses; 18 percent only of those contracts did have an equal-pay clause. Mr. McCONNELL. Thank you very much.

The committee will recess until 2 p. m.; at which time a representative will appear for the General Federation of Women's Clubs. (Whereupon, at 12:50, a recess was taken until 2 p. m.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

Mr. McCONNELL. The committee will please come to order. The first witness will be the representative of the National Federation of Women's Clubs.

STATEMENT OF MRS. LESLIE B. WRIGHT, LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE, GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mrs. WRIGHT. My name is Mrs. Leslie B. Wright, 4620 Thirtieth Street NW., Washington, D. C.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it was unnecessary to put my statement in writing. As a matter of fact, I have been sick in bed ever since I have come in from Hawaii.

I am the legislative representative of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. We have 3,000,000 clubwomen. We have 16,000 clubs. We are, of course, interested in all forward legislation for women. We are supporting the principle of this proposed bill under our equal-rights amendment, for which we have been fighting for quite a few years. We believe in equal rights for men and women in all things.

I am not trying to make any speech on the technical details of this bill before you, because I do not know enough about it. We are relying on the statistics of the Women's Bureau which is a Bureau set up by Congress and for which the money is appropriated. We feel that their conclusions and whatever facts are presented should be given weight by you because you would not keep appropriating money for them if they were not a fact-finding body on which you could rely. Mr. MacKinnon, I believe it was, made quite a number of remarks relative to the permanency of women. I am wondering if he knows we have about 2,000,000 women throughout the country who probably will never get married and who will probably still continue in industry. That number is increasing.

We feel that the basic salary for women should be the same as men. We are not going into the question of the mechanics of it, how it is going to be done; whether or not a person who is a little better should get a better wage. I think that can all be worked out.

As I say, we are supporting this under the equal-rights amendment that equal rights should not be abridged because of sex.

As I say, the General Federation is a very proud organization. All our women are back of this legislation and we are supporting this legislation. Quite often you have spoken of the cost of it. When justice is at stake I do not think the cost should enter in, Mr. Chairman, because after all justice is what this Government is founded on.

The General Federation is not taking the stand that women are oppressed at all. We think that women get more than their privileges and rights sometimes, but we do feel in the industrial field women have not been as articulate as they might be. They have not gone ahead. They have been willing to take a compromise salary in order to get a job. That has been a bad thing.

We feel they do need this legislation so that they may get the value of what they really earn. You have plenty of facts about the cost of everything. You know better than I do what things cost. It costs just as much for a man as for a woman.

I know several statements have been made about men being better workers, but there are other factors you should consider. I don't think you see many women walking out into the halls to smoke. Although they smoke, I do not think they take time out on the Government jobs to smoke and neither do I think they go out and play the numbers games in the halls like I see the men doing in the Government buildings.

I think by and large you will find women perhaps a little better and more conscientious employees in a great many of the trades and professions.

I just want to say in closing that the General Federation of Women's Clubs sincerely hopes you will see a way to pass this legislation which will be one step toward the goal for which we are working, equal rights for women.

Mr. McCONNELL. When you say "this legislation," that is in line with your original statement that you are in favor of the general principle?

Mrs. WRIGHT. That is right.

Mr. McCONNELL. But you will leave the details to be worked out by us?

Mrs. WRIGHT. That is right. As I say, we feel you should rely on the statement of the Women's Bureau, because, after all, that is the agency you set up to keep you informed of the status of women.

Mr. McCONNELL. I think generally the members of the committee agree with the principal involved. I do not think there is any doubt of that. There are a lot of collateral matters that arise in connection with legislation. That I believe is what the general questioning is seeking to bring out.

Mrs. WRIGHT. There was one point I was concerned with. It might have been brought out yesterday when I had to go home. Have any statistics been produced as to how this law works in the States where they do have this equal pay?.

Mr. McCONNELL. No.

Mrs. WRIGHT. It seems to me that would be a very enlightening thing for you to have.

Mr. McCONNELL. We seem to have a great deal of difficulty in getting exact statistics. We probe for it from each witness, but we are having a little difficulty. The best set of figures so far was given by Miss Miller, of the Women's Bureau, but outside of that it has been very difficult to get exact figures.

Mrs. WRIGHT. Of course, we have no set-up in our organization that could get the figures. But from all reports from our 16,000 clubs it shows there are these inequalities.

Mr. McCONNELL. I think that is true that there are inequalities. I have had that impression, but we would like for the sake of the record to get figures.

You see, when you take a bill to the floor you have to defend it from every angle. Questions are fired at you the like of which you sometimes cannot foresee. We are trying to cover every question that will be asked of us if the bill goes to the floor.

Mrs. WRIGHT. Our research specialist would be glad to get the data on the various States, if that would be of any help to you at all. Mr. McCONNELL. If she could get it, we would be very glad to have it.

Mrs. WRIGHT. If you would like to have it for the record, I would be very glad to have it supplied.

Mr. McCONNELL. We will be very glad to have it in the record. Thank you for appearing.

(The data above referred to is as follows:)

State "equal pay" laws for women workers are becoming a lively issue. In areas so widely apart as Pennsylvania, Oregon, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, women are asking, "What is a good equal-pay bill?" and "What could make a good bill go bad?"

Basic facts about equal pay, what it is and what it isn't, are available in Women's Bureau leaflet "Equal Pay for Women," available on request. The Women's Bureau also has prepared language for a State equal-pay bill that incorporates major safeguards needed to protect the equal-pay principle.

The 9 existing State laws vary greatly in their provisions, and like many other types of law, also vary greatly in their effectiveness. (Illinois, Massachusetts Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington.) Some of them contain provisions which could be used in such a way as to defeat the major purpose of the law-the protection of women workers from unequal treatment with respect to job rates.

Very few persons would be hardy enough to oppose the principle of equal pay. In fact, at Senate hearings on the Federal Bill, S. 1178, which were held in October 1946, no one did oppose it. But there are many groups, and among them even

some women, who while paying lip service to the principle, will do everything they can to pass weak laws or to put obstacles in the way of good enforcement. Or they say "We don't really need laws-all we need is a resolution of legislative intent, and education can do the rest."

These attacks on putting the equal-pay principle into effective legislation must be squarely met. The program of those interested in equal-pay laws should be, first of all, to get a sound bill introduced. But that is only the beginning. Amendments will be suggested. Some may be good amendments but some are sure to be bad.

I. THINGS TO AVOID IN "EQUAL PAY" BILLS

1. Avoid the narrowing of coverage to only certain types of employment to one industry. Some States restrict application only to manufacturing.

Ideally, all types of work in both public and private employment should be covered, but certainly nothing less than all private employment outside of agriculture and domestic service.

When only private employment is covered a companion bill for teachers should be introduced.

2. Avoid writing into the law any list of grounds justifying wage differentials

It is not necessary to list grounds on which wage differentials are permitted because the bill applies only to differentials based on sex.

If, however, for reasons of strategy or policy, any listing of grounds must be included, it should be limited to the items on which justifiable differences in wage rates can be made, as between any two persons, men or women,—such as job content, shift differentials, seniority and merit increases.

3. Avoid including provisions which enable employers to pay a woman less, notwithstanding the fact that she is doing similar work

Some laws have bad provisions permitting differentials if:

(a) She has had different training from her male fellow worker.

(b) She has had less experience-even if she produces in comparable quality and quantity.

(c) Her male fellow worker only occasionally performs different duties or services.

(d) She is not "available" for other types of operation than the work she is primarily engaged in.

(e) She is covered by a union contract which establishes a differential on the basis of sex.

4. Avoid including a catch all phrase which authorizes differentials based on “any other reasonable differentiation."

While this does not suggest specific "ways out," as does a list, it is an all-inclusive invitation to the ingenuity of unscrupulous employers to find ways of evading their obligations under the law. Conceivably even differences based on physical characteristics or on size of family could be made under this proviso. At the very least, it creates confusion as to what the law really does require.

Attempts may be made to get similar bad amendments to existing laws or to add such provisions to originally effective bills pending in a legislature. Watch for such amendments and oppose them.

Always bear in mind that the "rate for the job" is the goal.

When women are performing a comparable quality or quantity of work, they should be paid for it. Amendments like those mentioned can make a complete cripple out of a bill that would otherwise have been effective.

II. WHAT TO WORK FOR IN "EQUAL PAY" BILLS

1. Simple language prohibiting:

(a) The payment of a lesser rate to women than to men for work of comparable quality or quantity.

(b) The replacement of men by women at lower rates of pay.

(c) Discrimination against any person cooperating in the enforcement of

the law.

There should be as few exceptions to these basic prohibitions as possible. 2. Provision for:

(a) Liquidated damages (twice the amount of back wages due) to the employee, and payment of court costs and attorneys' fees by the employer, (b) Enforcement by the State Department of Labor.

Analysis of State equal-pay laws-January 1, 1948

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