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EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK FOR WOMEN

FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1950

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a. m., Hon. Augustine B. Kelley (chairman) presiding.

Mr. KELLEY. The committee will please come to order.
Miss McQuatters, we will be glad to hear you.

STATEMENT OF MISS GENEVA F. McQUATTERS, DIRECTOR OF
LEGISLATION AND WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVE, NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF BUSINESS AND
CLUBS, INC.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S

Miss MCQUATTERS. Mr. Chairman, my name is Geneva F. McQuatters. I am director of legislation of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc.

The National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., representing 150,000 members in 2,500 communities throughout the country, wholeheartedly supports the principle of equal pay for equal work for women.

We believe that legislation incorporating this principle has an important bearing on employment and prosperity. The principle of equal pay for equal work is the concern not only of millions of women workers, but of men as well, since inequality in the wage structure promotes price cutting, depresses the labor market, and thereby unbalances the whole economic system.

We believe that all workers will have greater job security if the pay status can be predicated on the basis of merit without discrimination because of sex. These discriminations hinder the maximum utilization of available labor resources and the production necessary to maintain our national and international obligations.

Lower wages for women for the same work done are detrimental to standards of living of women workers who constitute one-third of our total labor force. Experience of our members bears out surveys of the Women's Bureau wherein it has been revealed that of employed women, 75 to 80 percent must earn their living and support dependents. Due to war casualties, women are carrying an increasingly heavy economic burden. The removal of differences in pay as between men and women will improve the level of purchasing power for millions of women. It is important to note that while women are paid less, there is no corresponding differential in prices of consumer

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goods. The corner grocery prices are the same whether the purchaser be masculine or feminine. Thereby the economic hardship is increased for women who with increasing frequency carry responsibility as heads of families. These discriminations impede family security and the elevation of living standards.

Modern wage and salary administration outmodes the traditional women's scale and men's scale. In the interests of production the rate for the job is supported. When a women performs precisely the same work as a man, without additional supervision or assistance, equal remuneration should be paid.

All reliable studies show that improvement in methods and new processes have freed men and women alike from drudgery that has in the past created differences in the tasks assigned to men and women. Wartime experience has shown that women have been able to assume successfully many skilled and unskilled labor jobs as well as supervisory, administrative, and executive positions that had in the past been assigned solely to men.

Business and professional women also feel that the establishment legally of the principle of equal pay will serve to accelerate and encourage the utilization of persons according to qualifications and ability rather than sex. Our organization has long advocated the full partnership of women and men, particularly in these troubled times, in working out the solution of today's problems. If women are to accept the responsibilities of citizenship, shoulder their economic load, participate fully in the thinking and action commensurate with today's needs, it is vital that the pseudo barriers of competition between women and men be removed. When women are used as a means of depressing wage and salary levels, and must compete on the basis of being cheaper labor, the natural psychological effect is to retard the development of peak skills, since there is no incentive to further progress or recognition.

With the removal of artificially conceived differentials in rates of pay, and the general recognition of them as workers, rather than women, one result would be to encourage women to greater economic and professional stability, and the acceptance of responsibility with increased confidence.

In considering the provisions of the proposed legislation before this committee, we have, through our regular and democratic organization process, arrived at the following conclusions:

Section I, title: We should prefer the title to simply read "the Equal Pay Act of 1950." This removes the implication that it benefits women only. Attention is drawn to the recent bill introduced for the District of Columbia by Senator Neely, seeking to extend the minimum wage law for women, to ir clude men. This would apply in several States in regard to minimum wage. We have no desire to appear to support any special concession to women in this matter, feeling that in times of reduced employment, such laws tend to decrease utilization of women. Our position is that good labor laws benefit workers of both sexes, and should be so written.

Section II, definition of unfair wage practice: We should prefer a substitution of wording (p. 2, lines 18 to 20, H. R. 1584)—

* * * by paying wage to any female employee at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to male employees.

* * *

We favor the wording proposed as an amendment to the New York Equal Pay Act:

An employer shall pay wages at the same rate to all his employees, regardless of sex, who perform work of similar type, skill, productivity and quality. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the payment of wages pursuant to established practices of seniority or merit increases, applicable to both sexes alike. We believe this to be clearer, and our other reasons are those stated under No. I.

Sections III, IV and V are approved by our organization, and we are particularly pleased by the inclusion of section VI, feeling a court review is a marked improvement over provisions of bills submitted to previous Congresses.

Sections VII and VIII: In regard to the penalty and recognizing its severity, we believe, from observing the operation of laws within States which lack adequate penalties, that it is necessary to provide a punitive measure sufficiently rigorous to permit effective enforcement. Our steering committee was almost evenly divided over the phraseology (p. 15, line 11) "affecting commerce," some preferring "engaged in commerce."

We should like to state that our chief concern is for the establishment in law of the principle of "equal pay for equal work based on the rate for the job. If this could be done as effectively through an amendment to the Wage and Hour Act, we should be glad to consider it as an alternative. However, we strongly urge that whatever the method, this principle be established, and as expeditiously as possible.

I would like to say that the business and professional women's organization is rather unique in that we have both employers and employees in our membership. It is predominantly an organization in the small towns, where we have a cross section of employed women. In general, they are not industrial, that is, they are not members of a union, and they do not have access, therefore, to that method of negotiation for their wage levels.

We would like to suggest a couple of changes, so far as the wording of the bill is concerned, we suggest the title "Equal Pay Act of 1950,' rather than the "Equal Pay for Equal Work for Women," thus removing the implication that it benefits women only.

We would like to direct attention to the fact that recently Senator Neely introduced a bill for the District of Columbia, seeking to extend the minimum-wage law to include men. Actually, the minimum wage is already higher for women in those States that have minimum-wage laws for women.

We have no desire to appear in support of special concessions to women in this matter, feeling that in times of reduced employment, such laws tend to decrease utilization of women. Our position is that good labor laws benefit workers of both sexes, and should be so written.

Further, we realize that the penalties may appear to be severe, but we believe, from observing the operation of laws within States which lack penalties that it is necessary to provide a punitive measure sufficiently rigorous to permit effective enforcement.

Mr. BURKE. Of course, the penalty applies to interstate transactions?

Miss MCQUATTERS. Yes. In closing we should like to state that our chief concern is for the establishment in law of the principle of

"equal pay for equal work based on the rate for the job." If this could be done as effectively through an amendment to the Wage and Hour Act, we should be glad to consider it as an alternative. However, we strongly urge that whatever the method, this principle be established, and as expeditiously as possible.

I shall be glad to answer any questions.

Mr. KELLEY. Mr. Burke.

Mr. BURKE. I am inclined to agree with your suggested title of the bill. It is applicable to general wage rates, because if we are going to go into the job of rate setting by virtue of job content, it would have to apply whether the person on the job were a male or a female. Miss MCQUATTERS. That is true.

Mr. BURKE. You represent largely the white-collar people?
Miss McQUATTERS. Yes.

Mr. BURKE. Is there a great deal of discrimination in job rate setting because of sex in that particular field?

Miss MCQUATTERS. It would appear so and very definitely, in view of the history of the support our organization has given to this principle. We are handicapped by lack of definite figures on it. However I will say that whenever this matter is brought to our clubs there is complete unanimity of opinion, particularly in regard to the administrative jobs. I think that there is a great deal of disparity in the payment of wages, and that is where our particular group is interested in it.

Mr. BURKE. I have had some experience with negotiating for white-collar groups in the latter years. Of course that applies largely, most of it in fact, to those office workers who are employed within industry, and then in the industry, and the methods of wage setting has been pretty well set, and somewhat carried over, and it was not as sharp and distinct as you find throughout the downtown offices, and things of that sort.

Miss McQUATTERS. Yes.

Mr. BURKE. With regard to professional women: I suppose that includes both employees and independent professional people? Miss McQUATTERS. That is correct.

Mr. BURKE. People who work for fees?

Miss McQUATTERS. Yes.

Mr. BURKE. For instance, if a woman becomes an architect, if she goes into an architect's office, does she usually start pretty much on the same basis as the young men who come out of college as architects and employ work in their line?

Miss MCQUATTERS. I think you have chosen a particularly difficult field there because while I could not speak for any specific members in that field, I know that that is an extremely difficult field for women to tackle, and you always come up against the alleged inability to go out and do certain kinds of field work which men say are very hard for women to do.

Mr. BURKE. Let us take the mechanical engineer, that is, the one who is doing entirely board work where there is not necessarily any field work.

Miss MCQUATTERS. Well, as I say, we are handicapped by lack of specific figures in order to make any kind of statement, but the im

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