The Liberals have declared open season on womens rights. After 14 years of stalling tactics, the Liberals still cant face the cold, hard reality that they introduced pay equity law and that they have to live by it, said Judy Darcy, National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Today the government has sent a signal that no other employer need follow the law, since the lawmakers themselves are evading it, she says.
Hundreds of thousands of women have endured years of poverty waiting for pay equity. Appealing the tribunals ruling is a license for the Liberals to continue to steal money from the pockets of working women, continued Darcy.
CUPE represents more than a quarter-million women members, including flight attendants in the federally-regulated airlines industry. Flight attendants at Canadian Airlines and Air Canada, members of CUPEs Airline Division, have been waiting for justice since filing pay equity complaints in the early 1990s.
The Human Rights Tribunal has yet to hear our complaints because both companies took their lead from the feds, using every trick in the book to dodge their legal responsibilities, said Denise Hill, Airline Division President. Dont doubt the companies will continue to ape the governments irresponsible behaviour, she added.
CUPE is Canadas largest union, with 460,000 members across Canada working in the airline, broadcast, transportation, health, education, utilities and social services sectors. Over 275,000 women are CUPE members.