S.F. City Hall calls attention to women’s lagging pay - San Francisco, CA
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Equal Pay Day was recognized at San Francisco City Hall on April 14, 2015.
Waymark Code: WMNY72
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/22/2015
Views: 8
On April 15, 2015, the San Francisco Chronicle (
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"S.F. City Hall calls attention to women’s lagging pay
By John Wildermuth and Heather Knight Updated 11:28 am, Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Tuesday was Equal Pay Day, and Roberta Guise wasn’t a bit happy about it.
“I wish we didn’t have to be here,” she told a City Hall crowd marking the day when the wages of the average working woman finally match what her male counterpart earned during the 12 months of 2014.
Guise, who is with San Francisco’s chapter of the American Association of University Women, said studies show that women who work full time typically earn 78 percent of what a man makes, a gap that closes only slightly to 81 percent in San Francisco.
Board of Supervisors President London Breed sponsored a resolution declaring Tuesday “Equal Pay Day” in San Francisco but acknowledged that it was little more than a symbolic gesture to show the pay equity gender gap.
“We should already be at a point where women are paid dollar for dollar what a man makes,” she said. “But the gap persists.”
San Francisco already has taken steps toward closing that gap. Supervisor David Campos’ equal pay ordinance passed last year, requiring city contractors with at least 20 employees to provide the city’s Human Rights Commission with pay information by job and gender.
The commission is allowed to investigate potential pay discrimination and can recommend that companies discriminating lose their city contracts.
“The only way this can change is we require companies to provide information and see that there are consequences” to pay discrimination, Campos said.
A study done for the university women’s group found that the move toward pay equity has slowed dramatically in recent years.
“How can I tell my 6-year-old niece that she won’t be paid the same as a man until 2139?” Campos asked.
— John Wildermuth"