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League of Women Voters of Iowa |
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Document 12: Mary Anderson’s statement before House Subcommittee on Education and Labor in Support of H.R. 1584. Folder: Individual Liberties/Equal Rights, Box 45, League of Women Voters of Iowa, Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa. Used with the permission of the League of Women Voters of the United States.
Introduction
On May 18, 1950, Mary Anderson made the following public statement in favor of equal pay for equal work. Anderson was the Legislative Representative of the National Consumers' League and had been Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1919 until 1944. She was also one of the founders of the National Women's Trade Union League (WTUL). The League of Women Voters stood in support of this statement, along with the Consumers' League, the WTUL, the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Associations, and the National Council of Jewish Women. In this statement, Anderson directly attacked unequal pay scales based on sex difference and called for the equalization of pay based on equal work. The League's public support for this sort of statement challenges the depiction of the League as shying away from issues of sex discrimination in the Cold War years. League of Women Voters May 18, 1950 STATEMENT OF MISS MARY ANDERSON BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE
OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 1584. I am Mary Anderson, Legislative Representative of the
National Consumers’ League, and I have been asked to testify in
behalf of the following national organizations: National Board of the Young Women’s Christian Associations League of Women Voters of the United States National Consumers’ League National Council of Jewish Women National Women’s Trade Union League These organizations have given their official endorsement
to the statement I am about to make. We take the position that discrimination against women
in rates of pay should be prohibited by law, and we, therefore, support
H.R. 1584, which clearly states that “the existence in industry
of wage differentials based on sex is an inequity in compensation standards
which constitutes an unfair wage practice…” Equal pay for equal work for women is not a new issue. As long ago as 1907 the National Women’s
Trade Union League was concerned about this unfair practice and tried
to arouse public opinion on it. Later,
in 1915, the Committee on Industrial Relations created by Congress recommended
that both public opinion and legislation recognize “the principle
that women should receive the same compensation as men for the same
service.” The equal pay principle was enunciated by the
War Labor Board of the first World War and, although some progress was
made at that time, the roots of this bad practice remained and wage
differentials continued to flourish in many places.
During NRA days, further progress was made when the code authorities
prevented the adoption of sex differentials in codes covering 71 industries. And still later, in World War II, the War Labor
Board issued its General Order No. 16, which directed adoption and application
of the principle that women should be paid the same wage rates as men
for comparable work. At the present time, equal pay clauses are written
into many union contracts, but there are still large areas where the
principle is not applied. In
the first place, only 3 million women are organized (and therefore covered
by union contracts), out of about 18 million women now in the labor
force; and, in the second place, even where there are union agreements,
these are not self-enforcing. For instance, some recent union agreements
contain provisions setting forth adherence to the equal pay principle,
but the wage scales, which are part of the agreements, specify
one hourly rate of pay for men and a lower rate of pay for women.
We submit that the ancient practice of having wage scales labeled
“male rate” and “female rate” should be outlawed. Equal pay for women is a matter of simple justice. The number of women in the labor force is increasing
constantly because women have to work to support themselves and/or contribute
to family support. There should
be one rate for the job, whether performed by a man or a woman. This is the only way of insuring that a worker
gets what he or she is entitled to for the job done. Furthermore, a wage rate for the job keeps
women from undercutting men and is therefore advantageous to the men
also. And for the reasons above stated, we urge your Committee to give a favorable report on Equal Pay for Men and Women.
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