Heritage Matters

Heritage Matters – Spring 2018

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Heritage Matters 15 mainly tin inspection. Not one woman was hired at Stelco between 1961 and 1977. It is unknown how many women applied for jobs at Stelco during this time period, but estimates range from 10,000 to 30,000 female applicants, without a single one being hired. The women won their case and Stelco hired 180 women. While the majority of these women were laid off in the early 1980s, Women Back Into Stelco was still a significant campaign because it compelled a major employer to change their hiring practices and gave women access to higher- paid industrial jobs. The above are just a few examples of how organized labour has encouraged women in the slow and sometimes arduous climb to equality in the workplace. The fact is that equality has still not been reached. One way to measure this is the gender pay gap, which still exists in Ontario. As a union steward, I was interested to know that 2015 statistics show that the hourly gender wage gap is 7 per cent for those with union coverage and 18 per cent for those with no union coverage. The wage gap is more pronounced for Indigenous and racialized women and those with disabilities. In 2018, we must strive to do better for all women. Erin Semande is the Provincial Heritage Registrar with the Ontario Heritage Trust. Women from Fleck Manufacturing leading the 1979 International Women's Day Parade in Toronto. Photo: Frank Rooney. Image sourced from Rise Up! A digital archive of feminist activism.

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