The QLF, APTS, CSN, CSQ, FAE, FIQ and SFPQ will appear before the Superior Court starting tomorrow to challenge provisions of the Pay Equity Act adopted in 2019.
For the labour organizations, the principle at the heart of this legal battle remains fundamental: women workers have the right to discrimination-free pay and, when discrimination is identified, they must receive everything they are owed.
This principle was at the heart of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck down certain provisions of Quebec’s pay equity maintenance regime in 2018. The Quebec government was required to rewrite the legislation after the country’s highest court ruled that provisions preventing retroactive pay adjustments constituted discrimination against women.
However, the labour organizations will argue before the Superior Court starting Tuesday that the new legislation adopted by the government in 2019 maintains these discriminatory provisions.
In addition, some labour organizations are challenging other aspects of the legislation, particularly those related to freedom of association.
“Nearly thirty years after the Pay Equity Act was adopted, we are still fighting to ensure that women workers receive what they are owed. This is not a technical detail: it is money they should have received but never did,” the union leaders said.
Pay equity is not merely an abstract principle, the organizations emphasized. Its purpose is to correct systemic wage discrimination affecting predominantly female job classes. When a woman worker is denied the wages to which she is entitled, the consequences can extend well beyond her paycheque, affecting her social protections and economic security.
“Behind this legal battle are women workers who have been underpaid for years. This is not simply a matter of numbers being debated by lawyers. What they are demanding is not a gift; it is what they are owed. They are the reason we are before the Court,” the union leaders added.
This press release was translated from French into English by UES800.