/R E P E A T -- Media Advisory/Photo Op - SEIU Healthcare members rally in support of Equal Pay Day/

RICHMOND HILL, ON, April 9, 2013 /CNW/ - On Tuesday, April 9, Equal Pay Day, Members of SEIU Healthcare, Canada's largest healthcare union, will join the Equal Pay Coalition in Toronto's downtown core in distributing leaflets designed to raise awareness of the wage gap between men and women.  Equal Pay Day illustrates how far into the next year a woman must work to earn the same amount a man made in the previous year. Equal Pay Days help ignite action to close the gender pay gap and build a FAIR Ontario. As part of the campaign, organizers are calling on Premier Wynne to officially proclaim April 9 Equal Pay Day.

Ontario's gender pay gap, according to Statistics Canada 2010 and the Ontario Pay Equity Commission's figures, is 28% (based on all male and female average annual earnings (including part time workers). The gap is much higher for women of colour, women with disabilities or Aboriginal women.

Women and men will be dressed in "red" to mark how much women are in the "red" when it comes to their pay.

	Events:
Tuesday, April 9	8:00 a.m. - Intersection of King Street and Bay Street
	Members will be dressed in red, carrying large red umbrellas and holding signs calling for an end to the wage gap as they hand out leaflets explaining the campaign.
	12:00 p.m. - University Avenue in front of Mount Sinai Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital (600/610 University Avenue)
	Members will be giving out 200 shortbread cookies with red equal signs as they hand out leaflets explaining the campaign. They will be dressed in red, carrying large red umbrellas and holding signs calling for an end to the wage gap.
Interview Opportunity:	Cathy Carroll, Secretary Treasurer, SEIU Healthcare
	Ms. Carroll is available to talk about the Equal Pay Day campaign and the wage gap faced by many women including those in the health care sector.

 

 

 

SOURCE: Service Employees International Union Local 1 Canada

Kyle Ferguson
Media Relations, SEIU Healthcare
Cell: 416-809-0699   Email: [email protected]