Board of Trustees adopts resolution to support Equal Pay
by on Mar 10, 2021At their regular meeting on March 9, 2021, the Gavilan College Board of Trustees unanimously passed Resolution #1061 in support of equal pay in California Community Colleges.
The resolution was developed by the newly formed Community College League of California's Women's Caucus which advocates for change and policies that will advance opportunities and achieve equity for women across California Community Colleges.
Text of the Resolution:
WHEREAS, California Community Colleges, the largest system of higher education in the country with more than 2.1 million students at 116 colleges, serves the most diverse student population of any system of higher education in the State; and
WHEREAS, The open-access mission of the California Community Colleges provides a path for economic and social mobility for its students, 43% of whom are the first in their families to attend an institution of higher education and 53% of enrolled students identify as female; and
WHEREAS, The California Community College system is composed of 58% female employees across administrators, tenured faculty, part-time faculty and classified employees; and
WHEREAS, The #EqualPayCA is a campaign led by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom in partnership with The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG) focused on closing the pay gap in California; and
WHEREAS, California has the strongest equal pay laws in the nation, but we recognize that change doesn’t happen without education and implementation; and
WHEREAS, The #EqualPayCA campaign proposes closing the wage gap by promoting and distributing new resources from the CCSWG’s Pay Equity Task Force, raising awareness about the pay gap and challenging businesses to commit to pay equity in the workplace through the CA Pay Equity Pledge; and
WHEREAS, Existing California law regulates the payment of compensation to employees by employers; and
WHEREAS, The Equal Pay Act prohibits an employer from paying any of its employees wage rates that are less than what it pays employees of the opposite sex, or of another race, or of another ethnicity for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions; and
WHEREAS, In 2019, the California wage gap data by race/ethnicity from the National Women’s Law Center as compared to white men showed that California white women earn 80 cents, Asian women earn 75 cents, Black women earn 60 cents, Latinas earn 43 cents, to every dollar earned by white men; and
WHEREAS, The Commission on the status of Women reports that there is gender gap in 97% of occupations; and
WHEREAS, By tackling unequal pay, an employer can increase efficiency and productivity because you attract a larger pool of applicants to choose from; and
WHEREAS, Forty one percent (41%) of mothers are the sole or primary breadwinners in their families and make on the average, 69 cents to the dollar, as compared to fathers; and
WHEREAS, Based on today’s wage gap, women lose $407,760 over the course of a 40 year career; and
WHEREAS, The pay gap is widest for women ages 55-64 indicating that the pay gap follows women into retirement; and
WHEREAS, The disparity in earning has a significant impact on the economic security and welfare of working women and their families; now, therefore, be it further
WHEREAS, The California Community Colleges Women’s Caucus hereby urges the elimination of any wage gap based on gender, and supports the #EqualPayCA campaign led by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom in partnership with The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CCSWG) focused on closing the pay gap in California; and be it further
WHEREAS, The the California Community Colleges Women’s Caucus call for California Community College District Boards join First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom #EqualPayCA pledge and advance the implementation of the California Fair Pay Act by:
a) Conducting an annual district gender pay analysis;
b) Conducting regional analysis of gender pay for exempt employees;
c) Reviewing hiring and promotion processes to reduce bias and barriers;
d) Sharing information about the California Fair Pay Act with employees;
e) identifying and promoting best practices that will help close the pay gap, including clear processes against retaliation.
RESOLVED, that Gavilan College supports the implementation of equitable pay practices in an effort to eliminate wage gaps based on gender.
Adopted, Signed and approved this 9th day of March, 2021.
I, Kathleen A. Rose, Ed.D., NCC, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution #1061 was duly adopted by the Governing Board of the Gavilan Joint Community College District at a meeting thereof held on the 9th day of March, 2021 and that it was so adopted by the following vote:
7 AYES: J. Brusco, E. Diaz, I. González, P. Mondragón, R. Perez, L. Perry, J.Wallace, and Student Trustee E. Aung (advisory vote)
0 NOES:
0 ABSENT:
0 ABSTENTIONS: