JOB RESTRUCTURING

WHEREAS, women are entering the workforce at five times the rate predicted by the Labor Department; and

WHEREAS, women still tend to be hired in low-paying, dead-end jobs; and

WHEREAS, this practice tends to keep women's wages low; and

WHEREAS, women's pay continues to be only a little over 50 percent of what men receive on the average; and

WHEREAS, women are not entering higher-paying, non-traditional fields at significant rates; and

WHEREAS, equal pay for equal work, as defined in the Equal Pay Act, does not take into consideration the difficulties of comparing "men's" work with "women's" work; and

WHEREAS, a fairer way of rewarding those in the labor force would be to value work in relation to its effort, skill, responsibility, and conditions; and

WHEREAS, both men and women in the labor force would be paid what they are worth if a standard of equal pay for work of comparable value would be applied:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers support all efforts to raise the employment status of women and men in the labor force by re-evaluating job-rating systems according to effort, skill, responsibility, and work conditions.