We’ve been talking a lot lately about the Ontario government’s review of provincial labour laws, the Changing Workplaces Review (CWR). The review is an opportunity to make key changes to the Employment Standards Act that could better protect workers and push back against precarious and low-wage jobs. We have been organizing across the province to make sure these changes happen, including bringing in measures to promote more full-time permanent work, fair scheduling practices, access to paid sick days, and eliminating the wage gap between part-time, temporary, and full-time work. (See our full set of campaign demands here.)

All of these demands could help address another major workplace inequality in Ontario: the gender wage gap. This week, the Fight for $15 & Fairness wrote about the links between decent jobs and pay equity: “Because women, racialized workers, and disabled workers face systemic barriers within the labour market they are more likely to work in low wage jobs. And because women continue to shoulder more of the burden for caregiving, women are more likely to work part-time while fulfilling their caring responsibilities. In the absence of a high quality, public, and universally accessible caregiving system and other social supports, women’s choices in the labour market will continue to be limited.”

In addition to reviewing the province’s labour laws, the Ontario government is also doing consultations on the gender wage gap. We know that decent jobs are a pay equity issue, and that the time to act is now.

Tell the government that we need decent jobs in Ontario. Email Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn, or tweet him @OntMinLabour @MPPKevinFlynn. Tell him it’s time for #15andfairness.

Check your inbox, our website and our facebook page regularly for updates on how you can get involved in the Fight for $15 & Fairness.