By Bob Hennelly

On this edition of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour we mark week 2 of Women’s History Month we welcome Dalvanie Powell, president of the NYC United Probation Officers Association; Bev Neufeld, the co-founder of PowHer NY, a non-profit advocacy pressing for gender pay equity; and Celeste Kirkland, vice-chair of TWU Local 100’s Power Division and vice-president of the NYC chapter of the Coalition of Union Women.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 outlawed gender-based pay discrimination, yet in 2023 women have to work to the middle of March to match the pay their male co-workers earned in 2022.

And on the link below, Powell describes how most of her members are women who must have a college education and carry a gun to do their job, yet they are classified as civilian employees who make tens of thousands of dollars less than police officers. Neufeld says such cases are all too common and that the best way to advance pay equity in the private sector is by having public employers lead by example and abide by the law.

On the next link below, Kirkland describes how a union apprentice program helped her to become New York City Transit’s first power cable maintainer. Kirkland says in the years since, the ranks of women in the MTA have grown — yet the MTA has been slow to accommodate them. The Local 100 vice-chair says the union has been key to the progress that’s been made, but that significant issues remain especially when it comes to how the agency accommodates its pregnant employees.