MEN VS. WOMEN WAGE DIFFERENCES

Men Vs. Women Wage Differences

Men Vs. Women Wage Differences

Introduction

One of the most important economic trends in the 20th century was the dramatic increase in the number of women entering the paid labor force. As more women have entered the labor force, the difference between the average wages of men and those of women has decreased. However, a gender wage differences still exist, where male workers earn significantly more money then female workers do.

A gender wage gap is a characteristic and persistent feature of all types of economies (Petersen and Morgan, 1995; Rubery, 1992; Whitehouse, 1990). It has been argued that the largest gaps in earnings between males and females occur in those countries that have adopted decentralised pay bargaining systems (Pocock, 1996; Rubery, 1992). The shift to enterprise bargaining and a deregulated industrial environment in Australia has raised concerns about the ability of a range of workers, especially women, to secure satisfactory wage outcomes (Bennett, 1994; Still, 1995; Strachan and Burgess, 1997). This article explores the effect of a deregulated industrial relations system on wage bargaining outcomes in the Western Australian public sector. Specifically, the study examines wage outcomes on an agency basis and analyses whether a gender effect can be discerned by comparing the bargaining results of male dominated agencies, female dominated agencies and those that are gender neutral.

Results of this research adds to the body of literature discussing and analysing the gender effects of decentralised and deregulated industrial relations systems on wage outcomes. The findings of this research provide insights into the factors that may explain the propensity of the gender wage gap to widen in decentralised industrial relations environments. The research also attempts to establish whether apparently gender neutral wage policies have specific gender effects.

Hypothesis

We see men/women wage differences in a number of organziations including in the public sectors.

Public Sector Employment Relations: An Example

The public sector is chosen as the arena in which to investigate the effect of decentralisation and deregulation of industrial relations as this sector has a history of applying sector-wide employment and organisational policies. Traditionally the public sector was characterised by the establishment of bureaucratic procedures to ensure decisions and actions were consistent, formalised and addressed systematically through the application of rules. In this sense the public sector was typically `rule-governed and predictable' (Brubaker, 1984:2) and relied on a career service with standardised terms and conditions of employment (Caiden, 1965:2-4). While the introduction of a range of managerial reforms and significant restructuring towards a market environment changed the public sector, these sweeping changes did not realign pay relativities between agencies (Gardner and Palmer, 1997). However, it is argued that the introduction of enterprise bargaining in the public service `challenges the uniformity and equity of pay and conditions...' (Gardner, 1993:x). While a range of reforms have been implemented to alter the orientation and operation of the public sector, wages and conditions remained relatively constant across public sector agencies until the advent of workplace bargaining.

It is postulated that in a highly deregulated industrial ...