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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS TO
   CONDUCT A STUDY ON DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEX, RACE, AND
   NATIONAL ORIGIN WITH REGARD TO WAGES AND OTHER TERMS AND
   CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.



 1       WHEREAS, despite federal and state laws banning
 2   discrimination in employment and pay, in both the private and
 3   public sector, wage differentials persist between women and men
 4   and between minorities and non-minorities in the same jobs and
 5   in jobs that are dissimilar but that require equivalent
 6   composites of skill, effort, responsibility, and working
 7   conditions; and
 8   
 9       WHEREAS, the existence of such wage differentials:
10   
11       (1)  Depresses wages and living standards for employees
12            necessary for their health and efficiency;
13   
14       (2)  Reduces family incomes and contributes to higher
15            poverty rates among female-headed and minority
16            households; 
17   
18       (3)  Prevents the maximum utilization of the available
19            labor resources;
20   
21       (4)  Tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening,
22            affecting, and obstructing commerce;
23   
24       (5)  Constitutes an unfair method of competition; and
25   
26       (6)  Constitutes a discriminatory practice;
27   
28   and
29   
30       WHEREAS, discrimination in wage-setting practices has
31   played a role in depressing wages for women and minorities
32   generally; and
33   
34       WHEREAS, eliminating discrimination in compensation based
35   on sex, race, and national origin would have positive effects,
36   including:
37   
38       (1)  Providing a solution to problems in the economy
39            created by discriminatory wage differentials;

 
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                                  H.R. NO.              
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       (2)  Reducing the number of working women and people of
 2            color earning low wages, thereby lowering their
 3            incidence of poverty during normal working years and
 4            in retirement; and
 5   
 6       (3)  Promoting stable families by raising family incomes;
 7   
 8   and
 9   
10       WHEREAS, many individuals work in occupations that are
11   dominated by individuals of the same sex, race, and national
12   origin, and discrimination in hiring, job assignment, and
13   promotion has played a role in establishing and maintaining
14   segregated work forces; and
15   
16       WHEREAS, in jobs where 70 percent or more of the workers
17   are women, including clerical, cashier, librarian, and child-
18   care positions, women typically earn less than workers in jobs
19   where most workers are men; and
20   
21       WHEREAS, women who work in female-dominated positions would
22   earn approximately 18 percent more per year if they earned as
23   much as women in comparable jobs that are more gender-mixed;
24   and
25   
26       WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
27   Statistics reported that:
28   
29       (1)  Full-time women workers of all races, including those
30            who are African American, Asian American, Pacific
31            Islander, Native American, Aleut Eskimo or other race,
32            Hispanics who may be of any race, and White, earn, on
33            average, 74.4 cents for every $1.00 earned by men
34            workers of all races;
35   
36       (2)  Full-time White, non-Hispanic women workers earn, on
37            average, 73.2 cents for every $1.00 earned by White,
38            non-Hispanic men workers; 
39   
40       (3)  Full-time minority women, including those who are
41            African American, Asian American, Pacific Islander,
42            Native American, Aleut Eskimo or other race, and
43            Hispanics who may be of any race, earn, on average
44            88.9 cents for every $1.00 earned by minority men
45            workers; and

 
 
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                                  H.R. NO.              
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       (4)  Full-time women workers in Hawaii of all races earn,
 2            on average, 82.4 cents for every $1.00 earned by men
 3            workers in Hawaii;
 4   
 5   and
 6   
 7       WHEREAS, according to the AFL-CIO and Institute for Women's
 8   Policy Research, recent studies indicate that between one-
 9   quarter and one-half of the gender wage gap remains
10   unexplained, and that many economists attribute some or all of
11   this unexplained portion to discrimination; now, therefore,
12   
13       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
14   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
15   of 1999, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
16   (DLIR) is requested to conduct a study:
17   
18       (1)  Regarding whether there is a history of discrimination
19            against women or minority groups with regard to wages,
20            assignment, or access to jobs, or other terms and
21            conditions of employment; and
22   
23       (2)  Conduct a study regarding the demographic composition
24            of the work force in equivalent jobs; provided that,
25            for purposes of the study, "equivalent jobs" means
26            jobs or occupations that are equal within the meaning
27            of the Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C.
28            206(d), or jobs or occupations that are dissimilar but
29            whose requirements are equivalent, when viewed as a
30            composite of skills, effort, responsibility, and
31            working conditions;
32   
33   and
34   
35       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DLIR is requested to submit a
36   report to the Legislature on its findings and recommendations,
37   including proposed legislation if necessary, no later than
38   twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of
39   2000; and
40   
41       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
42   Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of
43   Labor and Industrial Relations, and the Hawaii Civil Rights
44   Commission.
45 
46 
47 
48                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________