Local 1180 Members Join NY City Council for Report on Equal Pay

Members and retirees of CWA Local 1180, representing City workers in New York, joined the New York City Council on August 2nd as the City Council announced the findings of their pay equity report.

The report, which analyzed data made available by a law passed by the Council in 2019, found that the median salary for men employed by the City of New York is $21,600 higher than for women, while the median salary for a white employee is $27,800 higher for Black employees and $22,200 higher than Hispanic/Latino employees.

In discussing the report’s findings, CWA Local 1180 joined members of the City Council and NYC community groups to call for action in closing the gender and racial pay gaps.

“New York City is not a fair city when it comes to pay equity,” said Gina Strickland, CWA Local 1180′s First Vice President. “It is not a progressive city when it comes to pay equity. It is not a leader in setting standards for other states to follow. It’s more than time for New York City’s leadership to take charge and make change.”

The report detailed the problem of “occupational segregation,” with women and people of color frequently relegated to lower paying positions. However, the report also found that even when adjusting for job titles and other employee qualifications, Black women make 1.9% less than white men.

“For years, we’ve sounded the alarm on the race and gender pay gap that exists among our city workers,” said Gloria Middleton, President of CWA Local 1180. “The release of today’s report shows what we already knew: we have a long way to go towards truly achieving pay equity in New York City. But it also gives us the data necessary to solve that problem, and ensure that we can work towards fairer wages for city workers.”

Watch the full press conference here.

Click here to read more about the report.