The three women on Spokane’s city council held a bake sale outside city hall today (Wednesday) to prove a point. A 2014 study by city council staff (by liaison Blaine Stum) shows female city employees make an average of 11-thousand dollars less than men.
Councilwoman Karen Stratton used statistics to announce a new city-wide task force.
Stratton: “For every dollar a man earns in the state of Washington, a woman doing to same job earns 78 cents, and we think this is unacceptable.”
They sold cookies to women for 78 cents, and to men for a dollar. Stratton, Amber Waldref, and Candace Mumm have authored a resolution to create a task force on gender and race pay inequity. They want 17 people in the group, chosen by them, local unions, YWCA, NAACP, the mayor, and others.
Stratton says she thinks there are obstacles to women and minorities being hired by the city, and moving up the ranks.
StrattonS “Spokane lags behind Tacoma and Seattle in representation of women in the fire department, the police department, information technology, parks and recreation, and our legal department.”
She says although Spokane’s population is 49 percent women, the city’s full-time staff is only 26 percent women. They’ll ask the task force to study why, and deliver results within six months.
Proceeds from the brief bake sale went to the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant.
Copyright 2015 Spokane Public Radio
