I remember the first day on my job. It was a cold and blustery January day in 1985. There we were, women standing around in the personnel office of the department of Health and Welfare - recruits to the Federal Government. After writing test after test, passing interviews, being involved in ‘role playing’, we were deemed suitable to carry out duties to Canadians and to work in the department. There was a dozen of us. We looked at each other and then the administration clerk walked in. Shirley was her name, and she laid it on the line. Told us what to expect and what was happening and immediately informed us about pay equity. The buzz about pay equity was all around us.

We learned about the how the curtain went up in 1984 when the Public Service Alliance of Canada (our union) filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission claiming that the federal government was violating its own human rights act by denying equal pay for work of equal value to its employees - mainly women - us - working mainly as clerks.

On March 8, 1985, on International Women’s Day the government announced a joint union/management initiative to study pay equity in the federal public service. This study took four years to complete and involved equal numbers of employer and union representatives. It was the largest study of its kind in the world.

The Mulroney Conservative government used a bag of dirty tricks as they were losing every challenge put in front of the Human Rights Tribunal. They challenged the Tribunal decisions time and time again and they lost every time.

There is no doubt that it was a long struggle. I was around long enough to remember the demonstrations, and the AFL was always there with us. We waited for the results of all the Tribunal hearings, Court hearings and for every appeal. There were walk-outs, study sessions, sit-ins and all the many hours writing letters, collecting signatures, information meetings. It made us all strong unionists and created many union activists.

Pay equity became reality for workers in the federal public service when Justice John Evans released his decision on October 9, 1999 and the government was ordered to pay back to March 8, 1985.

This will always be a victory for all Canadian workers and for workers all over the world. Because equal pay for work of equal value is a human rights issue and always will be. Our union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and all unionists have won - together we have triumphed.

But at times I think - what would it be like just to come to work and not to battle continuously. There are so many individual issues on a daily basis in the workplace we union activists deal with. And then I think of all the women who are still denied equal pay for work of equal value and I recognize that the struggle must go on. We’ll celebrate our victories but continue our vigil until justice has been done for all.