Union Jobs and Gender Pay

Casey Ryback: I support women's lib. Don't you?
Jordan Tate: When it works in my favor.
--Under Siege

Interesting twist on research into gender pay differences. The researchers limited their study to unionized bus and train operators. By narrowing the sample to union workers, the study reduced the chance that pay decisions could be influenced by manager bias. Consequently, the researchers could focus on the behavior of workers themselves rather than on the role of supervisory decisions.

A pay gap was in fact found. But the gap could be explained entirely by different choices made by men and women workers. Women used the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to take more unpaid time off than did men. Women worked fewer overtime hours as well. Even after controlling for dependents, the researchers found that women valued time away from work more than men did.

The study's findings also highlight the reality that even when men and women have the same job titles and job descriptions, the work that they do should not be assumed to be homogeneous. In this case, people who work irregular hours simply are not doing the same work as people who work extremely regular hours. Similarly, workers who choose to take time off every few years (for, say, maternity or childcare needs) are not doing the same work as those who rarely take time off.

This study confirms, yet again, that claims of women being paid less due to gender bias is an empirically untrue statement.