Inequity. It is a word we hear tossed around a lot these days. At its core, it is an instance of unfairness or injustice. Simple, right? So easily righted, or so it seems. See a wrong, point it out, have it corrected. It should be fair and equal and made right.

I learned several years ago, it ain’t that easy.

I was just about to come back from maternity leave, and I had been offered a “new” position. I put new in quotes because it had been part of my job, but now my employer was splitting my job apart. Since I had been on mat leave, they had hired a tech to do part of my job, another piece had already been given to another co-worker, and now the project management piece would be my primary position. I had another co-worker; I had been her mat leave replacement. They had also hired another tech to do her job and she would move into special projects. We went from a department of three to six – as we now had an administrative assistant as well.

I was promised a substantial raise, and while my hopes of coming back a reduced number of days per week wasn’t an option, I liked the idea of the new job. It wasn’t smooth sailing; however, they pulled some dodgy stuff on me at the last minute (including reducing the wage offer). They gave me a “take this or quit” ultimatum the Friday before I was to start, gave me an ‘extra week off to think about it’ and told me all about it in an email. I proceeded anyway, hoping for the best and looking forward to the new experience.

Always wanting to put the best foot forward, I went back with an open mind. I loved doing the project work, so I was excited to be giving up the day-to-day stuff and focus on the projects. But part of what I had to do was to ‘mentor’ the techs. While they both had some experience, they were new to the organization and seemed a little green. The fellow that replaced me more so. He took over for me in the rural area east of our main office. However, he wasn’t always really receptive to my suggestions either, so he was not a lot of fun to work with, but I persisted, as it was my job. That was made very clear to me. He screwed up, I got in trouble. It happened several times after I first went back, so I was very careful that I did everything I could to make sure he was following the instructions I was setting out on my projects.

The ‘last straw’ was on some furniture we’d received from another government department. He and another ne’er-do-well decided to shrink wrap it shortly after it had been shampooed and cleaned… After I had expressly told him to leave it out and open in the high-head bay so it could dry. Guess what? It all moulded. Now, whether it was because it was wrapped up tight while it was wet or because it already was contaminated, I’ll never know, but *I* got in trouble for it because I had left on holidays… A vacation I hadn’t exactly had approved. Now, the chief financial officer had ok’d it, because if I hadn’t used the week, I would have lost it. My immediate supervisor and the next in line were both away. The CFO was, in theory, the next person in line. So? He didn’t see a problem with me going. Evidently, that was a problem because… Well, who knows. But because the tech DID NOT FOLLOW the email instructions (I had learned, put it in writing) I had sent, I still caught hell for it.

After that instance, I was done playing nice. My patience was finished. I put my head down, did my job and while I did it well, my loyalty was about finished. I served my clients well, worked fairly and tirelessly for those I represented, but I had zero patience for my supervisor and co-workers. So, the day the tech I liked said something innocent about her pay and that of the other tech’s, I just about hit the ground.

I don’t recall how the conversation came about, but she told me she’d seen her male counterpart’s paystub. They’d talked about their income and while she didn’t hold anything against him, as she was quite junior to him, I was not.

And he was making substantially more money than I was.

She felt terrible for telling me and I assured her it was nothing to feel terrible about. It wasn’t her fault for telling me, I was glad I knew. Unsure what to do about it, I sat on it a couple days. I was unionized so I checked my collective agreement and there was nothing in it, so I contacted my union rep.

That is why we have unions! To protect us from things like pay inequities and human rights violations.

Right?

Wrong.

“The employer can pay the employee whatever they like.” they told me and sent me on my way.

I took it to my supervisor. Why, I asked, was I being paid less than the tech who was hired four years after me, that I was responsible for, and always catching trouble for?

“He has more experience than you do.”

Perhaps, but not at this job. I was the experienced person in this job. If I was responsible for his mistakes, I should be compensated accordingly. But there was no one listening. In the end, they were the employer, they were going to pay what they wanted, to whom they wanted.

True. And I didn’t need to be there. So began my search. I ended that inequity by leaving. While I loved a lot of things about that job, I didn’t love that and when I did find another job, the “employer” came back and said they’d made a mistake when they’d researched my position’s pay. The counter offered me a better rate of pay, but the damage was done.

I left and didn’t look back.