From: susan larsen <slarsen@berlin.helios.nd.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Help with Wage Structure Info
Date: 15 Oct 1992 17:18:11 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu
Originator: muffy@remarque.berkeley.edu

As a secretary, I find that I am once again pressed to do battle 
with an employer over secretarial wage rates.  I would like to 
ask the readers of soc.feminism for help with this issue.

Below, I have excerpted portions of a letter I am drafting 
to Human Resources with respect to secretarial pay.  It is 
a follow up to an earlier letter I sent last month, which 
went unanswered.  These excerpts briefly outline the inequity 
that exists in the wage structure, here, and my personal 
reaction to this inequity.  

I would like to educate myself in the processes by which 
wages are set and jobs are defined in the wider world.  What 
are the forces in the market that set wages?  How do positions 
get defined?  What is a secretary?  Or an administrative assistant?
When is a "typist" a secretary?  When is a "secretary" an 
administrator?  When I write little programs to make LaTeX work, 
is that a "secretary's" job or is it "technician's" work?
Who makes these decisions?  How are they made?  In other words, if 
anyone could suggest to me publications or articles or textbooks 
that would explain these matters, preferably in lay terms, I would 
feel so much better prepared in making a case that the wages set 
for clerical workers here are unfair.  

Also, if anyone wishes to share with me stories regarding their 
personal experiences with secretarial pay, wages, wage struc-
turing, or any other topic you feel is applicable to my situation, 
these would be most appreciated, too.

I am interested in email responses to my queries.  Thanks for 
any help.

[begin excerpted material]

..... I sent a letter ....
expressing my surprise and concern surrounding a jobs posting 
which advertised for a Housekeeper II at \$8.30 per hour.  In that letter, 
I pointed out how much higher this starting rate was than those posted 
for secretarial positions  and expressed my 
opinion that a higher skill level is necessary to perform clerical 
work than is necessary for housekeeping work.  

[other jobs postings listed.....]

A Food Service Worker posting boasted a pay rate of \$7.90.  A Laundry 
Attendant posting stated \$7.05 an hour to start.  These two postings 
stood out from a sea of clerical postings, 17 in all, which featured 
starting salaries of \$1167 a month for each and every full time 
Secretary II position posted, which according to my calculations 
reflects an hourly rate of \$6.73.  The part time Secretary II postings 
all showed a starting rate of \$6.20 per hour.  Furthermore, the 
Secretary III postings set the salary at \$1277 per month, \$7.36 per 
hour, a rate well below not only the Housekeeper II postion but the 
Food Service Worker position!

As for skills required, I did not make a comprehensive record of these, 
however I noted that the Secretarial postings required applicants to 
be acquainted with and have experience in office procedures, word processing, 
accounting practices and public relations.  One posting stated 
a preference for a four year college degree.

It is beyond my understanding what rationale the University is using 
to establish these wage rates.  As I suggested in my first letter, I do 
not see any indication in the local market that there is such an abundance 
of qualified clerical help as to justify setting secretarial wages so low, 
especially in light of the relatively high wages being paid to the 
unskilled and semi-skilled positions of Laundry Attendant, Food Service 
Worker and Housekeeper.  I would greatly appreciate any insight that you or 
any member of your department could share with me on this issue.  I eagerly 
anticipate your response.

[end excerpted material]

Sue Larsen
slarsen@berlin.helios.nd.edu



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