Typist = Driver

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said he was sending "a message to all cities across this country." Flanked by union officials and city aides, he announced last week that municipal pay scales would be adjusted so that salaries for jobs held mainly by women would be comparable to those for positions traditionally held by males. Los Angeles thus became the largest city to adopt the controversial system of "comparable worth," which attempts to calculate the value of different jobs, from secretary to warehouseman, based on factors such as education, responsibilities and work conditions. Claimed Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees: "The momentum in eliminating sex bias from public-sector wage scales is now irreversible."

Federal law requires that workers in the same job cannot be paid differently because of their sex or race. Comparable worth takes "equal pay for equal work" a long step further, requiring similar pay for jobs of similar value. The problem, and a devilishly difficult one, is to decide which jobs are comparable. In Los Angeles, for instance, stenographers and typists have been paid about 15% less than drivers and warehouse workers. Under the new system painstakingly negotiated by AFSCME and the city, all are considered to be doing comparable work. The agreement, which will cost $12 million in salary hikes for 3,900 workers, was supported by male employees, who will not lose any pay in the process.

Many "women's" jobs have historically paid less than "men's" jobs. But correcting these differentials through comparable-worth rulings will substantially alter the workings of the labor market, allowing theoretical calculations and arbitrary rulings by a new tier of bureaucrats to supplant the forces of supply and demand. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last month rejected comparable worth, saying it would lead to "a radical reordering of our economic system." Nevertheless, it has already been adopted, at least in principle, by Minnesota and New York. In addition, studies are under way in 25 other states to determine how such adjustments could be made.