Mayor Walsh, Area Businesses Sign Pledge To Close Gender Wage Gap

BOSTON (CBS) -- Over a hundred local businesses have now signed on to a compact to work toward closing the gender wage gap in Boston.

100% Talent: The Boston Women's Compact is a voluntary pledge and first-in-the-nation effort to tackle the gender wage gap in the workplace. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh signed the agreement, along with 107 area businesses.

"This is the right time to work on this compact, this is the right time to support this compact," Walsh said Monday at a ceremony at Boston City Hall.

Women make up 52 percent of the population of Boston, but make on average 83 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Mayor Walsh said the compact will allow for the collection of information from employers, and help employers with some research-tested interventions.

"It's good to be able to study the wage information to see what the pay equity actually is," said Mayor Walsh. "It's something we have to work on in this city, the wage gap, and I think having the information across different industries and different companies is a way to really dive in and see how big the gap is."

Among those signing the compact was the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

"The compact initiative, with it's goal to make Boston the premiere place for working women in America, is a plan our entire business community can and should get behind," Chamber President and CEO Jim Rooney said.

Rooney said that, though there's pay equity legislation, there's much more work to be done.

"We all know that legislation alone is not the solution," Rooney said. "As business leaders, we also need to be purposeful about changing the culture of Boston's workplace to ensure that women have the same access and opportunities as their male counterparts."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports

In:
• Marty Walsh