European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 23, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes monday september 23, 1985 columns come merits James Kilpatrick comparable Worth its time has not yet come Eleanor , inc gentlewoman who Heads the National organization for women was hopping mad. The 9lh . Court of appeals had just reversed a major decision on comparable  she told an audience at the National press club that she was going to raise hell with Congress until the Law is suitably rewritten. The gentlewoman has a Long wait ahead. The idea of comparable Worth is an idea whose time has not yet come. In a free count re he idea ought never to be written into Law. By the Way of background in the Early 1970s, the labor Union representing employees of the state of Washington began pressing a novel doctrine. As a class the state s female workers manifestly were being paid less than the state s male workers. The idea developed that while certain slate jobs were not identical these jobs demanded similar qualifications. They were com parable they were of comparable  state officials to their later regret commissioned a study by management consultant Norman Willis. The tudy examined 62 Job classifications in which at least 70 percent of the employees were women and 59 Job classifications in which at least 70 percent of the employees were men. As the 9th circuit noted in its Opin Ion it appeared from the study that in jobs of Compa Rable Worth the women were paid about 20 percent Lex than the men. It is important to understand How these comp lations were made. The consultants arbitrarily created four criteria and allocated Points to each one knowl Edge and skills 280. Mental demands 140accountability 160 and working conditions 20for a total of 600 possible Points. Then a five member committee cored each Job within the 121 classifications. If it appeared that a Highway maintenance worker and a clerk typist had about the same total scores their jobs were declared to be of comparable Worth and therefore should have equal pay. When the state government walked at immediate adoption of the Norman Willis study the Union in 1982 went into . District court. There the Union con tended that failure to pay equal salaries Tor jobs of comparable Worth is a violation of Federal Law prohibit ing sexual discrimination in employment. After Long and drawn out proceedings. District judge Jack e. Tan Ner ruled in the Union s favor. He awarded 15,500 state employees almost All of them women Back pay Esti mated at 1800 million to is billion. The state appealed to the 9th circuit and last week the 9th circuit re versed. The appellate court did not get into the controversy Over comparable Worth As such. It held merely that Tom Wicker nothing in title Vii of the Federal equal pay act per mits employees to recover damages and Back pay from employers who Don t buy the notion. The Law demands equal pay Only for the same work. The Law simply docs not require the Relief sought by the Union. Wages and salaries said the court Are responsive to Supply and demand and other Market  in this instance the state did not create the Market Dipari  it fixed compensation according to prevailing rates in the Public and private  it acted Accord ing to fundamental economic  this implied no wilful discrimination on account of sex. Neither Law nor logic deems the free Market system a suspect Enterprise Charles m. Baird professor of economics at califor Nia state University in Hayward has summed up the fallacies of comparable Worth in a single sentence some May think it Good theology and others think it is Good philosophy but it is Lousy economics and its imposition on the american Economy by governmental Force would have disastrous  notice Baird s qualification its imposition by governmental  nothing whatever prevents private and Public employers from voluntarily negotiating con tracts that award raises to women in the name of pay  it is the loony process of comparing Point for discomfort and interpersonal communications skills that docs such violence to the respect that is owed the marketplace in a free society. I am All in favor of raising the pay of librarians most of whom Are women. But their pay ought to be raised because they deserve it. And not because a committee finds that librarians score 421 and electricians score 419 on some consultant s test. That s no Way to run a Railroad a government or anything else. To Universal Preiti Syndicate protectionism could be downfall of latin countries the mindless Stampede to protectionism against which president Reagan warned at Bis Newi conference Bably would be aimed mostly at pan but the latin american debtor nations could Well be among Iti major victims with grim consequences for latin democracy hemispheric Security and the . Banking system. These latin nations moreover already Are in deep trouble despite glib Assur ances that the debt crisis has been eliminated by austerity measures and loan  even Mexico which had been the regional Leader in harsh self disciplinary measures most recently a new devaluation of the peso since mid term elections last summer has announced that it Wil require $2 billion to $3 billion in new foreign Loans in 1986. Yet Mexico s foreign debt actually has risen from $90.6 billion in 1983 to s95.2 billion today. Some . Bankers arc saying that despite its efforts Mexico has not sufficiently improved its economic Struc Ture and practices to warrant the new Loans Ana that even further austerity measures under the supervision of the International monetary fund will have to be imposed before they can be granted. But the real question May be whether Mexico can sustain the unpopular Steps it already has taken. Peru s new president Alan Garcia Perez already has announced that his country would pay Only 10 percent of its Export earnings this year  $14 billion external debt. That s a course that other latin leaders May find themselves under pressure to emulate. Brazil with a foreign debt of More than $100 billion and a frail new civilian government might yet Welcome some alternative to if imposed austerity. Fidel Castro meanwhile is actively urging latin nations to repudiate their debts to the Gringo Banks. None of them seem Likely to take this advice but they might if Public resistance to austerity and economic recession become sufficiently heated. The precarious position of the latin debtors will become downright dangerous if the United states under the Domestic political pressure of the biggest Trade deficit in its history stampedes to conventional protectionism. And that s a live threat in View of the Job losses and de Clining industries the Trade deficit rep resents and with a congressional election year coming up. Protectionist measures would restrict first the ability of these debtor nations to Export their goods and commodities to the United states and thus to earn what they need to repay their debts and expand their own economies and living standards already restricted by austerity Mea sures like High internal interest rates in creased taxes reduced government spend ing and lower wages. If the latin nations cannot Export and expand their economies moreover they cannot afford to import from the United states a necessity if the . Trade deficit is to be reduced. Worse As latin economics stagnate the living standards of latin Peoples de Cline and these nations remain net Export ers of badly needed capital to pay exorbitant interest on foreign Loans few of them have any present Prospect of repay ing principal they May not be Able to contain the potential for political unrest or upheaval. Whether the result was revolt on the left or repression from the right or both democracy would suffer with ill effect on regional stability and . Security. If a Radical and anti american government emerged in Mexico the new York invest ment banker Felix Rosalyn recently pointed out in a speech to the Southern governors association it would pose a greater potential Security problem for the . Than anything that is Likely to Hap pen in Al Salvador or  and if a latin government repudiated its debt to win Domestic political support which might Force other governments to do the same the . Banking it tem could be shaken . Banks hold about a third of the $350 billion latin debt some to an extent that exceeds their capital. These dangers Are real but so is to tide of protectionism against which Rea Gan warned. Thus easing the debt Burden on these nations is. More urgent than Ever before protectionist Steps can make their debt problems unmanageable. Rosalyn urged what seems clearly in the Long term self interest of the nation and the Banks that they stretch out Shorter term latin Loans to 25 or 30 years and Cut interest rates drastically in return for world Bank guarantees of the loan Prin Cipal and regulatory Relief for the Short term losses they d suffer. There s less profit in such course but a lot More Security for every one involved the latin debtors who Are also the most important latin democracies the United states the individual Banks and the people and businesses that depend on those Banks stability. C new York Tom