A rally in support of International Women’s Rights Day.

The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity organized the event to be held at the Avenir Centre in Moncton on Saturday.

“It’s a chance to bring women, men and families together about the need to invest in feminist economic policies. The current government has promised to pass the pay equity legislation in the private sector and also to increase social assistance benefits. We know that both those policies can have a tremendous impact on New Brunswick women’s lives. So we want to remind the government of its commitment,” Executive Director Johanne Perron says.

She adds it’s a very important time because there’s so much insecurity and uncertainty due to the political landscape.

“I think it’s important to be together, to show solidarity, to bring attention to issues that are important to people’s lives.”

Perron agrees that there has been some progress in women’s rights, but there are still things that need to change.

“We need pay equity legislation for the private sector. New Brunswick adopted pay equity legislation in 2009 for the public sector, so all the government employees, people working in schools, in the hospital system in Crown corporations, but it stopped there,” Perron states.

Over 60 per cent of the women in New Brunswick work in the private sector. Those areas include private businesses, municipalities, universities and nonprofit organizations, caregiving and child care.

“Pay Equity is equal pay for work of equal value, and we’re talking about comparing jobs that are mostly done by women with jobs that are mostly done by men, and if the value is the same, the pay should be the same,” Perron stressed.

Saturday’s march will begin at the Avenir Centre at around 11:45 am. The group will walk on Main Street and end at Aberdeen Centre, where there will be a few speeches and a further gathering.