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Comparable worth really got its start during World War II when the labor <br />force was dominated by women. At that time, the National War Labor Board <br />(NWLB) developed job evaluations and mandated equal pay for comparable worth. <br />After the war, women were again segregated into traditional sex rotes. Since 1945, <br />many bills have been introduced into Congress which would adopt the NWLB <br />approach to equal pay for comparable worth, but Congress has repeatedly rejected <br />these bills because of the realities of supply and demand. Many states directly after <br />World War II did adopt equal pay for equal worth legislation, <br />Many labor unions perpetuated sex segregation in the 1940 time frame. A <br />1944 clause in the United Auto Workers (UAW) contract stated that "...men and <br />women shall be divided into separate non-interchangeable occupational groups <br />unless negotiated locally." The UAW currently represents the majority of the <br />Austin Utility employees. Motivated to protect returning soldiers salary scales, <br />unions supported pay equity only in situations where a woman replaced a man in a <br />male-dominated job during the war. <br />Finally, in 1963 Congress passed the Equal Pay Act (EPA) which was an <br />amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This act prohibits wage <br />discrimination on the basis of gender in jobs that are equal in skill, effort, <br />responsibility, and working conditions. Unequal pay is authorized if pay is based on <br />a seniority system, merit system, incentive wage system or any other system based <br />on factors other than gender. The Supreme Court has upheld that jobs of men and <br />