Racial Pay Disparities Uncovered by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Employee Union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 19, 2020 – Non-white employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have clear disparities in their pay, according to a comprehensive pay study published by its employee union, National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335 (NTEU) on October 27, 2020.
NTEU 335 published the results of the pay study after requesting and obtaining salary data from the CFPB.
Members of NTEU 335 conducted the pay study using the same analytic techniques they employ when examining the behavior of financial institutions. The data revealed disparities in base pay for minority employees across the CFPB, and that the racial disparities have age and gender intersectionalities. Disparities in base pay between white and minority employees exist even when job type, experience, and assigned salary grade categories are the same.
For example:
- Black employees are paid a median $20,000 a year less than white employees
- The pay gap for Hispanic women is wider (around $18,600 a year) than the pay gap for Hispanic employees of all genders ($16,000)
- Non-white employees working in Communications or Public Affairs are paid $20,547 less than their White peers
- At the CN-60, level (equivalent to GS-14), Black employees are paid $10,527 less per year and Hispanic employees $14,979 less per year in base salary than White employees
These disparities are compounded by locality pay, merit increases, annual lump sum payments, and matching retirement benefit contributions because those items are calculated based on the employee’s base pay.
“CFPB has serious problems with racist policies, and not just with pay,” states Catherine Farman, president of NTEU Chapter 335. “Since 2013, CFPB has proposed firing 17 people: 12 of them were people of color, five were white women, seven were Black. That means that CFPB has never tried to fire a white man.”
“These problems didn’t begin with this director [of the CFPB], but Director [Kathleen] Kraninger now has the opportunity—and, I would say, the responsibility—to correct these pay gaps before she is likely to move on after President-elect Biden is sworn in. She would get to take that legacy with her, but only if she commits to correcting these inequities now during pay negotiations with the union.”
Interested parties can learn more about the pay study by visiting NTEU 335’s website at https://nteu335.org/paygap. There, users will find more information, charts to visualize the racial discrepancies, and a short list of items that NTEU 335 has suggested during their latest weeks of negotiations with CFPB in order to begin to fix the racial pay gaps.
The National Treasury Employees Union organizes federal employees to work together to ensure that every federal employee is treated with dignity and respect. National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335 (NTEU 335) was chartered to represent employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
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