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Opinion end Award <br />Page 7 <br />ing about total compensation and to evaluate jobs in relation to <br />one another. city says that there is a clear showing that <br />police officers, � predominantly male occupation, are overpaid in <br />relation to professions which are predominantly female. The City <br />urges the arbitrator to consider this statute when making an <br />award. The City contends that an excessive award will "exacer- <br />bate the comparable worth problem." <br />It is true that the Minnesota legislature now <br />requires local units of government in Minnesota to begin the <br />process of adjusting salary relationships over the next few years <br />to insure comparability between male and female dominated <br />classes. However, at this time it is extremely difficult to <br />predict the effect of this legislation on salary levels for <br />various classes of employees in local governments of Minnesota. <br />No data or relevant criteria was presented at the arbitration for <br />the arbitrator to consider. Consequently, no reasonable conclu- <br />sions can be drawn. Therefore, at this time the arbitrator <br />cannot take this argument into account when setting the wage <br />award. If Minnesota arbitrators are to consider the Comparable <br />Worth Act in setting wages, it will be necessary for both em- <br />ployer representatives and employee representatives to provide <br />relevant and useful data to assist arbitrators in reaching just <br />conclusions within the law. Some of the data needed will <br />probably include: <br />1. What are the criteria for relating one job to <br />another? For example, should the job of police officer be com- <br />pared with the job of nur- <br />