When those first pay structures were stood up around the federal government, there were no bargaining agents. Unions and workers' representatives didn't exist. Right from the get-go you had inequitable pay structures.
Throughout the years, once we were in a position to negotiate on behalf of members, all we could do was make changes to those initial pay structures as well as the job definition structures.
You're quite right, classification will make you pull your hair out, particularly when you're dealing with such an old system that isn't necessarily relevant in today's environment. It is quite something, and my hat's off to the professionals who have to work in this field with such a deteriorated set of tools.
This adds to the barrier on our resolving pay equity disputes through bargaining. What makes this unconstitutional is the fact that the job evaluation plan itself—the classification standard, or the original standard on which this pay is determined—is flawed right from the get-go, and more flawed now that it is 30 to 40 years old. It creates a situation where there is already discrimination inherent in the system before you even get into negotiating collective agreements.