Virginia:

The implication is that if there is a more democratic power structure, and there are no longer easily measured output benchmarks, than how can such a disparity in distribution of wages/salary be justified?

Yes, that's the implication. The way(s) work is measured and 'weighed" (in terms of what job gets what kind of wages/salary) are contained in methodologies that were invented in the early 1950's. Computers and women working as equals in knowledge-work roles weren't even conceived of then, let alone work being carried out in a networked environment wherein information and creativity are (theoretically) but a click, a search and a conversation or two away from creating a result.

It probably goes without saying that most white-collar output benchmarks and attendant performance management schemes are still using similar ancestry (as indeed are most competency analyses and profiles .... stemming from work by theorists in the 60's and 70's).

The language of what is being done and required as 'work" is (perhaps) changing to reflect interconnectedness, but the assumptions about structures, while being deeply impacted by the activities, are not often being addressed at the fundamental level.