This post comes directly from Get Involved | Obama for America | 2012.
On the heels of reading this blog post honoring the women’s movement, I received an e-mail from NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand telling me about how women are still treated unfairly in the work place, receiving .78 per $1 earned by a man.
Not that this statistic is very clear- does this mean for the same job, or are men making more because they tend to be in higher positions (a whole separate problem)?
“…provide justice to victims of gender discrimination, protect employees who share information about their salary with their co-workers, and require employers to prove that wage discrepancies are based on work performance and not on a person’s gender.”
My initial reaction was disbelief that we haven’t gotten to this stage yet. Even in my short life term I seem to recall hearing about several pieces of legislation going through Congress, if not being passed, which would balance the pay scale for men and women. With multiple laws in place against gender discrimination, I am mystified by the idea that this is not a mute issue by now.
However, the fact that it is still an issue is an even better reason to support this legislation. So, in honor of suffrage, sign the Paycheck Fairness Act and celebrate gender equality across the U.S.!