I just received this correspondence from Ultraviolet (weareultraviolet.org) regarding the Senate vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act:
Dear UltraViolet member,
You’d think in the year 2012 the idea that every person deserves equal pay for equal work wouldn’t be controversial. But apparently for the U.S. Senate it is.
Yesterday the Senate voted on the Paycheck Fairness Act–a law that would help end wage discrimination by closing loopholes in labor laws that allow it to persist. And the vote failed. Every single Republican voted against it.1
Why? Because too many people–including members of Congress–don’t understand what a huge problem wage discrimination is and that it’s devastating American families, for example that it will cost the average woman more than $431,000 over the course of her career.
One of the most powerful ways to move members of Congress on issues like this is to help them see that the problem is real by sharing our personal stories about how wage discrimination in the workplace affects us and our families. When Congress is confronted with real people and their real life experiences, they can’t hide behind talking points and political spin anymore.
Do you have a story about how wage discrimination is affecting you or your family that you’d be willing to share? If so, we’ll personally deliver it to every senator who voted against this important law. Just click below:
Click here to share your story
Here are some of the key facts about wage discrimination:
- The average, full-time working woman in America makes only $0.77 for every dollar a man makes. At the state level, things can be even more dire–women in Louisiana for example only make $0.67 on the dollar.2
- It’s much worse for women of color. African American women make only $0.62 on the dollar and Latinas only $0.54.3
- These gaps can add up to $24,000 in lost wages every single year.4
- Mothers make up 40% of the primary breadwinners in this country and therefore it’s not just women who are affected by this discrimination, it’s entire families.5
When women try to fight wage discrimination in their jobs they are often retaliated against or fired because labor laws are filled with loopholes that encourage wage discrimination and make it impossible for women to even sue to rectify it.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would have helped end pay discrimination by closing a set of loopholes in current labor laws that make it near impossible for workers to expose and fix pay discrimination. It would ban employer retaliation against workers who seek to expose wage discrimination, make it easier for workers to join together in class action suits to fight it and give victims full compensation and back pay.6
This is a huge problem that is affecting families everywhere but too many members of Congress don’t believe that it is real. It’s up to all of us to show them. Can you share your story?
Click here to share your story
Thanks for speaking out,
–Nita and Shaunna, UltraViolet
Sources:
1. Senate Roll Call on the Paycheck Fairness Act June 5, 2012
2. The Importance Of Fair Pay For Louisiana Women, National Women’s Law Center, April 2012
3. Closing the Wage Gap is Especially Important for Women of Color in Difficult Times, National Women’s Law Center, April 2012
4. Closing the Wage Gap is Especially Important for Women of Color in Difficult Times, National Women’s Law Center, April 2012
5. Closing the Wage Gap is Especially Important for Women of Color in Difficult Times, National Women’s Law Center, April 2012
6. Women’s Lower Wages Worsen their Circumstances In a Difficult Economy, National Women’s Law Center, April 2010
The Senate failed to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act yesterday because too many members of Congress don’t believe wage discrimination is a real problem. We need Congress to hear our stories about how pay discrimination affects our families. Can you share yours? Click Here |
| Good News!Over the weekend more than 57,000 UltraViolet members signed a petition saying that Rep. Nan Hayworth’s spokesman must be fired for using abusive language aimed at Democratic women senators. Because of public pressure, he was forced to resign. Thank you for speaking out! |
