At the time of the event watch Facebook LIVE here.  You do not need to have a Facebook account to watch this streaming event.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released their 2017 data and what it tells us is not hopeful in the fight towards equal pay. Since 2016 the gender wage gap has not improved at all and on average women are still making only 80 cents to the white male dollar. When race is taken into consideration, women of color face even higher wage gaps which have actually increased since last year. Look at the fact sheet here for all the updated numbers.

CLUW has been supporting Equal Pay Days since the initiative began but the dates women have to work until to make the same as men in the previous year have been stagnant in the past two years. This is not encouraging and Congress needs to refocus their efforts on passing legislation that will actually make a difference in getting women the pay we deserve. We need to push congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, stronger paid leave laws, national paid sick days, and more which can actually move us forward.

Another major issue highlighted by the census data has been access to health insurance.  According to analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families, the data reveals that nearly 20 percent of Latinas and 13.7 percent of Black women remain uninsured. For Asian women that number is 8.9 percent and 8 percent of white women are also uninsured. This leaves over 13 million women without health insurance. The National Partnership’s analysis of the health insurance coverage data is available here.

These troubling disparities seriously impact the care that is available to women and families and action needs to be taken. Millions of women have gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act but consistent efforts to chip away at its reach and functionality harm women greatly. We need to improve the health care systems we have and expand coverage not restrict it.

The information the Census Bureau provides is dismal, but it is necessary to know and we have to utilize it fully to create change. If gender pay gaps and health care don’t become a national focus the numbers will continue to stagnate and women will continue to suffer. Strong legislative action needs to be taken and we can’t back down on these issues until the numbers truly reflect the society we want to create.

Join sisters and brothers on November 28-30 at CLUW's upcoming National Executive Board (NEB) meeting and SNAP: Sisters Not Afraid of Power - Building for the Future Conference as we analyze the 2018 election results, develop skills and plan for a better future for working women and families.    

(Non NEB CLUW members are welcome to attend the NEB as observers and all CLUW members are  invited to the conference).

The NEB will be held at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort
in Phoenix, AZ

For more details please check out the flier here.

Check back soon for registration and hotel reservation information.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has bravely come forward to tell her story of sexual assault at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh and CLUW believes her. Survivors make these intensely personal decisions in the face of an incredibly hostile climate to speak up.  Sexual assault is unlawful, and this allegation is directly relevant to determining Kavanaugh's character and fitness for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.  See story here.

The Senate must delay the vote originally scheduled for Thursday, September 20th and take this assault seriously and investigate it thoroughly.

Elise Bryant, CLUW President, commented that, “It is time for all senators to stand up and be counted.  If Dr. Ford testifies she must receive the support Anita Hill was never afforded. Senators already have enough information to reject this nominee. Do the right thing now.”

CLUW has been on record from the outset in opposing Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The Senate hearings that took place September 4th – 6th reaffirmed the travesty of the process with a multitude of documents never produced and the evasiveness of the nominee.

According to a post on Sept. 6, 2018 by Paul Gordon of People for the American Way, Kavanaugh believes (through an article he penned and a video where he was a participant) that:

• “A special prosecutor should be selected by the president himself, subject to Senate confirmation. Congress cannot empower a panel of judges to make the selection.
• The president should have the power to fire the special prosecutor without cause.
• If the president is the “sole subject” of a criminal investigation, it should be shut down.”

In addition:

• This is the most consequential Supreme Court vacancy in at least a generation, with serious threats to our health care system—including pre-existing condition protections, a woman’s constitutional rights and limits of presidential power, with cases working their way through our courts on all these critical issues.
• President Trump promised to appoint a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade and who would undermine our country’s health care system. Everything in Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record leads us to believe he will fulfill that promise.
• Brett Kavanaugh would favor the wealthy and powerful over the rights of everyday people.
• Republicans have made this the least transparent process in recent history through unprecedented actions to keep Judge Kavanaugh’s full record from the American people.

As a footnote to the CLUW website post here:

CLUW President Elise Bryant and member Laura Payne (UA) joined other working women’s advocates in a rally on August 22nd in front of the Supreme Court including AFL-CIO Secretary- Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler; Elissa McBride, Secretary-Treasurer, AFSCME; APALA Executive Director Alvina Yeh and Equal Pay icon Lilly Ledbetter, to name a few speakers, calling on the rejection of Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court Justice.

Lilly Ledbetter remarked that, “ I’m here today to say to tell the senators that a vote for Kavanaugh is a vote against equal pay.  A vote for Kavanaugh is a vote against #MeToo and #Times Up.  A vote for Kavanaugh is a vote against every working man and woman in our country.”

Laura Payne contributed, “Kavanaugh has fed his ego and Trump’s desires in support of the 1%ers and the Republican Party, which want nothing more than to see the United States become a “Right to Work” Country!”

The Coalition of Labor Union Women believes that women have to keep standing together and fighting back against this nomination.   We NEED to support these women, ourselves, and those with whom we work and live, by continuing to call 202.224.3121 and demanding our senators VOTE NO on this dangerous nomination.

l-r Laura Payne (UA), Lilly Ledbetter, Myra Warren, CLUW VP (NALC) and Pres. Elise Bryant in front of the Supreme Court 8/22