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Equal Pay Day:
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
In conjunction with the National Committee on Pay Equity, the Coalition of Labor
Union Women declared
Tuesday, April 28 Equal Pay Day for 2009. Equal
pay has been the law since 1963. But today, 46 years
later, women are still paid less than men—even
when we have similar education, skills and experience.
Equal Pay Day is observed in April to
indicate how far into each year a woman must work to receive as much as a man
was paid in the previous year. Tuesday symbolizes the day when
women’s wages catch up with men’s wages from the previous week.
For women of color the wage gap is even greater.
Equal Pay Day Kit
for CLUW Chapters
Activities and suggestions for visibility
in your community: |
| Legislative background — laws being considered to eliminate the gap between men's and women's wages. |
| Equal Pay Day Activities — suggests activities that you can undertake in your local area to raise awareness about the pay gap and ways to close it. |
| Sample Letter to the Editor — Suggested letter to send to the newspaper in your locale. |
| Equal Pay Day Proclamation — sample proclamation that you can encourage the mayor of your city or the chair of your central labor body to endorse and publicize. |
| Activity Response Form — Tell the National CLUW office about your Equal Pay Day event. |
| About WAGE Clubs — groups of women are mobilizing around the country to talk about the wage gap and to obtain the tools, support and momentum they need to get even at work. |
More about the wage gap:
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The National Women's Law Center called on supporters to blog, tweet, and post to Facebook.ce of equal pay for women on Equal Pay Day. |
Visit the National Committee on Pay Equity for more on Equal Pay Day and the decades-old promise of equal pay for equal work.
CLUW
is an active participant in NCPE.
Founded in 1979, NCPE is the national membership
coalition of over 80 organizations — including
labor unions, women's and civil rights organizations,
religious, professional, education and legal associations,
commissions on women, state and local pay equity
coalitions and individual women and men —
working to eliminate sex- and race-based wage
discrimination and to achieve pay equity. |
| Help
raise awareness about unfair pay in America: |
Equal pay has been the law since 1963. But today, 46 years later, women
are still paid less than men—even when we have similar education, skills
and experience.
While women's wages have risen in all states, in terms of
inflation-adjusted dollars, since 1989, the typical full-time woman
worker does not make as much as the typical man in any state. At the present rate of progress, it will take 50 years to close the wage gap
nationwide.
Census statistics released on Women's Equality Day (August 26, 2008) show
that the gap between men's and women's earnings changed by less than one
percent from 2006 to 2007, narrowing only slightly from 76.9 to 77.8
percent. Median earnings for women of color are generally even lower,
and all showed percentage drops in the last year. In 2007, the earnings
for African American women were 68.7 percent of men's earnings, a drop
of more than 3 percent; Asian American women's earnings were 89.5
percent of men's earnings, a drop of 3.5 percent; and Latinas earnings
were 59 percent of men's, a drop of .6 percent.
Over a lifetime of work this loss adds up. On average, the families of
working women lose out on $9,575 per year because of the earnings gap.
And because we're paid less now, we have less to save for our futures
and we'll earn smaller pensions than men. Women represent 58% of all
Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and approximately 70% of
beneficiaries age 85 and older. In 2005, the average Social Security
retirement benefit was 32% smaller for women than men. 72.3% of women
receive a monthly benefit of under $1,000 while 67.8% of men receive
more than $1,000 per month. |
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On Equal Pay Day 2009, CLUW members urged passage
of the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Employee Free Choice Act. Read below why we need fair pay legislation:
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According to Census statistics released in 2008, the ratio of women’s and men’s median annual earnings stands at only 77.8 cents on the dollar for full-time year-round workers. The wage gap exists, in part, because many women and people of color are still segregated into a few low-paying occupations. More than half of all women workers hold sales, clerical and service jobs. Studies show that the more an occupation is dominated by women or people of color, the less it pays. Part of the wage gap results from differences in education, experience or time in the workforce. But a significant portion cannot be explained by any of those factors; it is attributable to discrimination. In other words, certain jobs pay less because they are held by women and people of color. [More about the wage gap]
To remedy this, Congress has passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and now needs to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.
>> WHAT YOU CAN DO!
>> Why women also need the Employee Free Choice Act
Lilly Ledbetter and the Fair Pay Act--success at last!
Lilly Ledbetter is perhaps the best-known face of pay equity. She worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company but discovered she was paid significantly less than male co-workers with the same job. She filed suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was awarded back pay and other remedies in a jury trial. However, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a May 2007 5-4 decision, reversed that award, leaving others in Ledbetter's situation with virtually no recourse to pay discrimination.
CLUW has been in the forefront in supporting Lilly Ledbetter's goal to overturn the Supreme Court's Ledbetter V. Goodyear decision. In June 2008 CLUW was pleased to have Lilly Ledbetter address its National Executive Board meeting (see photo below) about proposed legislation -- the Fair Pay Restoration Act, now known as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- that would give women effective equal pay protections. CLUW spearheaded activities with our coalition partners,
including the National Committee on Pay Equity, the American Association of University Women, the National Women's Law Center and the AFL-CIO to hold a press conference on Capitol
Hill calling for the bill's passage.
In January 2009 the House and Senate swiftly passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and on January 29, 2009 President Obama signed it into law as the first legislation of his administration.
Now we need the Paycheck Fairness Act
Now CLUW, as part of the Fair Pay
Coalition, is pushing for the Senate to pass S.182, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages. The bill strengthens the Equal Pay Act to ensure that it will provide effective protection against sex-based pay discrimination. Toward that end, it also allows women to receive the same remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subject to discrimination based on race and national origin.
What you can do
The House of Representatives has already passed a companion Paycheck Fairness bill on a bipartisan basis. Please send a message to your Senators today urging them to co-sponsor and work to swiftly pass S. 182, the Paycheck Fairness Act.
You may phone the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request. You may also email your Senators using this link.
Sample letter to U.S. Senators urging swift passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act
Fact sheets about the Paycheck Fairness Act from CLUW's coalition partners:
 In June 2008 Lilly Ledbetter addressed CLUW's National Executive Board meeting about proposed legislation now known as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that would give women effective equal pay protections. She is pictured with CLUW National President Marsha Zakowski (right).
The union wage advantage:
Why women need the Employee Free Choice Act
Union participation benefits society as a whole because union members earn higher wages and have greater access to health care and pensions. The Employee Free Choice Act ensures that employees have the freedom to form unions and take advantage of these benefits.
- According to AFL-CIO compiled data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2008, on average unionization raised women’s wages by 32% compared to non-union women.
- A recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that for the years 2004-2007, unionized women were much more likely to have health insurance (75.4%) and a pension (75.8%) than women workers who were not in unions (50.9% for health insurance, 43% for pensions).
- According to the AFL-CIO, most unionized employees are in defined pension plans. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2008, although not separated by gender, demonstrates that in regards to pensions union workers have a distinct advantage: 77% of unionized employees participate in defined pension plans vs. 20% of non-unionized employees.
Please call your senators and representative today, urging them to support the Employee Free Choice Act. Phone the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your state's members of Congress.
>> Download CLUW Fact Sheets (pdf):
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