Equal Pay for Equal Work Action Alert- Equal Pay Day is April 20th. Call Georgia’s Senators Today.
SUPPORT Equal Pay for Equal Work:
Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act
Equal Pay Day — this year, April 20th — marks how far women, on average, have to work into 2010 to be paid the same as men were paid in 2009. Women who work full time still earn, on average, 77 cents for every dollar men earn.
For women of color, the numbers are worse. In 2008, African American women made only 61 cents and Latinas only 52 cents for every dollar earned by white men.
The Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182) will help secure equal pay for equal work for all Americans. The bill has already passed the House of Representatives and now is pending in the Senate. The bill would update the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a law that has not been able to achieve its promise of closing the wage gap because of limited enforcement tools and inadequate remedies. The Paycheck Fairness Act would make critical changes to the law, including:
- requiring employers to demonstrate that wage differentials are based on factors other than sex;
- prohibiting retaliation against workers who inquire about their employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wages;
- permitting reasonable comparisons between employees within clearly defined geographical areas to determine fair wages;
- strengthening penalties for equal pay violations;
- directing the Department of Labor to assist employers and collect wage-related data; and
- authorizing additional training for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff to better identify and handle wage disputes.
The time has come to make equal pay a reality. During this climate of unprecedented economic uncertainty, nothing could be more important than ensuring women workers — as well as their male counterparts — receive equal pay for equal work. We hope you will let your Senators know that we need them pass the Paycheck Fairness Act now in order to make “celebrating” Equal Pay Day obsolete.
CALL GEORGIA’S SENATORS TODAY
Senator Saxby Chambliss 202-224-3521
Senator Johnny Isakson 202-224-3643