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 | | Articles List > Article |
| | A Level Playing Field – The Promise of Our Democracy
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Author: Maria Roberts
http://www.democraticpowermiamidade.com/article.asp?ArticleId=59
A Level Playing Field – The Promise of Our DemocracyBy Maria Roberts I have spent this past week urging our legislators and the Obama transition team to include women's pay equity legislation in the forthcoming economic stimulus package. The elimination of gender-based wage discrimination is a mainstream economic issue of critical importance to the families of working women who comprise half of America's working people. Women get no price break when they pay for gas, groceries, or the light bill; why should employers get a price break when they pay women doing the same work as men? The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions reports that more women than men lost both jobs and hours worked (thus wages) in the current economic downturn. Even in good times, the wage gap of 77 cents earned by women for each dollar earned by men persists across all years of experience and all levels of education. Institute of Women's Policy Research data shows that families suffer as a result – during the first 20 years of a typical woman's working life the gap already has cost her and her family $440,000. So it is clear that eliminating gender-based wage discrimination is a Main Street economic issue critically important to the average American family. And eliminating gender discrimination will not increase the publicly funded stimulus. Specifically, I ask that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act be included within any economic stimulus package enacted by Congress. The former has already passed the House of Representatives. It would make it possible for individuals who suffer unlawful pay discrimination to effectively assert their rights in federal court. By reinstating the paycheck accrual rule, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act makes the pursuit of claims more realistic. The Paycheck Fairness Act updates the 1966 Equal Pay Act to allow prevailing plaintiffs to receive compensatory and punitive damages. At present, prevailing plaintiffs claiming racial or ethnically based discrimination can receive full compensatory and punitive damages, while claimants in gender-based discrimination cases are allowed only fixed and limited damages. There is no justification for a woman receiving lesser remedies once the court has ruled that she has suffered pay discrimination. Is pay discrimination based on gender less offensive than pay discrimination based on race or ethnicity? The Paycheck Fairness Act would also prohibit retaliation against employees who share wage information; strengthen requirements that pay differentials be job- or performance-related; and facilitate class action lawsuits. Measures to promote economic justice for half the working population deserve a place in the economic stimulus package. Using tax dollars paid by Main Street Americans, women and men, to pay for the economic stimulus mandates that the benefits of the package be targeted to Main Street Americans. Enacting the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act within the package would target women workers and taxpayers who have been economically disadvantaged for some time and are now disproportionately affected by the downturn. Moreover, women make most of the spending decisions in their families, so putting more money into the hands of women is more likely to achieve the desired result of actually stimulating the economy. In the effort to extend economic justice for working women, it is essential that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act be included in the economic stimulus package that the Presidential Transition Team and Congress are considering. For women they would signify a level playing field which is the promise of our democracy. Please make your voice heard on this subject: Obama Presidential Transition Office: www.change.gov/page/s/yourvision Florida's Senators: Sen. Bill Nelsonbillnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfmFax: 202-228-2183 Sen. Mel Martinezhttp://martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactFormFax: (202) 228-5171 House of Representatives:Use the web site https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml to find the form to send your Representative an e-mail, or use the fax number below. District 17: Rep. Kendrick MeekFax: 202-226-0777 District 18: Rep. Ileana Ros-LehtinenFax: 202-225-5620 District 20: Rep. Debbie Wasserman-SchultzFax: 202-226-2052 District 21: Rep. Lincoln Diaz-BalartFax: (202) 225-8576 District 25:Rep. Mario Diaz-BalartFax: (202) 226-0346 |
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