Today is the 45th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. In honor of that milestone, we created an equal pay calculator for New Mexicans to find out what they'd be making if they were of the opposite sex.
We decided to take our equal pay calculator to the streets. Sadly, New Mexican women still make only 78% on average of what New Mexican men make, but many people aren't aware of the problem. We went out to see if we could raise some awareness.
To find out how much you'd make if you were of the opposite sex, visit http://www.TomUdall.com/....
For those who don't know much about this act, from wikipedia:
The law provides (in part) that:
No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section [section 206 of title 29 of the United States Code] shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs[,] the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex [ . . . . ] [1]
Despite the provisions of this act, inequality is still a fact of life. Women still make 78% of the pay that men make on average here in New Mexico. The women of New Mexico deserve better than this, and deserve a Senator that will stand up for them and their rights. Steve Pearce will not be that Senator.
Bryan Barash
Online Communications Manager
Tom Udall for Senate