It's a busy time for the Equal Pay Movement! Next Tuesday, April 22nd, is Equal Pay Day. In addition, today is "Blog for Fair Pay Day". The National Women's Law Center is hosting a sign-up for the event.
Why is this so important? It's been nearly a year since the Supreme Court's May 29th 5-4 decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that dramatically regressed the Equal Pay laws of this country.
In a time when women are still only paid 77 cents or less for every dollar a man is paid, it is obvious that equal pay protection is still badly needed in this country. This is despite the fact that wage discrimination was outlawed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Well finally, the Senate is set to vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843) next week!
Read More Below the Fold:
Here is background information on the Lilly Ledbetter case from the National Women's Law Center:
The Senate is currently considering legislation that would promote justice for women and other workers who experience compensation discrimination. The The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831) will reverse the recent Supreme Court decision Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., which severely limits workers' ability to vindicate their rights and distorts Congress' intent to eliminate sex and other forms of discrimination in the workplace.
In Ledbetter, the Supreme Court held that employees cannot challenge ongoing compensation discrimination if the employer's original discriminatory decision occurred more than 180 days before, even when the employee continues to receive paychecks that have been discriminatorily reduced. Prior to this decision, the law, as interpreted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and nine of ten courts of appeals that have considered the issue, treated each discriminatory paycheck as a separate discriminatory act that started a new 180-day clock.
Because pay information is often confidential, it may take a long time for an employee to realize that she is experiencing compensation discrimination. And if employers are insulated from liability after 180 days, they have little incentive to correct pay discrimination that occurs. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would restore long-standing law and promote voluntary compliance with anti-discrimination laws by employers.
The House version, H.R. 2831, was already passed back in July of 2007 by a vote of 225-199. Getting the Senate to pass their version is critical to moving this legislation forward. If the House vote was any indication, successful passage of S. 1843 is anything but certain. It is hard to believe that a full 199 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against a bill that would simply restore the right to equal pay, but they did. Since President Bush has already threatened to veto this bill if it passes, we are going to need a strong super-majority to get it through.
An important aspect of this legislation is that it does not just address wage discrimination due to sexism. It will ensure protection for wage discrimination due to the other protected classes under the Equal Pay Act, such as: race, nationality, disability, age, religion, family status. Senator Kennedy's April 17 press release addresses why this is so necessary:
The impact of unfair pay practices is staggering. Today, woman still earn 23% less than men, African American men earn 21% less than white men. Latino workers earn just 72 cents for every dollar paid to white workers.
S. 1843 (along with it's companion H.R. 2831) does not make radical changes in employment law. In fact, it simply restores the law to the way it has been interpreted by the majority of courts and the EEOC for the past several decades. It reinstates the "paycheck accrual rule" that was eliminated in last year's Supreme Court majority opinion. As Sen. Kennedy describes in his April 17th press release:
If we pass this bill, we would go back to the long-standing rule that the clock begins to run for filing a pay discrimination claim on the date a worker receives a discriminatory paycheck – rather than the day the employer first decides to discriminate.
Senator Edward Kennedy is the leading sponsor of S. 1843. So far, there are an additional 42 co-sponsors:
Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] - 2/7/2008
Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] - 7/23/2007
Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] - 8/3/2007
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 7/20/2007
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 7/30/2007
Sen Cantwell, Maria [WA] - 10/1/2007
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 9/12/2007
Sen Carper, Thomas R. [DE] - 9/18/2007
Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. [PA] - 9/18/2007
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] - 7/20/2007
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] - 7/20/2007
Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND] - 3/6/2008
Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] - 7/20/2007
Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] - 7/30/2007
Sen Harkin, Tom [IA] - 7/20/2007
Sen Johnson, Tim [SD] - 10/18/2007
Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] - 7/23/2007
Sen Klobuchar, Amy [MN] - 10/25/2007
Sen Kohl, Herb [WI] - 4/2/2008
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] - 11/1/2007
Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] - 7/20/2007
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 9/4/2007
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [CT] - 12/18/2007
Sen McCaskill, Claire [MO] - 7/20/2007
Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 10/25/2007
Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD] - 7/20/2007
Sen Murray, Patty [WA] - 7/20/2007
Sen Nelson, Bill [FL] - 4/10/2008
Sen Obama, Barack [IL] - 7/20/2007
Sen Reed, Jack [RI] - 7/23/2007
Sen Reid, Harry [NV] - 4/14/2008
Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV [WV] - 3/6/2008
Sen Salazar, Ken [CO] - 4/2/2008
Sen Sanders, Bernard [VT] - 10/22/2007
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 7/23/2007
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] - 7/20/2007
Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] - 7/20/2007
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 7/20/2007
Sen Tester, Jon [MT] - 4/2/2008
Sen Webb, Jim [VA] - 2/5/2008
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] - 7/20/2007
Sen Wyden, Ron [OR] - 2/11/2008
Co-Sponsor Breakdown:
Democrats: 39
Republicans:2
Independents: 2
If your Senator is not listed as cosponsor, please contact call and e-mail your Senators right away and ask them to support Senate Bill 1843, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Additional Fair Pay Info Resources:
1. Sen. Kennedy Press Release re: Lilly Ledbetter Act (4/17/08)
2. NOW Information on Fair Pay Restoration Act
3. THOMAS (Library of Congress): Text of S. 1843
4. National Women's Law Center (NWLC) Fair Pay Website
UPDATE:
The National Organization for Women (NOW) has a list of all Senators that are NOT currently co-sponsoring S. 1843. Below are all the non-sponsoring Democratic Senators (we need to focus our efforts on them):
Sen Blanche Lincoln [AR]
Sen Mark Pryor [AR]
Sen Dianne Feinstein [CA]
Sen Daniel Inouye [HI]
Sen Evan Bayh [IN]
Sen Mary Landrieu [LA]
Sen Max Baucus [MT]
Sen Ben Nelson [NE]
Sen Kent Conrad [ND]
Sen Robert Byrd [WV]