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‘Magnificently Overqualified Mothers’ to McCain: Women Deserve Equal Pay |
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A group of 10 women, some accompanied by their children, delivered a big message to Sen. John McCain today. The Washington, D.C.-area mothers, sporting “Magnificently Overqualified Mother” sashes, handed more than 9,000 résumés to McCain’s office on Capitol Hill to show him that women are well-trained, highly educated and qualified and should be paid the same as men for doing the same work.
In late April, McCain didn’t even bother to show up when a minority of primarily Republican senators once again made it harder for women workers to overcome pay discrimination. The U.S. Senate failed to cut off debate on the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843) and bring the bill to the floor for a vote. The legislation, also known as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, would have reversed a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision dismissing a suit by Lilly Ledbetter, an employee for 19 years at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Alabama. Her suit alleged she was paid less than her male counterparts.
Both Democratic presidential candidates at the time, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, took time out from their campaigns to vote for cloture. But McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, kept campaigning, saying he opposes the bill and that there are better ways to help women find better-paying jobs.
They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else.
The women at MomsRising.org recognize it’s McCain who needs an education about what’s happening in the real world. Several recent reports show working women continue to earn less than men even though statistics indicate they are better educated.
To help educate McCain, MomsRising.org encouraged its members to sign a petition supporting equal pay and to send in their resumes. More than 20,000 women signed the petition and 9,000 sent in résumés. MomsRising.org is a grassroots online and on-the-ground organization that supports family-friendly policies.
Says MomsRising.org Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner:
It’s a shame that Sen. McCain doesn’t understand that pay discrimination is not about qualifications or education. But our members are happy to let him know that there are millions of women who are extremely qualified and well trained who simply aren’t being treated fairly in the workplace.
The 9,000 résumés MomsRising.org members delivered to McCain’s office today include mothers with training and degrees in law, business, fine arts, engineering and hundreds of other fields. Members are employed as concert violinists, neuropsychologists, attorneys and more.
2 Comments
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Women for the most part are paid too low to start with .Can not seem to get ahead. Men/few women are paid more in the trades. I did not hear Mc Cain tell them to get more education.The trades include training in an apprentice Where is our training ? where is are retraining? unless you have been a working women with tons of responsibilities YOU HAVE NO IDEA how hard it is just to get by.
Do you know how expensive proper schools are????? the public schools are very behind technology wise. I have a Business degree from a Christian /union world view. They believe in UNIONS and STEWARDSHIP. Not EMPLOYMENT AT WILL. Cheap labor ,loose laws and morals. Strong leadership. We have a RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING not being in a union myself —i did not know that. So many things have changed in 30 years but the rules to hold women down have not. Most good jobs say you can not apply after 35 —well what about all the women who got dumped more than once from their jobs ?????? And know how screwed up things are??????
In addition to women receiving equal pay, seperate “B” scales should also be outlawed.
Maybe in a cost saving effort, we could apply the same rules to the congress and senate. Females would earn less of course!
After July 1st 2008, any “new hires” becoming congressmen or senators would receive a reduction of 50% of their pay on the new “B” scale, thus saving tax dollars. We could “buy out” existing congressmen and senators and replace them with cheaper labor.
We could also eliminate their government pensions as well.
Perhaps the Pension Board Guarantee Corporation could take over all the existing government pensions and let them collect 10 cents on the dollar and see how THEY like a taste of their own medicine!
Instead of fleets of government cars in Wahington, let them drive their own personal cars and…
BUY THE GAS! After all, whats good for the goose…