Obama Tells Senate: Mind the Gap, Pass Paycheck Fairness Act
President Obama today called on the U.S. Senate to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to close the pay gap that leaves women earning only 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. He says the Paycheck Fairness Act is a
common-sense bill that will help ensure that men and women who do equal work receive the equal pay that they and their families deserve….Paycheck discrimination hurts families who lose out on badly needed income. And with so many families depending on women’s wages, it hurts the American economy as a whole. In difficult economic times like these, we simply cannot afford this discriminatory burden.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act One Step Closer to Becoming Law
Last night after the Senate passed (61-36) the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Act, overturning the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied justice to Ledbetter—and any worker who suffers pay discrimination—Ledbetter told reporters:
When you win a battle, you’ve sometimes lost battles along the way. We knew we would get here. When right is right, it usually has a way of working out.
Ledbetter thought she had won her battle several years ago when a federal jury found she had been the victim of pay discrimination for nearly 20 years at an Alabama Goodyear tire plant where she was paid less than the men doing the same work.
But the Supreme Court ruled Ledbetter—and other workers—has no right to sue for a remedy in cases of pay discrimination if she—or any worker—waits more than 180 days after the first paycheck, even if she—or any worker—doesn’t discover the pay discrimination until years later, as was the case with Ledbetter.
