Let's Get the Paycheck Fairness Act Passed Before the Senate's Out of Session

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-09-15 15:32:00 UTC
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Twenty-three cents: That's the gender wage gap. In 2010, women still only make an average 77 cents on every dollar a man makes; for women of color, this gap can widen even further. From the minute they walk in the door, women are paid thousands less than their equivalent male counterparts. Over the course of a lifetime, this adds up to a loss of an average $700,000. Do you know how much stuff you can buy with nearly three-quarters of a million dollars? Particularly in food, clothes, and shelter for yourself and your family.

On Moms Rising, Ruth Martin reminds us that Senators will be headed home soon (and who knows who will be coming back after the midterm elections), so we're in the eleventh hour to getting the Paycheck Fairness Act passed this session. Having already cleared the House, this bill was meant to join the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to truly stop sex discrimination in the workplace. The PFA woud shield women against retaliation should they organize or challenge unfair pay practices by their employers, mandate the same penalties for sexism as racism in the workplace, and insist that employers prove any significant wage gaps really and truly have nothing to do with sex discrimination.

We've seen the Paycheck Fairness Act on the slow journey to death, we've cheered up at its sudden revival, and now we're just feeling kind of jerked around. To tell the Senate that you're tired of waiting, sign this petition from the National Partnership for Women and Families. We shouldn't have to wait any longer for the kind of protections to be put in place to make certain that employers can't get away with discriminating against women with impunity.

Photo credit: Tracy O

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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