From: Lilly Ledbetter
Last night, Pres. Obama highlighted the truth: women still make less than men. But the President can do more–he can take the first step by issuing an executive order on equal pay that would affect millions of people. Can you add your name to my petition?
Click here
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1496?t=2&akid=782.6000.EuKJeE
Dear REaders:
Last night, I sat in the House chambers as President Obama delivered his State of the Union speech. I was so proud that he declared his strong support for equal pay for equal work–calling out “workplace policies that belong in a Mad Men episode.”1
That’s because five years ago, I stood beside the President as he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act–a bill named for me and the hardest fight of my life.2 But the fight for equal pay was never supposed to end there. And now that we’ve got the President on our side again–I need you to join me in demanding it doesn’t.
Today, working women are still typically paid 77 cents to every dollar working men make.3 That translates to a loss of $11,608 in salary each year.4 One of the major reasons the wage gap still exists is that it is actually legal for some employers to punish or even fire an employee who asks about pay discrepancies. How will a woman know she’s being paid less if she can’t ask?
President Obama has the power to change that for millions of workers. With a simple wave of his pen, he could sign an executive order that would ban federal contractors from punishing employees who discuss their pay with coworkers. Why start there? About 26 million people–nearly 22% of the workforce–work for companies that get federal government contracts.5 The impact would be huge. And I’m not the only one who’s saying it–the New York Times just asked Obama to take that step.6
I am personally calling on the President to sign this order. But I need thousands of people with me to urge the President to act. Can you join my UltraViolet petition calling on President Obama to issue an executive order for equal pay?
visit here to add your name.
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1496?t=3&akid=782.6000.EuKJeE
I know President Obama supports equal pay–he made that incredibly clear last night. But there are women all across the country right now struggling to make ends meet or fearing retaliation because they got tired of the inequality and spoke up about getting paid less. We need more than words–we need action. And we need it urgently. Not another day should go by that women have to worry about their economic security while putting in the same hours at work as men.
When the President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, he said it was only the first step toward closing the pay gap.7 But we’ve gotten little accomplished since then in a gridlocked Congress. That’s why it’s time for President Obama to follow through on his word and take executive action.
Right now, workers who ask federal contractors about wage practices or who share salary information with each other can be fired or face other retaliation.8 How are they supposed to know if they are being paid unfairly? Until I received an anonymous note, I had no way of knowing about the discrimination I faced for years as a supervisor at Goodyear.
But by signing an executive order, President Obama could take simple, common-sense action that would move us another step forward in this fight for equality. We moved the ball forward once with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. And I firmly believe that if we forcefully join our voices together now, we can do it again. That’s why I’m joining UltraViolet and the American Association of University Women to call on the President to take action.9
visit here to sign my petition calling on President Obama to issue an executive order on equal pay.
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1496?t=3&akid=782.6000.EuKJeE
With hope,
Lilly Ledbetter
Sources:
1. FULL TRANSCRIPT: Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address, Washington Post, January 28, 2014
2. Lilly Ledbetter, Time, January 9, 2009
3. The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap, American Association of University Women, September 19, 2013
4. Study: Women, children hit harder by poverty, The Post and Courier, September 29, 2013
5. Lilly Ledbetter says the president can do more for equal pay: Sign an executive order, Washington Post, January 17, 2014
6. The Diminished State of the Union, New York Times, January 28, 2014
7. Ibid
8. Ibid
9. AAUW, Lilly Ledbetter Call for Action on Equal Pay on Ledbetter Law’s Fifth Anniversary, American Association of University Women, January 23, 2014