Are We Getting Closer To Equal Pay For Equal Work?

Today is Pay Equity Day. 

It marks the number of extra days into 2014 women must work to earn what men earned in 2013. Because the average woman brings in a smaller paycheck than a man, she must work much, much longer -- one year, three months and eight days to be exact. And for women of color, that wage gap is even bigger. 

This is unacceptable.

But the good news is that President Obama will be standing next to activist Lilly Ledbetter -- the namesake of the first law Obama signed in office, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- today to make two important moves towards bolstering our nation's pay laws. The first is an executive order banning federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their compensation. The second is a presidential memorandum requiring federal contractors to submit wage data by sex and race to the Labor Department, which will “encourage voluntary compliance with equal pay laws and allowing more targeted enforcement by focusing efforts where there are discrepancies, reducing burdens on other employers.”

This week, the Senate is expected to vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act. 

CWA has worked hard to negotiate contracts guaranteeing that our members get the fair wages and respect that they deserve. It's time for ALL Americans to have those much-needed equal pay protections.