President's Message
It’s not OK
According to an article in the September 2008 NIKE written by Caryn Isaacs on Paid Family Leave, employees needing time off must choose between a paycheck, their career and the needs of themselves or their family. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE)’s profile of the Gender Wage Gap, a women’s average weekly wage for waiter/waitress is $301; for men it is $346. A women’s weekly wage as a Bus Driver is $401; Men’s weekly wage is $506 – a weekly earnings gap of $105. (more information on NCPE’s web site www.pay-equity.org) According to NCPE, we in NY are not expected to have equal pay until after 2050.
When did this become acceptable? When did it become OK to determine wages – not on skills, job performance or seniority – but on gender? When did it become OK that women must choose between a paycheck and their sick child?
It must be acceptable because our legislators fail to pass bills, year after year, that would benefit working women. Even the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a law did not exist that would make it illegal to pay women less that her male colleague. In Ledbetter v. Goodyear, the Supreme Court ruled that the Title VII lawsuit must be filed within 180 days of the ‘unlawful employment practice.’ Employers justify their actions even though employers in many of the countries of the industrialized world provide paid medical leave and recognize that pay should not be based on gender.
Is it OK because we do not protest loud enough? Is it considered acceptable because women are underrepresented in the legislature, the judiciary and the corporate corner office? In her Newsweek (Oct 13,2008) column ‘The Last Word,’ Anna Quindlen wrote that women are half the population and, on average, only 20% of the nation’s leaders in business, in journalism, in politics. “What if we had a oil shortage but were using only 20% of the oil at our disposal? Wouldn’t that seem stupid and shortsighted” she wrote.
Since 1919, BPW has been at the forefront of promoting equity for all women in the workplace. Over 1,000 BPW members in New York State and 14,000 BPW members nationwide have joined their voices to say it is not OK.
It is not OK that we are underrepresented in the legislature and corporate management.
It is not OK that the wage gap still exists.
It is not OK that a court can rule supporting an injustice because there is no amendment to guarantee equal rights.
It is not OK that employees must risk job security to take care of a sick child of parent.
Come join your voice with other BPW members to support the expansion of the Federal 1993 family-leave Act (FMLA) which provides for 12 weeks of unpaid leave; the Paycheck Fairness Act (HR 1338) which would, including other things, prohibit retaliation against workers who inquire about employer’s wage practices or disclose their own wages (a key reason why it is difficult to meet the 180 day requirement which cost Lilly Ledbetter everything she won before Goodyear appealed.); the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which passed the House (HR3831) but stalled in the Senate, which would overturn the Supreme Court decision.
Join BPW NYS in Albany on April 21, 2009. Lobby Day to advocate for
- A New York State Paid Family Leave Act that would offer paid benefits to employees who qualify. The Working Families Time to Care Act A9245/S8428 passed the Assembly in 2007. Last Year the New Jersey Time to Care Coalition successfully led the advocacy efforts for S785/A873, which will extend the State’s existing program to enable employees to receive two-thirds of their salary, up to $524 a week and will provide 6 weeks of benefits (for more information on Paid Family Leave, see Caryn Isaacs’ article in the Sept 2208 issue of NIKE).
- NYS Fair Pay Act S3936/A2712 passed the Assembly 6 years in a row – but never the Senate. The bill makes it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of sex, race and/or national origin by paying different wages for comparable work.
- An Equal Rights Amendment. Women are over 50% of the population in the United States; and yet New York State has no amendment guaranteeing our rights. An amendment would give a court justification for ruling against an injustice. There would be a law for them to use in their ruling against discrimination.
Nor is there a Federal Equal Rights Amendment. 15 States – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, No. Carolina, Oklahoma, So. Carolina, Utah and Virginia – have not ratified. The National ERA needs 3 of those states to give us an Equal Rights Amendment.
Representative Carolyn Maloney, has sponsored (with 199 co-sponsors) H.J.Res. 40, the Women’s Equality Act which would also make discrimination unlawful.
Let’s tell our New York legislators that it is not OK that New York does not have an Equal Rights Amendment.
The New York ERA S1764 / A1267
No person shall because of race, color, sex, creed or religion be subjected to any discrimination in his or her civil rights by any other person, firm, corporation or institution or by the state or subdivision of the state.
What can we do?
- Speak Up – tell our legislators that it is not OK that NY has not passed the Fair Pay Act, a Paid Family Leave Bill and a NYS ERA.
- Encourage candidates who support working women
- Visit your legislators either locally or in Albany on April 21, 2009.
- Learn the skills for speaking up, negotiating for equal pay, how to lobby.
- Sponsor an Un-happy Hour to mark the date – April 29th, 2009 – that women, on average, earn what men earned by Dec 31, 2008.
- Learn about the issues that effect working women and their families.
- Join BPW and join your voice with the voice of working women.
It’s not OK.
Join BPW, join your voice and make a difference.