Let's put our anger to work

We regularly hear from moms across the country who are mad about being paid less for the same jobs as men.

We have a fighting chance of moving the Paycheck Fairness Act forward right now. Send a note to your Senators today!

Dear Senator,

As one of the over a million members of MomsRising.org, I urge you ask Senate leadership to take immediate action to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this summer.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restored to women the right to go to court to challenge pay discrimination.  But more is necessary to realize the promise of equal pay for equal work. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act, which has already passed the House, would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages. The bill also allows women and men to receive the same remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subject to discrimination based on race and national origin.  In addition, the bill would improve the collection of pay information by the Department of Labor and the EEOC to enable those agencies to evaluate pay disparities; facilitate class actions in Equal Pay Act claims to ensure that the rules that apply to civil rights lawsuits generally also govern the Equal Pay Act; and spark the development of salary negotiation skills training.

Fair pay is especially critical in this tough economy because more and more women are the sole breadwinners in their families.  On the whole, women working full-time, year-round make an average of 77 cents to every dollar that men make. [1]  This means that the average woman loses $700,000 in pay due to gender discrimination in her lifetime. For women of color, this number can be even higher.[2]  That's a lot of money that would come in handy right now for America's women and families.

Now is the time for Congress to take the steps necessary to effectively address wage discrimination and eliminate loopholes that have undermined the Equal Pay Act's effectiveness.

Again, I urge to take immediate action to urge Senate leadership to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this summer.

Thank you,

This week and and next, U.S. Senators are deciding what's going to come up for a vote in the next month--and we need to let them know that the Paycheck Fairness Act needs to be on their action list.

http://action.momsrising.org/cms/letter/PayCheck2010/