Numerous political leaders including President Barack Obama and Wisconsin Democrats discussed plans Tuesday to end pay inequalities in the workplace for women in response to Equal Pay Day.
Equal Pay Day gives national recognition that women earn less than men in the workplace. Women earn an average of 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man, according to the latest U.S. census statistics.
Wisconsin and many other states have taken action against workplace discrimination in addition to Obama’s first bill signed in office, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (2009).
Obama delivered a speech Tuesday announcing his plans to sign an executive order, that would prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against employee compensation discussions, according to a White House statement. Obama also signed a presidential memorandum Tuesday requiring the Department of Labor to provide information about federal employees salaries to identify pay discrimination.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke also expressed her support for equal pay Tuesday saying in a statement Wisconsin women earn 80 cents to every dollar a man earns.
Burke said she wants to reinstate Wisconsin’s 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act as part of her jobs plan called “Invest for Success.”
State Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, discussed in a statement the issue of the amount of households headed by underpaid women, and how the repeal of Equal Pay Enforcement by state Senate Republicans negatively affects families.
“Our mothers, daughters and sisters deserve no less than equal treatment in the workplace,” Larson said in the statement. “That starts with an equal wage.”
