Kate McHale
Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 8th will be a monumental day of sorts for President Obama. He will sign two different executive bills that will order equal pay for women. Coincidentally, Tuesday also happens to be “Equal Pay Day”. The date symbolizes how far women have to work into 2014 in order to earn the same amount of money men earned last year.
Previously both of the executive orders failed to be passed by congress on two separate occasions. One of the orders would prevent federal contractors from penalizing or retaliating against their workers who share their salary information. This stems from Lilly Ledbetter, who just so happens to be the namesake for President Obama’s first equal pay bill in 2009. She worked of the same tire company for 20 years, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, only to find out that the men were getting paid dramatically more than her.
The seconder order will have the Department of Labor generate brand new regulations demanding federal contractors report the wage-related statistics to the government. This is hopefully going to make business more accountable when it comes to salary discrepancies between both sexes and races.
Seeing as it 2014, it’s about time women are given the right to be paid the same as men, especially since as of now women make 77 cents to every dollar men make. Researchers have done in-depth research in regards to education, work industry, majors and minors and with all that being accounted for, men are still paid around 7% more than women.
American Association of University Women (AAUW), a nonprofit organization working to increase fairness for women and girls, had a statement for President Obama from their Vice President of Government Relations Lisa Maatz, “AAUW applauds the president for ensuring these workers have the freedom to talk about their salaries without fear — a kind of openness that can help close the gender pay gap. The executive order also sends a clear message to companies awarded government contracts that they cannot discriminate with taxpayer money.”
While the Senate will vote on Paycheck Fairness Act Tuesday it is unlikely the bill will be brought to the floor due to the GOP’s controlled House. The bill would only affect federal contractors, but it is still a step in the right direction. It strengthens the penalties towards businesses that violate the new regulations.
It is definitely a step in the right direction and Americans can only hope that the change will continue for the better.
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