|
|
 |
| |
Legislation That Matters
Equal Rights Amendment
- 2001/12/1
In 1923, Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party succeed in having a constitutional amendment introduced in Congress which said: "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction." In 1943 the wording was revised to what we know today as the Equal Rights Amendment: Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged on account of sex. The Equal Rights Amendment passed the U.S. Senate and then the House of Representatives, and on March 22, 1972, was sent to the states for ratification with a seven-year deadline on the ratification process. The ERA quickly secured the votes of 22 of the necessary 38 state ratifications, but the pace slowed as opposition began to organize – only eight ratifications in 1973, three in 1974, one in 1975, and none in 1976. Although Congress granted an extension for ratification until June 30, 1982, activists failed to secure the three more state ratifications before the deadline. It was reintroduced in Congress on July 14, 1982 and has been before every session of Congress since that time.
|
Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Amendments
- 2001/12/1
(Link: http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/epa.html)
The Equal Pay Act prohibits pay discrimination between men and women in the same workplace who are performing similar jobs. Prior to the passage of the Act in 1963, it was legal for employees to pay women less than they paid men for performing identical tasks. Despite the fact that it has been forty years since the Act was passed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women still only earn 75 cents for every dollar their male co-workers earn. African American women and Latina women fare even worse. African American women earn 65% of what white men earn. Latina women earn 53%. The Equal pay act is part of the larger Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
|
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- 2001/12/1
(Link: http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html)
Title VII section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for an employer to hire or fire any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual because of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This covers hiring, firing, promotions and all workplace conduct, by both an employer and a union if the union is setting working conditions. In order for the employee to make a claim, the discrimination must have been intentional. In such a case, the employee – the one who was discriminated against – can receive what is known as “injunctive relief,” that is a court order to stop the discrimination. Employees may also win money damages including back pay or, in the case of a firing, they may get their job back. Employees must first file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and see if they can resolve the dispute before going to court.
|
Show All
|
| |
Congress Speaks
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, FL-20)
Women represent more than half the population, but in terms of policies to assist women in their struggle to achieve financial security, they lag behind their male counterparts. We recognize Equal Pay Day in April because the month is symbolic of the four additional months that a woman would need to work each year, just to equal their male co-workers yearly wages. Women today are still paid only 76 cents to a man’s dollar…Women want what all Americans want: an equal opportunity to succeed, a secure retirement, good-paying jobs, better access to health care, and a bright future for their children. We don’t pay less for the food we buy at the grocery store than men do. We don’t pay less for gas than men do. We don’t pay less for our homes than men do. Since that continues to be the case, why should we be paid less than men in the workplace for equal work? We shouldn’t!
(Link: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/fl20_schultz/pr_20050419.html)
|
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
This International Women’s Day, it is my hope to celebrate and affirm the value of women to our society by introducing legislation that will have a real impact on their lives…For too many years, women’s health care needs were ignored or poorly understood, and women were systematically excluded from important health research. One famous medical study examined the ability of aspirin to prevent heart attacks in 20,000 medical doctors, all of whom were men, despite the fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women…Improving the health of American women requires a far greater understanding of women’s health needs and conditions, and ongoing evaluation in the areas of research, education, prevention, treatment and the delivery of services…Unfortunately, millions of women are still battling against poverty, discrimination and unequal access to education, training, credit, and technical assistance. It is because of hardships such as these that we celebrate the many achievements of women on March 8th while at the same time encouraging their full equality and participation in society. The important roles that women play in all facets of our culture and their valuable contributions to the world deserve to be recognized and reaffirmed.
(Link: http://snowe.senate.gov/wsu03-04-05.htm)
|
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D, FL-20)
“Women represent more than half the population, but in terms of policies to assist women in their struggle to achieve financial security, they lag behind their male counterparts. We recognize Equal Pay Day in April because the month is symbolic of the four additional months that a woman would need to work each year, just to equal their male co-workers yearly wages. Women today are still paid only 76 cents to a man’s dollar…Women want what all Americans want: an equal opportunity to succeed, a secure retirement, good-paying jobs, better access to health care, and a bright future for their children. We don’t pay less for the food we buy at the grocery store than men do. We don’t pay less for gas than men do. We don’t pay less for our homes than men do. Since that continues to be the case, why should we be paid less than men in the workplace for equal work? We shouldn’t!”
(Link: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/fl20_schultz/pr_20050419.html)
|
Show All
|
|
|