Today, Republicans Once Again Blocked Legislation to Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work – Average American Woman Will Lose More Than $11,000 Annually Because of the Wage Gap
September 15, 2014 - Washington, D.C. – Just before Senate Republicans voted once again to block legislation to ensure equal pay for equal work, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spoke on the Senate floor in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help close the wage gap between women and men that costs women working full-time an average of $11,000 every year and more than $400,000 over the course of their careers.
“We all know what this vote is about. It’s very simple. It’s about women in America having the same opportunity for success as their male counterparts. No one should be paid less just for being a woman,”Senator Boxer said, urging Republicans to allow the Senate to move forward on the bill.
Senate Boxer concluded, “This is really not complicated. Equal pay for equal work. We stand for that as Democrats and we’re going to keep on fighting for it. And tonight is that moment in time when we will see whether our Republican friends stand with us to give a fair shot to the women of this country – a fair shot – or they will block us as they have done before. And I hope maybe they’ll see the light tonight.”
After Senator Boxer spoke, Senate Republicans voted for the second time in less than six months to block consideration of the Paycheck Fairness Act.
To see video of Senator Boxer’s full remarks on the Senate floor, click here.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would help close the pay gap by empowering women to negotiate for equal pay, closing loopholes courts have created in the law, creating strong incentives for employers to obey the laws and strengthening federal outreach and enforcement efforts. The measure would require employers to demonstrate that wage gaps between men and women doing the same work have a business justification and are truly a result of factors other than gender. The bill would also prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who share salary information with their co-workers.
The legislation would strengthen the Department of Labor’s (DOL) ability to help women achieve pay equity by requiring DOL to enhance outreach and training efforts to work with employers in order to eliminate pay disparities and to continue to collect and disseminate wage information based on gender. The bill would also create a competitive grant program to provide negotiation skills training programs for girls and women.
