 A Better Balance · AAUW-Manhattan · AAUW-NYC ·Asian Women in Business · Catalyst Inc. · Center for the Women of New York · Coalition of Professional Women in Arts & Media · 50/50 in 2020 · Human Rights Project/Urban Justice Center · Institute of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly ·Jewish Women's Foundation of New York ·Junior League of the City of New York · Latina PAC · League of Professional Theatre Women · League of Women Voters of New York City · Legal Momentum · Manhattan Chamber of Commerce-Women's Business Committee · Nation to Nation Networking Ltd. · National Association of Female Executives · National Association of Women Business Owners · National Organization of Italian American Women · New York Coalition of 100 Black Women · New York Women's Agenda (Coordinator) · New York Women's Foundation · 9-5 National Association of Working Women · NOW-Brooklyn/Queens · NOW-NYC · NOW-NYS · NYS Women, Inc.-Bay Ridge Brooklyn Chapter · 100 Black Men · The Transition Network · Women Chefs and Restaurateurs · Women in Development-New York · Women in Health Management , Inc. · Women on the Job/New York State Pay Equity Coalition · Women's Center for Career Education and Advancement · Women's City Club of New York · Women's Media Center · YWCA Brooklyn · YWCA Orange County · Zonta Club of Greater Queens · Authors: Ellen Bravo, Dr. Martha Burk, Dr. Debra Condren, Barbara Ehrenreich, Prof. Marilyn Gittell, Dr. Fran Moccio, Hon. Evelyn Murphy, Prof. Pamela Stone |
47 years later, women are still fighting for Equal Pay!
CALL FOR STRONGER
PAY EQUITY LAWS NOW
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On June 10, 1963 President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, yet almost 5 decades later women are still fighting for this basic right! The Ledbetter, Wal-Mart and Novartis cases, to name a few, illustrate why we need stronger laws. It's good for business, families and can help alleviate poverty and reduce taxes! With your help we can make it happen!
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TAKE THREE KEY ACTIONS:
ACTION #1: ASK SENATE MAJORITY LEADER SAMPSON to push 3 New York State Bills (see below).ACTION #2: EMAIL SENATORS SCHUMER and GILLIBRANDThank them for supporting and pushing the Federal Paycheck Fairness ActACTION #3: JOIN US at the upcoming City Council Hearing on Pay Equity: June 16th at 10AM at 250 Broadway, 14th Floor, NYC.
See below for background on the 3 New York State bills and pay equity. More info can be found in NYWA's EPC-NYC Pay Equity Guide and Toolkit
ASK SENATE MAJORITY
LEADER SAMPSON TO PUSH 3 NEW YORK STATE BILLS
(718) 649-7653, (518) 455-2788, sampson@senate.state.ny.us
1. A6712/S5271 - provides that people who work for NY State in job titles where women and people of color predominate receive equal pay for job titles of equal value (Sponsor: Senator Velmanette Montgomery) The Assembly passed 3 pay equity bills again this year. Due to current fiscal constraints, the Coalition is pushing this bill which will have a better chance of being signed into law because it will have little or zero financial impact to the State.
2. S1799 - Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MWBE's) would direct NYS to award more contracts to certified minority and women business enterprises [by enlarging the number of state agencies covered; including the use of MWBEs in financial and professional services in state contracts; specifying the diversity practices used to procure vendors; clarifying state agency reporting requirements; and establishing a "public authorities procurement council" composed of senior leaders from state agencies and representatives of the private sector.]
3. Free Speech on Wages [no bill number]
We are advocating for stronger laws to protect a worker's right to share
salary information without fear of being fired or reprimanded for disclosing information or asking about pay. This would have helped Lily Ledbetter!
The vast majority of workers are employed in the private sector where salaries can be kept secret and employees may be fired for sharing salary information. Without salary information, it is impossible for employees to know whether they are being paid fairly. |
PAY EQUITY LAWS - DID YOU KNOW...
Pay equity is a family checkbook issue - not just a women's issue.
Women Head Households: 70% of mothers work outside the home; 4 in 10 mothers are primary breadwinners, bringing home the majority of the family's earnings
Traditionally "Female" Jobs Pay Less: 67% of working women are employed in jobs historically dominated by women or people of color.
Wages for childcare workers prove they are considered less valuable than people who take care of our lawns! Also, School Custodians are paid more than School Nurses!
Persistent Wage Gap: Women still only earn 78˘ to $1.00 earned by men for full-time work; lower yet for African American women (69˘) and Latinas (58˘); this results in women having to work about 4 months longer than a man to bring home the same amount of pay!
Career Wage Gap: Over the course of a working woman's life, it's estimated that women lose between $450,000 to $2,000,000 - these are lost wages that would have been pensionable!! "I want my million!"
Aging Women: Gap widens up to 34% but for older men (45-54); they are at the highest levels of income.
In NYS, on the average, a woman working FT is paid $40,490/year; a man $48,882/year, resulting in a wage gap between FT working men and women of $8,392 PER YEAR!
What would you do with an additional $8,392 a year? How about:
_ Reducing dependence on credit
_ Affording better quality schools, childcare or housing
_ Having 65 more weeks of food (1.3 years worth!)
_ Ability to make 4 more mortgage and utility monthly payments
_ Extending length of family health insurance coverage by 2.5 years
_ Purchasing 2,800 additional gallons of gas!!
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS of PAY EQUITY LAWS?
Poverty Alleviation: If working, single women were paid equal to men of comparable skills, estimates are the poverty rate would decrease by 50% and result in reduced taxes!
Good for Business: U.S. needs ALL RESOURCES to lead in the global economy. Good business policy which leads to retention, recruitment and ROI.
****Please refer to the more comprehensive Pay Equity Guide for further info****
WHY SHOULD NYS SET HIGHER CONTRACT GOALS FOR M/WBE's? WE GAIN ACCESS TO CAPITAL - More facts at: MWBE Coalition
- New York has a gross state product (GSP) of $822 billion making it the 11th largest economy in the world.
- Of the state's discretionary budget, only 9.2% of this went to MWBE vendors or service providers in 2008.
- New York is one of the 2 most diverse states in the U.S. with 39% of the population being minority.
- Employment of women and minorities and improvement of minority neighborhoods.
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For more information contact Beverly Neufeld, EPCNYC Coordinator at info@nywa.org
Visit us at: www.equalpaynewyork.org
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New York Women's Agenda
P.O. Box 8419
New York, New York 10150-8419
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