Equal wages is a fight women were fighting in the 1930s and one that we are still fighting now. Recent Census Bureau data reports that full-time working women make only 77 cents for every dollar that men make per year. However, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is working to change that.
DeLauro is the sponsor of the equal pay legislation the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to change the disparities present in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and to address issues that women are facing in the workplace today. DeLauro filed a discharge petition today which will immediately force a vote if she is able to collect 218 signatures.
Many Republicans, though, oppose the bill. As Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) stated on the House Floor this afternoon, the bill is a “liberal plot” to further pain Republicans as anti-woman.
DeLauro responded to this opposition in an interview with Huffington Post, stating, “I think we’re looking at a group of people who either don’t believe there is a pay gap or who just want to be contrary. This bill isn’t a liberal plot. We have enough statistical information to demonstrate that no matter what the job is, whether you’re a waitress or bus driver or civil engineer, women are paid less money.”
Since every Republican present voted against bringing the bill up for a vote today, DeLauro is unlikely to get all the signatures she needs. However, she is continuing to try to drum up support for the bill. As she stated further, “I say to my Republican colleagues, take a hard look at who voted in the last election. They were mostly women. And they’re looking at who’s doing what.”
Source: Huffington Post
