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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown...
Fighting
for Fair Pay
June 16, 2012
Ohioans
work hard, and I believe their hard work deserves fair pay, regardless
of
gender. But today in Ohio, women earn just 85 cents to every dollar a
man
makes. According to the Joint Economic Committee, that earnings gap
means over
the course of their working lives, women lose more than $400,000.
That’s
unconscionable.
Nearly
fifty years ago, Congress passed and President John F. Kennedy signed
the Equal
Pay Act into law, making it illegal for employers to pay men and women
different wages for the same work. But since then, women have made only
minor
gains against the salaries earned by men for performing the same work.
I believe
that equal pay for an equal day’s work should be an American right.
Without
congressional action, women will not achieve pay parity with men until
2056.
And so, if the pay gap continues, women will never be able to catch up.
A lower
salary starting at hire doesn’t just mean a smaller paycheck—it means a
smaller
pension, a diminished 401K, and smaller Social Security check benefits.
The
discrimination that begins at hire continues for life. There’s nothing
fair
about that.
That’s why
I won’t give up fighting for the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would
shore up
the Equal Pay Act and create stronger incentives for employers to
follow the
law while helping women fight pay discrimination when it does occur.
As a father
of daughters and as a husband, I know that this pay gap devalues
women’s work.
And it discourages economic growth—because women make up more than 46
percent
of today’s workforce. The pay gap doesn’t affect just women, it also
affects
their families. Addressing the gender pay gap is a crucial step toward
getting
our economy back on track.
With 33
percent of married mothers in Ohio serving as their families’ primary
wage
earner, and more than 6.3 million working single mothers heading
families
across the United States, it is urgent that women earn the pay they
deserve.
Our economy works better when women can negotiate fairly and when women
are
paid what they’re worth.
Unfortunately,
46 Senators—all in the minority—voted against bringing Paycheck
Fairness Act to
the floor for a vote.
Ohio women
are hard working. Many get up early, stand on their feet all day, then
head
home and take care of their children—and they don’t ask for a handout.
They
don’t ask for a bailout. But they do ask for equal pay.
They ask
that we act now, that we continue the fight for the Paycheck Fairness
Act—for
women everywhere, and for our mothers, our daughters and our families.
It’s
these women that I will think about as we continue to fight together
for
equality and for the Paycheck Fairness Act.
Sincerely,
Sherrod
Brown
U.S.
Senator
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