Gender Pay Gap: When Will We Have Equal Pay for Equal Work?
The gender pay gap is an important issue and change needs to be made soon. Women get paid 79¢ for every $1 that men get payed by working the same job. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the pay gap has barely budged in a decade, and at the current rate, the gap won't close for more than 100 years. Men and women should be treated equally. Eliminating the gender pay gap is one way to ensure that men and women are equal.
Kerri Sleeman is a real life example of the gender pay gap. Elizabeth Owens, from the American Association of University Women, published an article called “Bankruptcy Court Revealed ‘Heartbreaking’ Pay Inequality”. Kerri Sleeman worked at a laser welding and assembly company for five years. Even before she took the job offer, the company told her up front that they don't negotiate pay and ¨The offer is what it is¨. Sleeman took the job and was happy when they offered her benefits. In 2003, the company ended up becoming bankrupt. Sleeman had to get her last paycheck and any vacation pay through court. She was part of a mailing list so she could see what other claims the court owed to the company. Sleeman noticed that people, mostly men, whom she had supervised were on the court list and were getting payed much more than Sleeman. Sleeman recalls, ¨It was heartbreaking. I was disappointed and angry and thought that maybe someday I could figure out why it had happened.” She went back and talked to her former supervisor. He said that the pay probably wasn’t negotiable when she was hired and that most of the men hired were the sole providers of their household. Sleeman was very frustrated by what she heard and became very passionate about the gender pay gap. She says, “Pay inequity is a family issue. It affects everybody.” Now Sleeman leads workshops at colleges that teach female students how to sustain and negotiate fair pay.
There are many different organizations that support the fight of the gender pay gap. The National Committee on Pay Equity was founded in Washington D.C. in 1979. They are a group that comes together for women's and civil rights organizations. The National Committee on Pay Equity is trying to eliminate sex-and race-based wage discrimination and to get equal pay. Their main focus is on women and minorities. This is an advocacy organization with the goal of attaining equal pay for equal work. They have a comprehensive website with various reports and statistics, suggestions of how to promote equal pay, and membership options. Get involved by becoming a voting or associate member and joining the Equal Pay Day campaign. In addition, to prevent more unequal pay, businesses can make sure to treat all employees equally, individuals can contact members from the House of Representatives and tell them how important equal pay is and ask congress to cosponsor the bill that'll help to achieve fair pay as well as form or join wage clubs, and employers can evaluate themselves to make sure they're making equal pay happen.
As it has been noted, change must be made in order to terminate the gender pay gap once and for all. Men and women need to be treated equally. Get involved with the National Committee on Pay Equity or any other gender pay gap organization and join the fight against pay inequality between men and women.
Works Cited
American Association of University Women, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Bankruptcy Court Revealed "Heartbreaking" Pay Inequity." American Association of University Women, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
The National Committee On Pay Equity, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016