TUESDAY, APRIL 19 IS EQUAL PAY DAY. It is observed in April to indicate how far into each year a woman must work to earn as much as a man earned in the previous year.
As mayor I have an affirmative duty to ensure equal employment opportunity in Benicia, and I have pledged to ensure the diversity for our boards, commissions and committees. And as a member of the American Association of University Women, I am responding to their request to recognize Equal Pay Day.
The gender wage gap hasn’t budged in nearly a decade, leaving women and families to continue to suffer the effects of lost wages. So one might ask, “How far do we have to go before we close the gap?”
In the recent words of Hillary Clinton, this is a matter of “unfinished business.”
More women in the United States are obtaining college degrees and increasing their participation in the labor force. Family-friendly legislation, including the Equal Pay Act, Family and Medical Leave Act and Pregnancy Discrimination Act, has increased options to create a win-win situation for women and their employers. Yet the wage gap between men and women persists.
In 2011, women working full-time earned an average of 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. According to one estimate, college-educated women working full-time earn more than a half million dollars less than their male peers earn over the course of a lifetime.
Equal pay equity is a family issue
A 1999 study found that nationwide, working families lose $200 billion in income annually because of the wage gap between men and women. Some more facts:
• If married women were paid comparably to men, they would see an almost 6 percent rise in their family’s income.
• Single working women would see the greatest increase in family income. If they earned as much as comparable men, their families would have 17 percent more income per year, and their poverty rate would be cut in half.
• College-educated women who entered the workforce between 1984 and 2004 have lost $1.7 trillion in income because of the pay gap.
• One study found that if married women were paid the same as men doing comparable work, their families’ poverty rates would fall from 2.1 to 0.8 percent. If single working mothers earned as much as men doing comparable work, their poverty rates would be cut in half.
The 2013 edition of “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap” is available for download at www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/.
Unfairness from the start of a career
Another AAUW report, “Graduating to a Pay Gap,” found that 20 percent of women working full-time one year after graduation devote more than 15 percent of their earnings to paying back college loans.
This report compared “apples to apples” by exploring earnings differences between men and women one year out of college working full-time in the same occupations and controlling for factors known to affect earnings, such as college major and hours worked. The report found that:
• Women in engineering and engineering technology earned an average salary of $48,493 a year, compared to $55,142 for men.
• Women in business fields earned an average salary of $38,034 a year, compared to $45,143 for men.
• Women in social sciences fields earned an average salary of $31,924 a year, compared to $38,634 for men.
Pay equity is essential to having a highly motivated workforce
Efforts to address longstanding discriminatory practices that contribute to the gender-based wage gap have been thwarted in Congress for several years. Key among them is the Paycheck Fairness Act (S 84/HR 377), which would expand on the original scope of the Equal Pay Act. Passed by the House in January 2009 with a bipartisan vote (256-163), the Paycheck Fairness Act was defeated in the Senate in November 2010. The bill was reintroduced in the 112th Congress on April 12, 2011, in the same form that nearly succeeded previously, yet on May 31, 2012, the House voted 233-180 against considering the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The Paycheck Fairness Act was reintroduced in the 113th Congress on Jan. 23, 2013. If passed, the act, as currently written, would:
• Allow individuals to sue for fair wages and to receive punitive and compensatory damages beyond back pay alone.
• Clarify acceptable reasons for differences in pay and close loopholes in the current law by forcing employers to prove that wage gaps are caused by something other than gender.
• Authorize additional training for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff to better identify and handle wage disputes.
• Strengthen penalties that courts may impose for equal pay violations and prohibit retaliation against workers who inquire about or disclose information about employers’ wage practices.
• Make it easier for an Equal Pay Act lawsuit to proceed as a class-action suit.
• Require the EEOC to survey the current pay data and issue regulations within 18 months, requiring employers to submit any needed pay data identified by the race, sex and national origin of employees.
• Strengthen the provision under the current Equal Pay Act that broadly states wage comparisons must be made between employees working at the same establishment, which allows for courts to interpret the clause to mean the same physical place of business.
• Require the U.S. Department of Labor to reinstate equal pay activities and investigatory enforcement tools for cases of gender discrimination, which were eliminated under the Bush administration.
• Establish a competitive grant program to develop training for women and girls on compensation negotiations.
If you think this campaign is new and the so-called “War against Women” is recent, read “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,” by Susan Faludi (1991!); and “Feminism and Suffrage: The Emergence of an Independent Women’s Movement in America, 1848-1869,” by Ellen Carol DuBois.
. . . the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die. — Ted Kennedy
Elizabeth Patterson is the mayor of Benicia.
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How many Coda employees are currently getting ‘equal pay’?
Sorry Mayor Patterson I have worked all my working career in supporting women and for sure their rights. Just where were you in 1958 when I was supporting equal pay, no discrimination and for sure equal righs. I did it and am very proud of that fact I know first hand the inequities for women. Mayor Patterson I do not think you do. I worked in Richmond when there where no blacks male or female working in the stores. I worked hard to make it equal and also available to minorities and for sure women. Where were you? In my career I have had very capable women as my superiors and never thougth one thing about t. They were very good at the job and I was very happy to work for them and learn from them. I have been a very strong supporter of women my entire working career and still am. I believe the people of my era were the pioneers on womens rights and get no credit. It is very discusting. Mayor Patterson my era paved the way for women, equal pay and no discrimination. You benefited from it. Give credit where credit is due.
Mayor Patterson none of the things that you think government can fix were even discussed. We did and it was very difficult. All these lists you put up are not relevant. It is up to people like the folks of my era to correct it. Guess what Mayor Patterson we did. So take a vaction and understand the accomplishments that others did for you Mayor Patterson. You do not appreciate it. There is stall a long ways too go, but you are of no help.
You’ve been nothing but a roadblock all your life, hard to expect you to be anything more now.
Rules, regulations or laws have never righted a wrong. It was always done by individuals. If laws and regulations were the case we would not have any crime. Explain to me why we have prisons. Individuals brought to the attention of employers the rights of individuals and in most cases they were addressed. The laws or regulations had nothing to do with it. I would hope Headley and Real American during their working career were big supporters of womens rights. That is how it gets done.
Mr. Livesay, please inform us in what you did personally for women’s rights. We can’t wait to read about it.
Read what I said.
Brava to our wonderful mayor!
Please notice the last paragraph. The mayor encourages businesses to evaluate womens pay. As I said it is individuals or that statement would not be necessary.
Pathetic that you would try to dominate this of all conversations. Do you really think you have ANYTHING to teach me or Elizabeth on this subject? You are a very bad representative of your gender Bob. Take your ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR elsewhere.
The Mayor’s article hasn’t even appeared in newsprint yet, and the Bob is on his expectable broken-record attack. Two comments here on 4/5 and three more on 4/6 – commenter abuse, as always, again and again, repetitively, ad nauseum. Mr. Livesay demeans the meaning of meaningful community participation. As always, he will respond by attacking this post and others who call him to more responsible citizenship. He grinds his axe predictably and with a repetitiveness and self-absorption that leaves thoughtful readers repelled. The Benicia Herald suffers loss of readership due to this juvenile and insulting everyday commentary.
Actually, I find Bob Livesay’s comments entertaining and interesting and, believe it or not, he does sometimes have somethng useful to say. I don’t agree with all of what he says and he does post a lot — but how is it “responsible citizenship” on your part to try to exclude his voice? Do you only want to hear comments that you agree with?
What is “demeaning” are ad hominem attacks on people that you personally don’t like or don’t agree with..
BB: You PRESUME I disagree with BL’s content. True enough, I do disagree most of the time, but like you, not always. My comment here was to call into question his attack modality, his kneejerk predictability, and his massive omnipresence on these pages. He makes himself the center of attention in a most juvenile (if not mentally imbalanced) way. It can’t be good for the community, and certainly is harmful to the credibility of the Benicia Herald. Enough. I’ll back out now and let others pick up the thread. Maybe someone will even decide to comment on the article by Mayor Patterson!
Well said, Jeff!
RA stated You’ve been nothing but a roadblock all your life
You are a very bad representative of your gender Bob.
to his impotent fury, the Village Idiot and his clueless cohort.
Bob is constantly matched, almost post for post by Real American, whose vile, as well as personal attacks far exceed anything that Bob Livesay says, yet she is not condemned. Why?
Her husband was banned from this site because of his personal attacks, while she carries the banner for him in attempting to silence anyone with whom she disagrees, while having a particularly odious response to both Bob and myself.
Much the same is also applicable to Shelby, who also has the habit of making things very personal. Yes, I respond in kind, because if I am attacked, I will fight back; rarely have I struck the first blow.
I previously asked for a truce, but it was predictably ignored. Not calling out the loathsome behavior of both Shelby and RA indicates that their behavior is acceptable, while that of Bob’s is not.
Just as predictable will be her response to this post, which will follow her well established pattern
Sorry Dennis, on this one, Bob stepped in it and needs to quietly retreat. Not the best place to make a stand in his defense. Time and place.
Point taken Frank. My post was intended to be directed at the following comments from Jeff:
(Bob)will respond by attacking this post and others…
The Benicia Herald suffers loss of readership due to this juvenile and insulting everyday commentary.
With the above in mind, I believe my comment to have been appropriate.
Bob and I disagree in regards to the Mayor. I have worked with her on two citizen committee’s and was impressed with the extent of her knowledge on the issues that both committee’s were examining. Though she is clearly on the left side of the spectrum, her approach was both fair and reasonable, with a willingness to listen to divergent views. In that regard, she is unlike many of those of similar accord who post here.
Grasp at straws much?
That is your opinion Jeff and your opinion only. I point something out to the local Liberals and they go gooofy over nothing. Read what the Mayor says about her duty. She has no control over pay or hiring. The mayor/council can only hire and fire two people. City Manager and City Attorney. The mayor has one vote only. It is about time the residents understand that this city is not run by the mayor. She can not even get the budget right. This a pure photo op for the mayor. Have any of you read her e-mail blast about a resident in this city. If you did you might change your mind and understand what I am talking about. You may not like my straight forward approach. But that is who I am. I think you will find out I do my homework.
“This a pure photo op for the mayor.” No, you steaming piece of offal, this is a principled stand, however nonbinding, on one of the greatest issues of our times. It deserves a better debate than to be hijacked over your obsessive hatred of our wonderful mayor.
Am I the only woman who will comment on this? If so, thank you Elizabeth Patterson, for continuing to be a classy presence in a town that increasingly doesn’t deserve you — and for ignoring, to his impotent fury, the Village Idiot and his clueless cohort.
Bob, I used to enjoy hearing/reading your comments but lately you have become a stereotypical old geezer blow hard. Why you felt the need to start posting what you have done and questioning what the mayor has done instead of stating that you are for equal pay is, quite honestly, beyond me.
Read what I said. I am for equal pay. I said equal pay and no discrimination. Now please tell what is wrong with that. The issue here is that you and others do not like my political views. All I was telling everyone is that this issue is not new and I was glad to do my best during my career. Now tell me what is wrong with standing up for women. It appears the folks that are commenting do not like the fact that I had a long career and always stood up for everyones rights. I would hope all of you did the same.
I am the only person that has posted on this run that has stated I asm for equal pay and rights for women and all others. Not one other person has stated they are for equal pay and womens rights. I do and it is wrong and I am attacked by Real American with the usual stuff. Yes I did say I did not like the Mayor glorifying her stance and forgetting to remember that others have worked for equal pay and rights for women also. The single most important statement I made was I was for equal pay and rights for women. That went completely over everyones head and it is now was about me and not equal pay. That was wrong on others. Just remember others including some of the posters could have been involved also.
Not true. I am for equal pay. And while I agree with DDL’s comment about others, everything you have been posting lately Bob seems to be a challenge to the mayor. You did not state you agree with her – you only questioned what she had done when compared to you. I did not know it was a competition. Your every comment seems to be focused on you, whether it be this issue or the earlier issue where you refer everyone to a letter you had written earlier. While I appreciate your opinion you come across as an arrogant schmuck in that you come across as the only one with an opinion that counts and quite frankly, your constant challenge to the mayor on this issue and every other one starts to wear very thin. And I happen to be in agreement with you much more often than not. You have become as predictable as Ernst and his rantings about billionaire filth.
Frank I defend equal pay for women you have not. Tell me where I stepped in it.
Well bud it’s telling that you don’t know. But I’ll try to bring you up to speed. There’s no cause, and no good reason, to attack the mayor on this. In fact it’s a good chance to show you aren’t a one-issue guy — that issue being anti whatever the mayor is for — by agreeing with her stance on equal pay. What’s so hard about that? You going after her like you do all the time just shows who here has the agenda. Get my drift?
My post about the mayor and her issues is very consistent. I have watched her for four years and do not agree on her agenda or her photo op. You notice I am very critical on her budget, Enviro Greenie, Coda, E-mail blasts on a very fine person, $8,000 a year in tax payer money. Now is that wrong. All of you seem to want to forget that and give her a pass. I will not. If you agree with her stances say so. But cut out the attack on me because I disagree. None of you have even commented on those issues. What everyone forgets is I am for equal pay and all human rights. Everyone has taken this issue to a point of anti Bob Livesay. Thats fine. But at the same time understand why I am taking these stances. I do not agree with her approach on issues. This equal pay issue has been going for a long time. All of a sudden everyone think it is new. It is not. If you do not like my stance on the mayor and her approach to issues just say so. I can live with that. Again I do agree with the mayor on her stance on equal pay and have stated that. Is it not time you got that message. All this is about is style.
You’re a lowlife troll who can’t even agree with the mayor when you agree with her. You’re a cyber stalker and a bully. A contemptible, vile person whose criticism should be considered praise. So by all means, keep digging that hole you’re in.
Old boy whatever you’re trying to accomplish here you ain’t getting it done, unless its to piss off a lot of people who might agree with you otherwise. Your issues with the mayor may be legit but why bring them up over and over? Why here? You’re hurting no one but yourself son and that’s a fact.
For the record I believe in equal pay, and I don’t live on Benicia anymore so I didn’t vote for the mayor. But on this she seems like a articulate and smart messenger.
I don’t think the Mayor was in ANY way diminishing the work that Mr. Livesay and his cohorts did back in the day – although having lived through that era myself, I can say he would have DEFINITELY been in the minority as a man sticking up for women in the workplace. I don’t understand why he would use this piece as an excuse to attack her when she was, in effect, stating what he claims he has always believed in. We are all beneficiaries of the previous generations’ work; but wise people don’t sit around saying, “Where were you when I was toiling away so diligently?” Wise people say, “You are right, Mayor, we still have a long, long way to go in the fight I joined 50 years ago.” I would also argue that legislation DOES change what people do, not just individuals. In spite of some current efforts in certain states to slide back to the 50s, Civil Rights laws of the 60s and 70s DID change what people could do, in spite of many “individuals” who fought to maintain the status quo. Lily Ledbetter passed over the strong opposition of a large majority of men who claimed that paying women equally for equal work would be the end of civilization as we know it; the mayor’s piece, backed up by strong research by the American Association of University Women (a well-respected organization admired by thinking people of all persuasions and genders) merely says that we still have a long way to go and anyone, ANYONE who has a female in the family should be hoping that what she says comes to pass, and soon.
Thank you, Mayor Patterson for championing equal pay for women this month. The studies and statistics you lift up are more than persuasive – they are a call to action. Yes, like you, many of us in Benicia have been working on these issues for a long time, and yet we have so much further to go. How can an issue like this be addressed at a local level? Your efforts at making appointments that move toward equal representation are laudable, but how do we survey the wages and salaries that women earn right here in Benicia? How do we encourage employers to provide equal pay for equal work here at home? Are there statistics to compare the pay of women and men on the city’s payroll? Can individual employers be asked to make public their records, and challenged to improve year after year? Would Valero and Amports be willing to lead the way on this?
After reading the comments on this topic I did not use good judgement. I do agree with what the mayor said and have always supported women equal pay and rights. I must admit this is a very sensitive topic to women and also me. My judgement failed me this time. To all who were affend I do apologise.
Well said – thank you.
Thank you, Bob.
sorry for the typos. should be offened and apologize
Well said bud.
Mr. Straw, stated,
Thank you, Mayor Patterson for championing equal pay for women this month. The studies and statistics you lift up are more than persuasive – they are a call to action. Yes, like you, many of us in Benicia have been working on these issues for a long time, and yet we have so much further to go. How can an issue like this be addressed at a local level? Your efforts at making appointments that move toward equal representation are laudable, but how do we survey the wages and salaries that women earn right here in Benicia? How do we encourage employers to provide equal pay for equal work here at home? Are there statistics to compare the pay of women and men on the city’s payroll? Can individual employers be asked to make public their records, and challenged to improve year after year? Would Valero and Amports be willing to lead the way on this?
1963 and counting…
Mr. Straw’s excellent comments and questions should be followed up. Could Mayor Patterson do a Part-2- article on these very relevant questions? Maybe the Herald could consider an article? Would the League Of Women voters be able to supply some of the answers? The Chamber of Commerce is a powerful force with strong business ties, could they provide some answers? Just a thought, maybe Supervisor Linda Seifert and her staff could do a study with regards equal pay for women in Solano County?
After all, as the the resolution states:
“Whereas, 50 YEARS after passage of the Equal Pay Act, women, especially minority women, continue to suffer the consequences of unequal pay; “
Q: What about pay equity for women?
OBAMA: The first bill I signed was something called the Lilly Ledbetter bill.
ROMNEY: [As governor faced with an all-male cabinet], I went to a number of women’s groups and said, “Can you help us find folks?” And they brought us whole binders full of women.
STEIN: Well, we basically just heard Mitt Romney say, “Trust me. You know, I’m a CEO that likes to invest my money offshore, that likes to fire people, and that supports free trade agreements and Bain Capital-type investments that move our jobs overseas.” So, this doesn’t sound exactly reassuring for providing work equity for women. And Barack Obama points to many programs that he says have made the difference, but clearly they haven’t made the difference. Women are still being paid far less. Women-headed households have a 40 percent poverty rate relative to the 15 percent poverty rate among the general population. So, we have a critical problem.
Source: Democracy Now! Expanded Second Obama-Romney 2012 debate , Oct 16, 2012