Tuesday April 2 is the recognized Equal Pay Day for white women for 2019; it symbolizes how far into the next workweek women must work to earn as much as her male counterpart earned in the previous week. And it's been on a Tuesday in April for many years--April designates the same symbolism for annual vs weekly wages.

The National Committee on Pay Equity asks that we all 

Wear RED on Equal Pay Day 
to symbolize how far women 
and minorities are "in the red" with their pay! 

The House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act just yesterday (March 27, 2019), but it's not likely that the Senate will take it up for a vote. This bill would close loopholes of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 that has not sufficiently closed the pay gap:  it would prevent employers from using salary history in hiring decisions, eliminate retaliation against employees who share their pay data with other employees, and require reporting of pay to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 

The Legislative committee will continue to learn more about equal pay, as well as the Equal Rights Amendment, and I'll post more here throughout April in recognition of Equal Pay Day.

As always, please help to spread the word and raise awareness!

Irene Strohbeen, co-chair MDWA Legislative Committee