Friday, April 11, 2014
What We've Been Reading...
Keeping with his State of the Union promise to champion women's rights in the workplace, President Obama signed an executive order on Tuesday addressing the federal government's gender wage gap by penalizing pay secrecy . The order mandates that all federal contractors must publish wage data by gender and race, and also prohibits retaliation by contractors against employees who discuss and compare wages. This transparency would allow women to recognize pay inequity, and act without fear of retribution.
Many laud the President's efforts, but some say it isn't enough as the order only affects federal contractors and does nothing to protect female employees in the private sector. On Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked a debate for the Paycheck Fairness Act, a proposed legislation that would add more safeguards protecting women in the private sector. Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell's reasoning behind the filibuster is that the Paycheck Fairness Act would "double down on job loss, all while lining the pockets of trial lawyers."
U.S. Census Bureau data shows women who work full-time earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar men earn a year. Although the executive order signed by the President aids in this fight, persistent pay discrimination against women still exists in this country. Read more about the inequality here.
On a lighter note, Hillary Clinton showed us yesterday that she is quite agile, as she ducked from a thrown shoe, while delivering the keynote speech at a scrap recycling conference in Las Vegas. Clinton not only avoided the shoe, but tastefully laughed off the incident and moved on with grace. Shoes aren't the only thing Clinton is avoiding these days. She has yet to deliver a definite answer as to whether or not she will be running for President in 2016.
filibuster is that the Paycheck Fairness Act would “double down on job loss, all while
