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What
People Are Saying About Fair Pay |
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"...Equal pay is by no means just a women's issue -- it's a family issue.... And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month's paycheck to simple and plain discrimination.... Ultimately, equal pay isn't just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families, it's a question of who we are -- and whether we're truly living up to our fundamental ideals; whether we'll do our part, as generations before us, to ensure those words put on paper some 200 years ago really mean something -- to breathe new life into them with a more enlightened understanding that is appropriate for our time...."
President Barack Obama, on signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, January 27, 2009
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The world today is
vastly different than it was in 1983, but sadly, one
thing that has remained the same is the pay gap between
men and women. After accounting for so many external
factors, it seems that still, at the root of it all,
men get an inherent annual bonus just for being men.
If this continues, the only guarantees in life will
be death, taxes and the glass ceiling.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14),
who, along with Rep. John Dingell, released results
of new GAO report on women's earnings, Nov. 20, 2003 |
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The
pay gap is real, it is persistent and it is costing hardworking
families thousands of dollars annually. This is not just
a women's issue--it's a family issue. The price of a family
should not be a woman's career.
Rep. John Dingell (MI-15),
who, along with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, released results
of new GAO report on women's earnings, Nov. 20, 2003 |
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Discrimination
is still a reality, even when it takes different forms.
Instead of Jim Crow, there is racial redlining and profiling.
Instead of separate but equal, there is
separate and forgotten. Strong civil rights enforcement
will be a cornerstone of my administration.
Former Governor George Bush, NAACP Annual Convention,
Baltimore, July 10, 2000 |
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Some
say that market forces will take care of the wage gap.
If we had relied on market forces, we would have never
passed the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical
Leave Act, or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), May 11, 2000 |
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Discrimination
is against the interests of business...Yet business
people often practice it. In the end, the costs are
higher, less real output is produced, and the nation's
wealth accumulation is slowed.
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, in a speech
to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Washington,
D.C.
The Boston Globe, March 23, 2000 |
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The
folks at Wimbledon recently rejected a request to give
female players the same amount that the male players
get...the women are carrying the promotional load and
bringing fans through the turnstiles. They should be
paid accordingly.
John McEnroe, New York Times, June 6, 1999. |
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Countries rarely have
conditions like this. If we can't use this moment to deal
with these long-term challenges, including the equal pay
challenge, when will we ever get around to it?
President William Jefferson Clinton, remarking on the
nation's low unemployment and strong economy. Equal Pay
Roundtable, April 7, 1999. |
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Is it acceptable then
for women to leave at 1:48 on Thursday afternoon because
that's three-quarters of a work week?
National Business and Professional Women/USA President
Susan Dailey, on the fact that women, on average, earn
three-quarters of what men earn. April 8, 1999 (Equal
Pay Day) |
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I have always believed
that contemporary gender discrimination within universities
is part reality and part perception. True, but now I
understand that reality is by far the greater of the
balance.
Charles M. Vest, President of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT), upon the release of a study documenting
a pattern of gender discrimination at the School of
Science.
New York Times, March 23, 1999 |
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Discrimination has
no place in the workplace...The settlement reflects
our commitment to enforce equal employment opportunity
in the workplace and ensure that employees of federal
contractors are paid in a fair and equitable manner.
Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexis Herman, commenting
on a settlement in which Corestates Financial Corp.
agreed to pay $1.5 million in back wages and salary
adjustments to minority and female workers. A routine
compliance review of the company's corporate-management
practices conducted by the DOL found that the workers
were paid less than comparable white males. According
to Secretary Herman, about 73% of the corporate-management
reviews result in the finding of some type of employment
discrimination.
The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 1998 |
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Older male bosses
at my company have said that women should not be paid
as much as men because women have the option of marrying
rich.
A respondent to Glamour Magazine's survey on whether
affirmative action programs are necessary for women,
1998 |
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