WASHINGTON – On the fifth anniversary of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, high-ranking congressional Democrats called Wednesday for Republicans to stop blocking reforms that would protect women in the workplace.
“There is no reason on God’s green Earth why [women] should not be treated equally with their male counterparts,” said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “Therefore this effort is central to America’s effort to justice, fairness and equal protection.”
The House Democratic Policy and Steering Committee outlined its economic agenda, which aims to address wage inequality, child care shortfalls and the struggle of women to balance work and family life.
In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she was “absolutely thrilled” that President Barack Obama honed in on the value of women in the workplace in his State of the Union address Tuesday night and called the mention “a victory in speech” for House Democrats.
“This year,” Obama said Tuesday night, “ let’s all come together – Congress, the White House and businesses from Wall Street to Main Street – to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. Because I firmly believe when women succeed, America succeeds.”
Lilly Ledbetter, whose story inspired 2009 legislation that lengthens the time for filing wage discrimination lawsuits, said she is outraged by continued gender prejudice in the workplace. After her family struggled financially, she accepted a management job at a Goodyear tire factory. After 19 years of working there, she received an anonymous note that showed she was being paid 40 percent less than her male co-workers.
Women’s rights advocate Lilly Ledbetter testified in front of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Wednesday. She said she is frustrated that the Fair Pay Act has stalled in Congress. (Sara Olstad/Medill)
“The first initial thought was my overtime hours. How much my family had been shorted. How much we had done without. How little my children had had when they should’ve had more. Also, the next thought was my retirement. … All of those had been shortchanged,” she said. “That’s when my battle began for fair pay. I just could not let it go.”
The Fair Pay Act of 2013 was introduced in the Senate and House a year ago on Jan. 29, the fourth anniversary of the Ledbetter act passage. The bill would make it illegal for employers to base wage differences on sex, race, nationality or anything other than seniority, work quality or productivity. Both versions of the bill are stalled in committees.
While Pelosi said her caucus was energized by the president’s words, her outlook on impending action in the House was less enthusiastic. She claimed that Democrats are fully behind the agendas she and the president outlined, but that Republicans are “indifferent” and that she doesn’t know when they would bring up a bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that there could be action on the upper chamber’s version in April. He said the next step would be a final review of the bill in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the sponsor of the bill.
Top Republican lawmakers could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
