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Wear RED on Equal Pay Day (March 14th) to symbolize how far women and minorities are “in the red” with their pay!
Overall, a woman earns only 82 cents for every dollar that a man earns. And the gap widens with women of color. In fact, it is estimated that a Latina woman will earn only 55 cents for every dollar that a white man earns, putting her equal pay day far back into the year, on October 21.
On February 6, 2023, the Center for American Progress issued a fact sheet titled The State of Women in the Labor Workforce. While women’s participation in the workforce has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the Center found that women’s earnings, across age groups, continue to lag behind that of their male counterparts. The pay differential remains greater for women of color.
Want Equal Pay? Get a Union. According to an article by Wendy Chun-Hoon, Director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor and Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO, being represented by a union reduces women’s wage gap by nearly 43 percent compared to the pay gap experienced by non-union women. For Black and Latina women, the union advantage is even greater. This translates into hundreds of thousands of additional dollars in union women’s pockets over the course of their careers (Chun-Hoo & Shuler).
Having a union contract helps with pay equity in large part because of the transparency and equality it provides. Collective bargaining agreements apply to all workers regardless of their gender or race. Union members feel more comfortable to speak out about disparities because of the support of their union.
Now is the time to act! Encourage Women to Join a Union!
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/equal-pay-day.html
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/equal-pay-day/
