WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a statement to commemorate Equal Pay Day, a day that symbolizes the date when women’s wages finally catch up to what men were paid in the previous year. In 2019, women worked all of 2018 and through April 2, 2019 to reach equal pay for equal work. Senator Rosen is a co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act. Last week, the House passed the Paycheck Fairness Act by a vote of 242-187.
“Like the vast majority of women today, I witnessed wage discrimination firsthand while working as a computer programmer,” said Senator Rosen. “Equal pay for equal work shouldn’t be something that women have to fight for in 2019. Despite the progress we’ve made, we still cannot say we’ve achieved true gender parity until we end the practice of pay secrecy that for so long has wronged working women – and especially women of color. I’ll continue to champion equal pay for equal work so that we can finally level the playing field for working women everywhere. I hope the leadership in the Senate will do the same and bring the Paycheck Fairness Act that passed the House of Representatives last week to the floor for consideration”
BACKGROUND: One of the first bills that Rosen co-sponsored this Congress is the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen and close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by holding employers accountable for discriminatory practices, ending the practice of pay secrecy, easing workers’ ability to individually or jointly challenge pay discrimination, and strengthening the available remedies for wronged employees. For every dollar a man makes on average in Nevada, a woman makes just 83 cents. This adds up to an annual pay gap of thousands of dollars, and that gap is even wider for women of color, especially among Latinas who make an average of 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes.
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