Tag Archives: National Women’s Law Center

Here’s a “fun” fact for you: 49 years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, women working full-time are paid just 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. And the wage gap is far worse for women of color.

Earlier this week, we asked you to urge President Obama to ban federal contractors from retaliating against employees who talk about their wages. But that’s only one front in women’s struggle to achieve equal pay for equal work. Will you help?

Please donate $10 today to support the Center’s work on Paycheck Fairness and other issues important to women and their families.

With millions of Americans still unemployed or underemployed, the wage gap isn’t a question of equity alone: closing it is an economic necessity. The Center is pushing hard to revive the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill stalled by a determined minority of opponents in the last Congress. Among many other economic issues, we’re also fighting for increases in the minimum wage and for funding for the child care support so vital for women with children who work outside the home.

Please donate $10 today to support the Center’s work to eliminate the wage gap and push for other policies critical to women and their families.

Without you and the other members of our activist community, we wouldn’t be able to advocate as effectively as we do. Can you take an extra step today? Please donate $10 to support the Center’s work. Thank you for all the help you give.

Sincerely

Fatima Goss Graves Vice President for Education and Employment National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Please donate today — Your support will make a difference.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Shh! Never Discuss Your Salary … Fatima Goss Graves, National Women’s Law Center

04/19/2012 Nativegrl77

Never discuss your salary with anyone.

That’s what they told Lilly Ledbetter on her first day on the job in 1979. It wasn’t until she found an anonymous note in her locker that Lilly realized that she was being paid as much as 40% less than her male colleagues in the same position.

This sort of pay secrecy policy that punishes employees helps to hide discriminatory pay practices. And here’s the kicker: Lilly worked all those years for Goodyear Tire & Rubber, which had the privilege of being a federal contractor.

Today is Equal Pay Day — the day that a typical woman’s wages finally catch up to a typical man’s in 2011. Ask President Obama to ban federal contractors from retaliating against employees who talk about wages.

It took Lilly 20 years to find out that she was being paid less than her male co-workers. But we know that Lilly is not alone: nearly fifty years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, women working full time are paid just 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. And the wage gap is far worse for women of color.

It’s time to end punishing pay secrecy policies among federal contractors.

The President has the executive power to protect employees who work in companies that have federal contracts. Presidents have used executive orders to address other workplace rights, including requiring that contractors protect their employees from discrimination on the job.

In recognition of Equal Pay Day, join us in calling on President Obama to end retaliatory pay secrecy policies in federal contracting.

Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,

Fatima Goss Graves
Vice President for Education and Employment
National Women’s Law Center
P.S. NWLC has some brand new resources released for Equal Pay Day. Check out our interactive wage gap map and new fact sheets on the wage gap and women of color, minimum wage and combating punitive pay secrecy policies.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Their Fair Share by the Numbers …Joan Entmacher, National Women’s Law Center

04/12/2012 Nativegrl77

Tired of fighting cuts to programs that women and their families depend on in the name of deficit reduction — while millionaires and billionaires haven’t been asked to contribute an extra penny? Think it’s time for millionaires and billionaires who pay lower tax rates than many middle-class Americans to start paying their fair share?

Take Action: Tell your Senators to support the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012! WWW.NWLC.ORG

On April 16, we expect the Senate to vote on an important piece of legislation, the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 (S. 2230). The bill would ensure that those with incomes over $1 million annually pay at least 30 percent of their income in federal taxes. The legislation, introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, was inspired by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who highlighted the unfairness of a tax system that permits him to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary.

It’s time for this absurdity to stop. We can’t afford to continue lavish tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. To help demonstrate the real cost of tax breaks for millionaires, we’ve put together a new infographic:

That’s right. This year, the average millionaire gets a tax break of $143,000 — enough to support child care assistance for 24 children, Pell Grants to 37 college students, or a home-delivered meal each day for 249 seniors.

This is a tradeoff we can’t afford to make any longer. Please share our infographic today and urge your Senators to support the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012!

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Vice President,

Family Economic Security National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Please help us continue to advocate for policies that protect and improve economic security for women and their families by making a generous donation today.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The Rebuild America Act lays out a vision of a better America for women and their families … Joan Entmacher, National Women’s Law Center

04/02/2012 Nativegrl77

National Women's Law Center - Don't Discount Women: Demand Fair Change Not Spare Change


	Thank Senator Harkin for Working to Rebuild America



	The Rebuild America Act lays out a vision of a better America for women and their families.

Now this is more like it! You and I both know that we’ve had to spend a lot of time playing defense to protect critical programs and hard-won rights. But while we’ve been on the defensive, we’ve also been advocating for policies that lift up and support ALL Americans and that provide a clear path to a better future.
Now our efforts are paying off. Just yesterday, Senator Tom Harkin introduced the Rebuild America Act, which would improve economic security for women and their families. The Rebuild America Act makes investments to promote widely shared prosperity and finances them in a fair and fiscally responsible way.
This type of opportunity doesn’t come along every day. Join us in saying ‘Thank you!’ to Senator Harkin for introducing this important bill!
What kinds of prosperity are we talking about? First and foremost — jobs. The Rebuild America Act recognizes the need for quantity and quality when it comes to job creation. The bill provides funding to help states and localities hire teachers and other public service workers — an especially crucial sector for women, who have lost nearly 70 percent of the public sector jobs cut since June of 2009. It also invests in infrastructure and manufacturing — and increases support for job training and education to expand access to these jobs among underrepresented populations.
And that’s not all. The bill also would increase the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage, advancing fair pay for women who represent nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers; provide significant new funding to make child care more affordable for families, help states improve the quality of child care, and increase the supply of high-quality programs in low-income communities; give workers access to paid sick days, which could also be used to care for a sick child or aged parent; and improve Social Security benefits. And these critical investments would be financed by ensuring that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes and closing tax loopholes.
Please thank Senator Harkin today for standing up for the prosperity of all Americans.
We’ll continue to need your help in fighting defensive battles. In fact, just yesterday, in a nearly party-line vote, the House approved the extreme and dangerous budget introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), which would devastate services vital to women and their families at every stage of their lives and repeal the Affordable Care Act — while giving trillions of dollars in new tax cuts to millionaires and corporations. But we also need to take the time to thank leaders like Senator Harkin who are working to restore an economy that works for everyone and expand opportunities for women.
Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Vice President, Family Economic Security National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Want to know more? Be sure to check out our new fact sheet on the Rebuild America Act. For more information on the child care and early learning provisions in the Act, check out our more extensive summary.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Say NO to Ryan’s Devastating Budget …Joan Entmacher and Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center

03/28/2012 Nativegrl77


	Take Action: Tell Your Representative to Vote NO on Paul Ryan’s Budget



	Don’t slash programs for women & families to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and corporations!

	WWW.NWLC.ORG

You’ve heard of slash and burn, but how about slash and burden?

On Thursday, the House is expected to vote on a budget for Fiscal Year 2013 introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). The Ryan budget would devastate vital services for women and their families while giving trillions in new tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations — on top of extending provisions of the Bush-era tax cuts that benefit only the very wealthy.

Let’s make it clear that we will not stand for a budget that slashes programs for women and families and puts the burden of paying for tax breaks for millionaires and corporations on middle- and low-income Americans.

Tell your Representative to oppose the Ryan Budget. As your Members of Congress start budget negotiations, they need to know that their constituents expect them to protect programs for women and families — and to require the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

What’s wrong with Rep. Paul Ryan’s Budget? For starters, it would:

Repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Insurance companies could continue to charge women higher premiums than men, deny coverage to women due to preexisting condition, and refuse to cover maternity care.
Slash and block grant Medicaid. Millions of vulnerable women would lose their health coverage, and elderly women and women with disabilities would lose long-term care services.
Raise the Medicare eligibility age and replace the Medicare guarantee with a voucher. A “premium support” voucher that wouldn’t keep pace with health care costs would dramatically increase health care costs for seniors, especially burdening women who already have to pay higher out-of-pocket costs from lower incomes.
Cut Food Stamps (SNAP) and other core safety net programs that are especially important to women and children who face higher rates of poverty.
Slash funding for other critical programs like child care, Head Start, education, Pell Grants, women’s preventive health care, domestic violence prevention and much, much more.
Put cuts to Social Security on the fast track and reject proposals that would strengthen Social Security by raising revenues form the highest earners.
Give trillions of dollars in new tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations by cutting tax rates for millionaires and corporations on top of permanently extending Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest.