League of Women Voters of the Copper Country
Women earn less, on average, than do men. This difference, the gender wage gap, is 20% (2017), on average, across all workers. The gap is even larger for women of color. The problem is present even just one year from graduation.
A Tuesday early in April is Equal Pay Day, a day that symbolizes the extra days women work, on average, to catch up to what the average man earned the previous year. Red is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are “in the red.” Join us in raising awareness of this persistent problem.
In years 2016-2019 the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country (Houghton, Michigan) held an Equal Pay Day event on the campus of Michigan Technological University. It was covered in the local media (see links below).
Some may say, since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 the job is done. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) chair reports, however, that this is far from true (see April 2018 newsletter). Acting Director Victoria Lipnic in her newsletter notes this fact, but adds "Still, fifty-five years later, we at the EEOC continue to see discriminatory pay practices that disregard the concept of equal pay for equal work." In that newsletter she gives three concrete examples and concludes, "Yet while we have made great strides, it is clear that there remains much work to be done."
2020
Equal pay day in 2020: 31 March 2020. The League of Women Voters of the Copper Country were at the Husky on Tech's campus from 11:30am to 12:30pm distributing our trifold and booklets from the AAUW.
National Committee on Pay Equity
https://www.pay-equity.org/day.html
2019
Equal pay day was April 2, 2019. The League of Women Voters of the Copper Country were at the Husky on Tech's campus from 11:30am to 12:30pm distributing our trifold and booklets from the AAUW.
We made the news (Channel 6):
https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Red-Out-for-Equal-Pay-Day-at-Michigan-Tech-University--508020391.html
Our trifold:
http://pages.mtu.edu/~fmorriso/misc/PayGap%20trifold%20version2019.pdf
Governor Gretchen Whitmer declares 2 April 2019 Equal Pay Day: https://www.wnem.com/news/gov-whitmer-declares-april-equal-pay-day/article_a7933be0-559f-11e9-8dbc-0f7856780abb.html
2018
Channel 6: (2018)
http://www.
Channel 3: (2018) Escanaba
http://www.upmatters.com/news/equal-pay-day_20180410222126/1112033477
Channel 10: (2018; Marquette AAUW)
https://abc10up.com/2018/04/09/equal-pay-day-not-only-affecting-women/
Faith Morrison's letter to the Daily Mining Gazette on April 7 2018 is linked to below:
http://www.mininggazette.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2018/04/gender-biases-create-pay-gap/
(have to be a subscriber to read online, however. Click here for text.)
Katherine Larson (Marquette AAUW) Letter to the Daily Mining Gazette on April 7 2018 is linked to below:
http://www.mininggazette.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2018/04/equal-pay-day-marks-unfairness/
(have to be a subscriber to read online, however. Click here for text.)
2016
Channel 10: (2016; includes video link)
http://abc10up.com/gender-wage-gap-u-p-presists/
Channel 6: (2016)
http://uppermichiganssource.com/news/local/womens-organizations-express-equal-pay-rights
Faith Morrison's letter to the Daily Mining Gazette on April 9 2016 is linked to below:
http://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/551959/Wage-equality-good-for-everyone.html?nav=5004
( have to be a subscriber to read online, however. Click here for the text.
The Data:
Our trifold:
http://pages.mtu.edu/~fmorriso/misc/PayGap%20trifold%20version2019.pdf
AAUW's "Graduating to a Pay Gap"
http://www.aauw.org/resource/graduating-to-a-pay-gap/
AAUW's 2013 "Behind the Pay Gap"
http://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/Behind-the-Pay-Gap.pdf
