The Labor Committee is the only committee devoted to the rights, benefits, and protections of working people. It’s the one place designed to ensure workers’ voices are heard.

Next week, the Joint Select Committee on Joint Rules will meet and vote on the elimination of the Labor Committee.

Members of the Labor Committee make decisions about unemployment, equal pay, enforcement of wages, family and medical leave, overtime laws, sick leave, minimum wage, and hundreds of other issues.

The members of the Rules Committee need to hear from you today … and, you can contact them with a few clicks right here, right now. Tell them to OPPOSE elimination of the Labor Committee.

… Right here, right now

In the waning days of the 111th Congress, the Senate must focus on the troubling backlog of judicial nominees. These nominees have not had a hearing yet. Why? Because the process is being obstructed by those who don’t want to see President Obama’s choices for our courts be approved.

What does this mean for you and me? For our communities?

It means that we are in a judicial crisis and that people who need to exercise their right to take action against discrimination and inequity are finding it harder to have their fair day in court.

We have federal courts across the nation in desperate need of judges to fill empty courtrooms, and many of these pending nominees are women and people of color who would bring badly needed and long-overdue diversity to our judicial branch.

Call Senator Snowe at 202-224-5344 and Senator Collins at 202-224-2523 and demand the Senate end the judicial crisis today.

Nominees have been named for courts in a state of judicial emergency, meaning that these courts have been unable to run at “full capacity” for an extended period of time.

A small number of Senators are holding up the process by obstructing votes on nominees. As a result, it’s harder for everyday Americans to access the judicial system and have their fair day in court.

We urge the Senate to put aside partisanship, eliminate obstructionist tactics, and commit to taking yes or no confirmation votes on the pending judicial nominees before adjourning for the holidays.

Call Senator Snowe at 202-224-5344 and Senator Collins at 202-224-2523 and tell them to vote to confirm qualified judges and end the judicial crisis today.

Maine Women’s Lobby Responds to Vote to Defeat Paycheck Fairness Act

Statement of Sarah Standiford, Executive Director, Maine Women’s Lobby

“The failure of the U.S. Senate to proceed to an up-or-down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act has jeopardized the economic standing of Maine’s women, and the families that they support. The Maine Women’s Lobby is disappointed that Senator Snowe and Senator Collins refused to support the cloture motion on Paycheck Fairness.

“The principles of fairness and equity were set back today. Unfortunately, so was the Nation’s economic recovery. Recent U.S. Census data demonstrates that the gender wage gap is widening in Maine. Women in Maine are now earning just 77 cents to a man’s dollar. The bill would have provided grants to improve women’s ability to negotiate for equal pay and deterred discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations (bringing them on par with other civil rights violations). It was designed also to provide greater levels of wage transparency, allowing employees to discover instances of employer discrimination.

“Even though 84% of Americans support these new tools to promote equal pay, unfortunately today, the U.S. Senate failed to stand up for the needs of working women.

“The recovery of the American middle class begins and ends with well-paying jobs, but that cannot happen if women are bringing home less and less each year. Women are increasingly the sole breadwinners for their families. That means equal pay is not just a matter of fairness—but also the key to a family’s ability to make ends meet.

“The question before Maine women is now: How long will we have to wait for fair pay?”

The Maine Women’s Lobby is a non-partisan, non-profit, membership organization working since 1978 to increase opportunities for women and girls through advocacy and legislative action. www.mainewomen.org

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This bill would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages to coworkers.

Women still earn 77 cents to every dollar that a man earns.

Both Senator Snowe and Senator Collins have stood up for equal pay in the past, and today we need to ask them to do it again! Our Senators’ votes are essential for the passage of this bill.

Time is running out for our Senators to get this message from you, “Support the Paycheck Fairness Act!“

Please take a moment – right now – to make the call. Click here to take action.
When you are done taking action, watch this awesome video put together by our friends at the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The U.S. Senate is back in session, and the clock is ticking for fair pay. With three weeks remaining to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, we need our Senators to act – which means they need to hear from us today!

Call your Senator at 1-877-667-6650 and ask them to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this session!

The Senate must make this bill a priority: the Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and by barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages to co-workers. Women in Maine are making just 79 cents to a man’s dollar. Throughout the U.S., that figure is just 77 cents!

Learn more here.

Not only is this an exciting step for same-sex couples across the country, it also reveals the extraordinary power of just a few voices speaking for social change – the case was brought forward by two gay couples. And now it will begin its journey through the legal world until it reaches the high and mighty Supreme Court.

But wait…there’s more!

It’s time to get out our thank-you notes once again. Sens. Snowe and Collins supported a $26 billion funding bill to provide helpful aid for states to fund education and Medicaid. In Maine, this means about $77 million to the state’s General Fund and an additional $39 million for local aid to help school districts in need and protect teachers’ jobs. The spending package provides a much-needed supplement to the state budget  to go towards programs that disproportionally benefit women. Find out more here.

With these exciting announcements, four Republican Senators have now pledged their support of this groundbreaking nominee.

If Elena Kagan is confirmed as our next Supreme Court justice, she will be only the fourth woman to join the bench in the Court’s 221-year history.  What’s more, three women will take their seats on the Court for the first time in United States history.

We want to sincerely thank our Senators for their decisions.  When they cast their votes in support of Elena Kagan next week, this potential boost to women’s presence in the judiciary might become a reality.

Word from Portia Wu , Vice President at the National Partnership for Women and Families, from  inside the event was that Lilly Ledbetter was star of the show.  No surprise there! Lilly headlined an event here in March with her story about fighting pay discrimination at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Here’s hoping she continues to pound the pavement – I mean the halls of the U.S. Senate office buildings. Meantime we’re going to do all we can in Maine to get this bill passed once and for all. As the V.P. says: “Step Up, Man!”

A full vote in the Senate is expected before the August recess.

If you haven’t already, you can get involved and ask Senators Snowe and Collins to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

The bill is filled with good things, including curbing excessive lending practices and ensuring that banks do not act irresponsibly in the pursuit of profit. Banks must be more accountable to consumers and the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will help protect people as they navigate financial transactions. Shareholders and creditors – and not taxpayers – will bear the losses when financial institutions fail. This means small businesses are also better off. As a member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Snowe had Maine in mind when she cast her vote.

Collins was a key supporter of the bill’s Financial Stability Council, which will target poor lending standards. Since women were 41% more likely to receive subprime loans, they were hurt the most by the economic downturn, so this part of the legislation is especially relevant to women.

The House has already voted for the reforms, which will now move to the White House for President Obama to sign. Let’s all join in sending vibes of gratitude to Snowe and Collins for their help!

Though we are sad to report that the bill did not pass, we are proud that our voices reached our Senators in such a compelling way. We also remain hopeful that a compromise bill might be introduced after the July 4th recess.

Yesterday’s Maine Can Do Better Portland rally was a clear success. It was a beautiful day to be rallying downtown, and we enjoyed a wonderful turnout. You can read coverage from Channel 8, The Portland Press Herald, and The Bangor Daily News!