Maine Women's Lobby Blog » Pay Gap

dollars to donuts

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:04:24 +0000

(Yeah, I can’t explain the donuts reference except that I’m hungry, and I mentioned bagels last week – figure I better give donuts their proper due.)

Anyway, I’m pretty psyched about a recent editorial by the Bangor Daily News called “Equal Pay Helps All.”

“The fact that women in the same job make only 78 percent of what their male counterparts equal is often considered a problem for women to deal with. This is shortsighted. With increasing numbers of women becoming primary breadwinners and growing numbers of single-parent households headed by women, ensuring female workers are fairly paid should matter to everyone.”

The article discusses how the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill making its way through the United States Congress is good for all workers, businesses, and for our economy.

What do you think?

Calling on Maine Senators to "Tweak the Bill"

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:36:56 +0000

Senators Snowe and Collins will have an opportunity to make some changes to the Paycheck Fairness Act which will come before the United States Senate soon. According to an editorial by the Portland Press Herald, the bill could use a little tweaking. They state, “Overall, putting more teeth into requirements that employers pay women fairly is worthy of support.”

Equal Pay is still Far Away

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:09:26 +0000

AAUW posted a round up of all the media covering the 2009 equal pay day. It is really worth checking out!

Equal Pay Day Number TWO

sstandiford — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:38:25 +0000

Maine stands out cause we have our OWN Equal Pay Day. By statute – yes the Lobby had a little something to do with this - celebrated each year on the first Tuesday in April.

Now, we get to celebrate again (ok, celebrate is the wrong word, since we’re essentially talking about how long into the 2009 year it takes a woman to earn, on average, what a man earned in 2008) or rather, *commemorate* Equal Pay Day on April 28. The American Association of University Women released a chart ranking us at number 22 among all the states for our gender wage gap. They have Maine women earning 78% of what men do. Our data has us at 76%… but we won’t trifle over pennies.

We want the whole dollar.

Here’s a good way to celebrate Equal Pay Day. Talk to Senator Snowe and Senator Collins about passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Wage Equity Suffers from Don't Ask, Don't Tell…

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:49:53 +0000

A bill sponsored by Sen. Deb Simpson, D-Auburn, that would allow employees to ask colleagues how much they earn without fear of retribution from their employer passed unanimously out of the Legislature’s Labor Committee on Monday according to the Sun Journal. The goal of the legislation is to shrink the pay gap between working Maine men and women, but stipulates that while you may ask? There’s no obligation to tell.

LD84 Protects Workers Who Talk Money

admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:43:34 +0000

Should employees be allowed to discuss their wages at work? WCSH takes a look…

Will Snowe & Collins Walk the Walk on Wage Gap?

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:49:47 +0000

In the early part of this decade, Maine lawmakers took action to address the gender wage gap — in which women earned less than men for comparable work — by passing legislation requiring full implementation of Maine’s Equal Pay Law.

But as critical as this law has been, Maine’s wage gap is actually widening. In 2007, on average, women in Maine working full-time year-round earned only 76 percent of what men working full-time, year-round earned. This is below what Maine women were earning in 2006 and is two percentage points below the nationwide average.

Now, the ball is in Congress’s court. Maine Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins could well make the difference as to whether discrimination is allowed to persist.