Victim of Our Own Success

I regret to inform you that you're a victim of your own success: As a result of mothers across the country expressing their outrage at wage discrimination, we have not one, but two (yes, two!) major pieces of legislation moving in Congress to protect women and people of color from discrimination in the workplace. Last week your voices were heard by Senators as you supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, and…

...we just found out that a vote is scheduled TOMORROW in the U.S. House on another great bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act! We have huge chance to make a difference today by letting our U.S. Representatives know that moms are all for fair pay, and that we're tired of making only 77 cents to every $1 made by men!

So flex your pointer finger for another mighty click to send a second letter on wage discrimination to Congress here.

What's it all about? Quite simply, the Paycheck Fairness Act is the granddaughter of the Equal Pay Act of 1963-the original "equal pay for equal work law" that was so pivotal to building economic security for mothers and families. The House of Representatives plans to vote tomorrow on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would update and strengthen that Act. It would close loopholes and improved the law's effectiveness in many ways, including:

• Improving Equal Pay Act Remedies by putting gender-based wage discrimination on an equal footing with wage discrimination based on race or ethnicity, for which full compensatory and punitive damages are already available.

• Improving Collection of Pay Information to enhance the detection of violations of law and improve enforcement of the laws against pay discrimination.

• Prohibiting Employer Retaliation by prohibiting employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information with their coworkers, which currently happens on a regular basis.

• Closing a Loophole in the Employer Defense by excusing a pay differential for men and women only where the employer can show that the differential is truly caused by something other than sex and is related to job performance.

• Eliminating the "Establishment" Requirement by clarifying that a pay comparison need not be between employees in the same physical place of business.

(Check out this terrific fact sheet from the The National Women's Law Center.)

Why do we need both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act AND the Paycheck Fairness Act? The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act refers specifically to closing a loophole created by the Supreme Court, which makes it more difficult for people to sue for pay discrimination. The Paycheck Fairness Act is the granddaughter of the Equal Pay Act of 1963-the original "equal pay for equal work law" that was so pivotal to building economic security for mothers and families. It would close loopholes and improved the law's effectiveness in many ways, including the bulleted items above.

Since the vote is happening within the next day, please take a moment now to forward this email to friends, family, neighbors, moms groups, and more, so they can take action too. We need to have as many moms as possible contacting their U.S. Representatives to let them know that we expect them to vote YES on the Paycheck Fairness Act.

And tell us your stories now about fair pay, or the lack thereof.

Let's make our grandmothers proud and help build momentum for this important legislation.