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Statement

STATEMENT OF KRISTIN ROWE-FINKBEINER, CEO and Executive Director, MomsRising, On the failure of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee

April 9, 2014
Equal Pay

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Senate Failure to Pass Wage Discrimination Bill "Outrageous" Says Women’s Leader, MomsRising Vows to Continue Fighting
“As an organization that represents more than a million women and mothers who regularly experience the negative effects of wage discrimination, and one that has worked tirelessly to urge Congress to take steps to end that discrimination, we at MomsRising are deeply outraged by the Senate's continuing failure to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.
 
"Politicians opposing equal pay for equal work need to wake-up, and realize this isn't an episode of Mad Men, and we aren’t living in the 1960s. In more than half of America’s families, working moms are the primary breadwinner, and antiquated wage discrimination imposed by some employers hurts not just working women, moms, and everyone in their families, but our national economic security.
 
“On the heels of President Obama’s executive order to increase transparency and prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their wages, the Senate’s action is particularly disappointing.
 
“It's outrageous that today, on average, women earn 77 cents to a man's dollar. And this disparity is even greater for moms, single moms and women of color.
 
“This bill would have helped to bring to an end this unjust and harmful trend. Not acting to right the wrong of wage discrimination devalues women's important contributions in workplaces, hurts our nation’s families, and has a negative impact on our overall economy.
 
“We are outraged, but not disheartened. We won’t give up. We will continue fighting for fair pay, and for the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would put some important teeth in the Equal Pay Act. It would help deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties around equal pay violations; prohibit retaliation against workers who ask about employers' wage practices or disclose their wages; empower women to negotiate for equal pay; strengthen federal outreach and efforts; and create strong incentives for employers to follow the law.
 
“This bill is too important to abandon. Moms aren't giving up until it passes!”
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.